Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi salutes Tricolour during Independence Day celebrations
Against the backdrop of recent attacks on Dalits, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today said freedom can never be for the few and asked Indians to aspire for a country where ideas are not "crushed violently" by the forces of hate and mediocrity.
"When the forces of darkness threaten this liberty for some of us, as we saw in recent times, we must remember that freedom can never be for the few -- it has to be for everyone. Every human being in India has the right to dignity and the freedom to live and express themselves freely," he said in a message on Independence Day.
Mr Gandhi said Indians are honour-bound to aspire to a country where nobody lives in fear and "where ideas flow freely and are not crushed violently by the forces of hate and mediocrity. We must insist and fight for this truth, at all times."
Rahul Gandhi hoisted the national flag at the party headquarters in Delhi for the first time since he took over as the Congress vice president three years ago.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who usually hoists the tricolour at the party office, was on Sunday discharged from a private hospital.
Senior party leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma were present on the occasion.
Rahul Gandhi said the generation which earned us the hard earned freedom is no longer with us but the constitution is their precious gift.
"It embodies the values, principles and ideals for which they fought, values they hoped would guide our brave young country. Now it is up to us."
Rahul Gandhi's remarks come against the backdrop of attacks on Dalits as also on Muslims by cow vigilantes in the recent past.