Fellow countrymen, the appointed day has come and India stands forth again after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning points is past, history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about. It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star rises, the star of freedom in the east, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materializes. May the star never set and that hope never betrayed. We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrow stricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people. On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the father of our nation, who embodying the old spire of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed form his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, magnificent in faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest. Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom, who without praise or reward, have served India even unto death. We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good and ill fortune alike. The person equipped with masterly knowledge of Hindi will be eagerly sought for and employed when the business among the various States and the Centre will begin to be transacted through Hindi. This mastery of language cannot be achieved unless higher education is given through the Hindi medium. Therefore, to face this emergency we must now start many Hindi medium colleges in the regions where Hindi is not spoken by the people in any large numbers.