Martin Luther King Famous Speech by

Indira Gandhi
New Delhi, India: January 24, 1969
This is a poignant moment for all of us. We remember vividly your last visit to our
country. We had hoped that on this occasion, Dr. King and you would be standing
side by side on this platform. That was not to be. He is not with us but we feel his
spirit. We admired Dr. King. We felt his loss as our own. The tragedy rekindled
memories of the great martyrs of all time who gave their lives so that men might live
and grow. We thought of the great men in your own country who fell to the assassin's
bullet and of Mahatma Gandhi's martyrdom here in this city, this very month, twenty-
one years ago. Such events remain as wounds in the human consciousness, reminding
us of battles, yet to be fought and tasks still to be accomplished. We should not mourn
for men of high ideals. Rather we should rejoice that we had the privilege of having
had them with us, to inspire us by their radiant personalities. So today we are gathered
not to offer you grief, but to salute a man who achieved so much in so short a time. It
is befitting, Madam, that you whom he called the "courage by my side", you who
gave him strength and encouragement in his historic mission, should be with us to
receive this award.

You and your husband both had foreseen that death might come to him violently. It
was perhaps inherent in the situation. Dr. King chose death for the theme of a sermon,
remarking that he would like to be remembered as a drum major for justice, for peace
and for righteousness. When you were once asked what you would do if your husband
were assassinated, you were courage personified, replying that you might weep but
the work would go on. Your face of sorrow, so beautiful in its dignity coupled with
infinite compassion, will forever be engraved in our hearts.

Mahatma Gandhi also had foreseen his end and had prepared himself for it. Just as
training for violence included learning to kill, the training for non-violence, he said,
included learning how to die. The true badge of the satyagrahi is to be unafraid.

As if he too had envisaged the martyrdoms of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther
King, Rabindranath Tagore once sang:

In anger we slew him,

With love let us embrace him now,

For in death he lives again amongst us,

The mighty conqueror of death.

This award, Madam, is the highest tribute our nation can bestow on work for
understanding and brotherhood among men. It is named after a man who himself was
a peace-maker and who all his life laboured passionately for freedom, justice and
peace in India and throughout the world. Dr. Martin Luther King's struggle was for
these same values. He paid for his ideals with his blood, forging a new bond among
the brave and the conscientious of all races and all nations.
Dr. King's dream embraced the poor and the oppressed of all lands. His work
ennobled us. He spoke of the right of man to survive and recognized three threats to
the survival of man--racial injustice, poverty and war. He realised that even under the
lamp of affluence which was held aloft by science, lay the shadow of poverty,
compelling two-thirds of the peoples of the world to exist in hunger and want. He
proclaimed that mankind could be saved from war only if we cared enough for peace
to sacrifice for it.

Dr. Martin Luther King drew his inspiration from Christ, and his method of action
from Mahatma Gandhi. Only through truth can untruth be vanquished. Only through
love can hatred be quenched. This is the path of the Buddha and of Christ, and in our
own times, that of Mahatma Gandhi and of Martin Luther King.

They believed in the equality of all men. No more false doctrine has been spread than
that of the superiority of one race over another. It is ironical that there should still be
people in this world who judge men not by their moral worth and intellectual merit
but by the pigment of their skin or other physical characteristics.

Some governments still rest on the theory of racist superiority--such as the

governments of South Africa and the lawless regime in Rhodesia. Unregenerate
groups in other countries consider one colour superior to another. Our own battle is
not yet over. Caste and other prejudices still survive, but most of us are ashamed of
them and recognise them as evils to be combated. We are trying hard to eradicate
them.

While there is bondage anywhere, we ourselves cannot be fully free. While there is
oppression anywhere, we ourselves cannot soar high. Martin Luther King was
convinced that one day the misguided people who believed in racial superiority would
realise the error of their ways. His dream was that white and black, brown and yellow
would live and grow together as flowers in a garden with their faces turned towards
the sun. As you yourself said, "All of us who believe in what Martin Luther King
stood for, must see to it that his spirit never dies". That spirit can never die. There
may be setbacks in our fight for the equality of all men. There may be moments of
gloom. But victory must and will be ours. Let us not rest until the equality of all races
and religions becomes a living fact. That is the most effective and lasting tribute that
we can pay to Dr. King.

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