"What can't a person live without?" science can give a lot of hypotheses to the question. But in fact, if you have everything and you are not free, it is difficult to consider yourself alive. Our wise people, our thoughtful ancestors and our great history have proven this many times. They equated lack of freedom with a golden cage, and losing one's country with a black face. Look, these truths have not lost their meaning even though centuries have passed and times have changed.

It takes courage to draw a picture of the country in the heart, to place it in the heart. To fearlessly raise your flag, sing your national anthem at the loudest voice, hold your head high, straighten your waist, follow in your grandfather's footsteps, listen to your mother's prayers, tell your child a fairy tale in your own language, sing from happiness, even cry from sadness, you have to be yourself. It's simple, but great happiness cannot be achieved without true will. Therefore, rather than talking loudly about independence, it is sometimes enough to feel it from the heart.
First of all, independence means to choose your own path, to speak in your native language, to feel free from your heart, to see justice and to feel your value, that is, to live as a human being. Why is the Motherland more valuable than gold in our hands? Because a person is the embodiment of the land he was born in and the air that raised him, the blood of his ancestors was poured into this soil and mixed with it. Therefore, although the Motherland sometimes does not fit on the maps, it can lie on a handful of soil and is able to bring tears to our eyes. The spirit of ancestors and the dreams of generations live in this soil. Independence is when we hold this compacted earth firmly in the palm of our hands.

A great goal

History is full of struggles and conflicts. But the battlefield where life was given for freedom, the blood shed and every brave word written is a great struggle and a history that should be kept in the memory of generations. These struggles were commemorated at the grand celebration dedicated to the 35th anniversary of our independence, history entered memories and hearts through the stage. Young people saw with their own eyes that we have a great history and brave ancestors, and the eyes of those who knew about it became wet. The flags of Ancient Khorezm, Bactria, Turkic Khaganate, Somanites, up to the great Amir Temur, Shaybanites, Khanates and the autonomy of Turkestan were raised on the stage. Our past was remembered, the repressions under the "sky where crows flew" were shown, the terrible times that filled our land with sighs were embodied before our eyes. The historical flags remained on the field, and our flag, as if receiving strength from them, was fixed high and stretched towards the blue.
It was once again remembered that this great power is embodied in the words of the leader of our state that we will certainly achieve the great goal of creating the foundations of the Third Renaissance with our people, that we are capable of it. Independence is won in a day, but it is defended and preserved every day. Each generation rediscovers it and fills it with courage, new ways and great goals. The head of our state said in his speech: "We gained our state independence with the will and determination of our people in 1991. In fact, the roots of our great independence go back to the history of our statehood traditions and ancient civilization, which are more than three thousand years old.
During the First and Second Renaissance, Muhammad Khorezmi, Ahmad Farghani, AbuOur great scholars such as Rayhan Beruni, Abu Ali ibn Sina, Mirza Ulugbek, Mir Alisher Navoi enriched the treasury of human thought to an incomparable level.
The state founded by our great-grandfather Amir Temur has a worthy place in history as a symbol of justice and creativity.
The dreams of our great-grandfathers, such as Behbudi, Munavvarqori, Fitrat, Qadiri, Cholpon, who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the homeland and national independence, are fully realized today in the new Uzbekistan.
The idea of creating the foundations of the Third Renaissance, which is being built together with our people, is actually aimed at educating young people enjoying the atmosphere of knowledge and spirituality. Because they are the main force that realizes this great goal. It is clear that this is not just a pipe dream. The reason is that we are a great nation that historically created renaissances, and this power flows in the blood of each of us. Today, we should often remind our youth that this is an important part of this great goal. This understanding should permeate from families to neighborhoods, from educational institutions to workplaces.
Today, young people feel themselves as a part of a great goal, and they connect their life plans with high tasks such as science, discoveries, development of the Motherland and service to society. Our young scientists, inventors, creators and sportsmen, who took part in the festivities, once again demonstrated that they are following in the footsteps of their ancestors and opening new paths of this great history.
In a situation where our population has increased by 8 million over the past ten years, the fact that the coverage of preschool education has reached 78% is not just empty numbers, it is a clear fact. 1.5 million additional student places were created in schools. The establishment of the president, creative and specialized schools has opened the door to wide opportunities for our children to acquire in-depth knowledge that is incomparable to leading foreign educational institutions.
Shukur Kholmirzayev, one of our master writers, raised an interesting question in his article written after independence: "Look, the country has become independent. After shedding blood for a century, we have achieved our dream of independence. So, what do we write now? Our dream in the heart has come true! How do we create now?" Our writer gave a very appropriate answer to this question: "Now we have to lead hearts to true independence! This is a very difficult task. For this, first of all, our national pride should rise!"
What our writer said is the truth! Pride must really rise! Today, this is our pride. The main reason for this is the increasing confidence in our tomorrow.

