Panaji: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said freedom also means exercising responsibility, especially to strengthen national unity, protect constitutional values and uphold the country’s interests.“Our freedom fighters gave us freedom, now it is up to us to respect it. It does not mean freedom only to say what we want freely. But freedom also means that with freedom we exercise our responsibility. It is our responsibility as citizens of free India. I want to say this especially to our younger generations, who are the future of our country, that our freedom fighters gave us responsibility to strengthen the unity of the country, protect our constitutional values, follow the law and hold the country’s interests above our interests. This responsibility belongs to us,” Singh said after inaugurating the Hutatma Smruti Smarak, or Martyr’s Memorial, at Patradevi.He said citizens must resolve to come together in the national interest.“It should be our resolve to strengthen the country. It is the responsibility we hold to those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom,” said the defence minister.Singh said India has always been a cultural and civilisational entity, not just a country.“Today when we speak about regionalism, communalism, casteism we should remember there is something above these narrow ideas that is the unity of the country. The Patradevi history tells us that those identities dividing us may be many but there is only one uniting us, that of being India. Why did people come from different corners to free Goa? It is because there was only one identity over everything else, that is of being India,” said the defence minister.He said Operation Vijay, which liberated Goa, remains an example of the armed forces’ excellence for the world.Singh said India’s armed forces are modern, prepared for any adversity and will not let the country’s head bow before anyone.He said the Martyr’s Memorial at Patradevi will become a pilgrimage site for citizens across India, and that he will narrate the history of the satyagrahis who came from across the country and sacrificed their lives for Goa’s freedom.Singh said that if the West Asia crisis had not taken place, India would have been counted among the top three economies in the world within six months to one year, adding that this would soon become a reality.“Today India is increasing its indigenous capacity of fighter aircrafts, warships, missiles, radars, drones and advanced defence systems. Whatever we were importing is today being made at the hands of Indians in the country. Our defence exports which stood at Rs 600 crore in 2014 are now at Rs 50,000 crore,” said Singh.Chief minister Pramod Sawant said that the Patradevi memorial pays respects to those over 2,000 satyagrahis who came for Goa’s freedom and 77 martyrs who lost their lives.“The tricolour will eternally fly here and remind us of the sacrifices who continued to come here from Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala because they believed that even though India was freed, it was not fully free until all of India is free. Many of them came here but never left. It is not only of stone and concrete, it is a living memorial of their bravery and who gave their everything for Goa’s freedom,” said Sawant.
