This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

India has marked the 70th anniversary of its independence with a military parade and a prime ministerial address from Narendra Modi on corruption, Kashmir and violence in the name of cows.

Indians filled the streets around the Red Fort in old Delhi and monuments in the city’s newer imperial quarter as the nation of 1.3 billion celebrated the anniversary of the day in 1947 when India threw off British colonial rule and the union flag was lowered across the country.

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In its place rose the Indian tricolour, a flag flying in abundance on Tuesday, above rickshaws and buildings, and painted on the faces of revellers.

Modi began the day with a traditional address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, challenging Indians to summon the same conviction they showed during the campaign to evict the British, to tackle the country’s present challenges.



“A collective resolve of the citizens was visible during 1942 to 1947 across the country, which forced the British to quit India within a span of five years,” Modi said in his early-morning address. “We will have to exhibit the same resolve from now on … to the year 2022.

“Together, we will make an India free of terrorism, communalism and casteism. Together we will make an India free of corruption and agreements based on nepotism. Together we will make an India that is clean, healthy and self-reliant.”

The urgency of that mission was underscored this past week with the deaths of at least 85 children at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh after its oxygen supplies were cut because of unpaid bills, a tragedy Modi said had united the country in “crisis and grief”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Modi greets schoolchildren after addressing the nation from the Red Fort. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

He defended his government’s campaign against “black money”, including the sudden removal last November of all 500- and 1,000-rupee notes from circulation.

Economists have said the policy, which triggered months of cash shortages, has curtailed India’s record growth, but Modi claimed trillions of rupees in untaxed wealth had surfaced as a result.

“Those who have looted the nation and looted the poor are not able to sleep peacefully today,” he said. “The corrupt have no place to hide any more.”

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Kashmir, the northern region at the centre of a decades-old territorial dispute between India and Pakistan, and where al-Qaida recently launched an affiliate group, would be “solved neither by abuse or bullets. It will be solved by embracing all Kashmiris,” he said.

Modi, a staunch Hindu nationalist, also made reference to religious violence in a year that has seen several high-profile assaults and murders by vigilantes claiming to defend cows, an animal revered by many Hindus.



“Sometimes in the name of faith some people, due to lack of patience, end up destroying the social fabric,” he told the audience of dignitaries and the public, including more than 8,000 schoolchildren.

“The country is governed by peace, harmony and unity. The poison of casteism and communalism can never benefit the country. This is the land of Gandhi and Buddha.”

Pakistan celebrated the 70th anniversary of its own creation in 1947 on Monday, with air force jets performing the largest air show in the country’s history.