15th August – India's Independence Day: Syedna’s Message to the Leaders of the Nation

As India celebrates its 67^th Independence Day, Syedna Khuzaima Qutbuddin TUS wrote a message of felicitation and prayer to notable leaders of the Nation:

“I extend sincere greetings and felicitations on this 67th Independence Day of India. Our Prophet Mohammad SAW has said “Love of your nation is an integral part of faith.” My predecessors the 51st Dai, His Holiness Syedna Taher Saifuddin RA, and 52nd Dai, His Holiness Syedna Mohammad Burhanuddin RA, have for the past 100 years guided the Dawoodi Bohra Community on this path. Today as the 53rd Dai al-Mutlaq and Syedna of the Dawoodi Bohra Community I continue in their tradition and guide my followers, to being good, peace loving and contributing citizens of our Nation.

Thus, as we celebrate our Independence Day, I am hopeful that in the message of communal harmony, friendship, entrepreneurship and service to the nation, lies the deeper independence of all of India’s citizens; freedom from poverty, hunger, and illiteracy and a future towards prosperity, social security, and education. Our Prophet SAW has said, “All of creation are the children of God, and the most beloved to God of those children is the one who benefits his children the most.” This has been and remains my guiding ethos.

We face challenging times, but the future is full of promise and possibilities. It is with this positive spirit that we move forward in the face of adversity, striving to uphold our principles of truth, justice, equity and social service and we are confident that we will achieve success in our endeavors because of them. As we continue on this path, we will achieve the promise of our Independence.

I pray for peace, happiness and prosperity for all my fellow Indians on the 67th anniversary of our Independence.

I pray that in addition to our political freedom we strive towards freedom and independence from hunger, poverty, hatred, violence and fear. I urge all my fellow Indians to reflect and reaffirm their commitment to the ideals of freedom and free their hearts and actions from hatred and discord. Only when each and every one of us will be at peace and harmony with ourselves and with our neighbors and communities will our Nation be truly Free.

Peace is the foundation of prosperity and development. I pray that as we stay together in peace with each other that India and our neighbors in the world also find lasting peace and security.”