For the third time in as many weeks, he sharply rebuked those fanning the flames of religious bigotry by underlining that the unity of the country was not based on ``any monolithic idea, but on our age-old tradition of tolerance''.

This was Gandhi's vision of India, reaffirmed later by Radhakrishnan in the Constituent Assembly when the national flag was formally adopted, Narayanan recalled. He quoted Gandhi as saying, ``I do not expect the India of my dream to develop one religion, ie. to be wholly Hindu or wholly Christian or wholly Mussalman, but I want it to be wholly tolerant, with its religions working side by side with one another.''

He called on the nation to uphold this ideal for the world to see when thenational flag is raised tomorrow.

Given the fact that the President's address was recorded a day before the gruesome murders in Orissa, it is clear that the deteriorating communal environment is weighing heavily on Narayanan's mind, as are our failures on other fronts.

In fact, even as he listed the achievements in various fields, he liberally peppered his speech with references to how much still needs to be done to ensure justice and equality for all.

He expressed special concern about the violence against Dalits, women and other weaker sections of society, describing it as a ``sorry spectacle...of the denial of rights granted to them by law, violence and crimes committed against them, molestation of women in the barbarous practice of eve-teasing, dowry killings and gang rapes not only for lust but as a brutal method of social revenge and social punishment.''

He asked every Indian to use Republic Day to examine his heart to evaluate how far we have succeeded in fulfilling the dreams of ourforefathers when the country gained independence.

Among the tasks he listed for the country as it entered the new millennium were a mass campaign for literacy and population control. ``What we have to do is to mobilise the people in a campaign instead of dissipating our energies in ephemeral activities,'' he stressed.