Our joy cannot be counted in numbers

Independence is achieved through struggle, and with firm belief it is fully achieved. Because someone said, "You're free now!" means that if you do not believe in it, independence will remain only on paper and will not enter real life.
Seven centuries ago, in the land of Samarkand, the great Amir Temur turned the wisdom of "Strength is in justice" into a motto of his life, and this principle served as the basis of a strong state. So, if there is real truth and faith behind it, even a single sentence can build a great country.
On the eve of the 35th anniversary of our independence, we, as a team of the Republican Spirituality and Enlightenment Center, visited different regions of the country and organized the "Wedding of Independence" events.we spent In our capital, we presented the poetic-theatrical stage works "Vatan Qalsin" for young people. During these processes, we had the opportunity to talk face-to-face with our people many times. In some locations, we witnessed the tears of joy of people who lived as strangers in their homeland for years and became a real part of the country, full-fledged citizens thanks to the new era. In some areas, we saw the incomparable joy of our compatriots, who are reuniting with their relatives living in neighboring countries due to the good neighborly policy.
The most we heard at these meetings were the sincere words of parents, and all of them were directly related to the fate of their children. Someone happily admits that the coverage of the kindergarten has increased, while someone else did not hide their joy that their child's opportunity to become a student has increased.
We also experienced hard dark days when "Uzbek" means cotton and "cotton" means Uzbek. Unfortunately, we could not get rid of this complication quickly. The worst thing was that our national education was sacrificed in the cotton fields.
Our intellectuals had a lot of regrets and regrets in their language to correct the mistakes of the past. Historical justice was restored thanks to the resolute courage of our President, and the names of many victims of repression are vindicated today.
The honorable name "Uzbek", "Uzbekist", "Uzbeks" began to sound loudly and with great admiration all over the world. As if that great courage, valor and national pride have returned from the depths of history!
There are many such changes that are creating the ground for our people to live comfortably today, not tomorrow. The most important thing is that our people are confident that these changes will never stop and will not go back.
The indicators mentioned in the President's speech during the holiday ceremony are actually not just empty numbers, they mean the fate of people, the value of people and the future of the nation. In particular, it was emphasized that our place in the "Index of Economic Freedom" has improved by 80 points, and we are among the "moderately free" countries. Previously, only 2-3 billion dollars of foreign investment was brought to our economy per year, now 40-50 billion dollars are attracted. It is true that we may see huge differences in the numbers, but the joy in the eyes of the people behind these numbers cannot be measured in numbers.
Another bold step has been taken, we are very close to a huge milestone. 3 years ago, it was planned to reach 160 billion dollars of gross domestic product in our country by 2030, and now, despite the complicated and turbulent situation in the world, it is expected that these indicators will be realized even more this year. In this way, we will fully join the ranks of countries with higher than average income.
You will be happy to hear about the houses that have become a new place for more than 650,000 families, their own little homeland. You remember your days spent in such worries, and you involuntarily yearn for the pleasure of today's improved life.
When you look back, you remember the times when "thick stretches and thins are cut", but they pass without anyone openly admitting it. It's as if everyone lives lavishly, and society doesn't want to see their own flaws or flaws.You will remember the false times. Apparently, there are no poor people, everyone is full, everything is fine! You will want to believe these words, and you will be forced to bite the wax by looking around you. You didn't even believe that it would ever be possible to talk about and openly admit these problems. But it happened! The issue of poverty was openly recognized and a unique "New Uzbekistan experience" was created to drastically reduce it. A completely new neighborhood work system was launched to increase the income of needy families, guide them to a profession, restore their health, improve their children's education and living conditions. As a result, the poverty rate has decreased from 35 percent in 2017 to 4 percent today. At the root of these numbers are the feelings of joy and gratitude of about 10 million people.
Recently, a major sports competition was held around the world. The new Uzbekistan team took part in the World Cup for the first time. During this process, everyone's eyes were fixed on the screens, from the President to our little child who is just playing in our house. How many compatriots watched football directly from those stadiums. True, we may not have been so satisfied with the result of the game, but we saw how the whole nation came together and turned into one fist, and we were immensely proud of it.
An ordinary 11th-grade student, who is entering an independent life in the steppe fields of Ferghana, once soaked in blood by invaders, is the envy of all his peers after winning a grant from the most prestigious university in the world. It is also true that at a time when an Uzbek pupil or student is achieving such great achievements, in some corner of the world, a teenager of his age is only thinking about not starving and surviving drone or bomb attacks. Such achievements in our country are presented to us by the independence of the Motherland and the peace reigning in our free land, whose value we are realizing more and more every day!
Faith is strengthened by the realities of life, and sustained by justice. Today, our independence is literally watered with such strong faith. In fact, there is no strength that strengthens independence more than faith in the country's present and bright future.

A solid foundation

Today, we live side by side in a bustling, rapidly globalizing world, with cities and nations pulsating in the waves of urbanization. New Uzbekistan has truly faced the whole world. Our responsible offices and representative offices are operating in almost every country. The Uzbek people and Uzbekistan are well known everywhere. At the same time, the great cultural, social and political realities of the world are rapidly entering our daily lives. The value of our national road, which we have relied on in such a difficult situation, is incredibly high. In his holiday speech, the head of state noted that "Today we are at a more responsible and decisive stage in history. Our country is entering a completely new era of development. The next decade will be a period of national growth for us," and he spoke about 7 important national programs aimed at this goal.
Before doing any work, of course, it is carefully calculated. In particular, in order for the nation to be proud of itself, not to see itself as inferior to others, on the contrary, it is nationalIn order to walk proudly, one should be well informed not only about his internal situation, but also about the global situation in the wider world.
It is not for nothing that the book "New Development Strategy of Uzbekistan" by the leader of our country does not begin with the sentence "The world has never had the same dawn".
These words contain very deep wisdom and meaning. In some countries, while parents wake up hoping to see their children safe in the morning, our children are being watched for summer vacations. In the fields of Surkhandarya or Fergana, a farmer is gazing at the length of his cotton and wiping his forehead with satisfaction. Some old man in another corner of the globe is in great agony, unable to believe that his child, who went out in search of bread, will return home safely.
Today, the insatiable desires of mankind have become bigger than ever. The cases of bringing one's army, weapons, and even culture into the lives of other peoples by force have increased dramatically. Being extremely vigilant in such a precarious situation, always being aware of the surrounding events, guaranteeing the safety of the people, and simply living peacefully has become an incomparably great achievement. Take a look at the shocking numbers below.
According to the official data provided by the UN, in 2023, 2.4 trillion dollars were allocated for military expenses worldwide, 224 billion dollars were spent on global development, and the least amount was spent on peacekeeping - only 669 million dollars.
According to the analyzes of the experts of the Peace Research Program at Uppsala University in Sweden, 61 interstate conflicts were recorded in 2024 alone. This is the highest and alarming indicator since 1946, when statistics began to be kept.
11 of these conflicts have reached the level of a full-fledged war. However, such a high and dangerous indicator has not been recorded since 2016.
Another interesting paradox should be mentioned at this point: the world experienced a huge technological development in the next 30-35 years. The Internet has covered the whole world. Wireless communication networks have closely connected different continents. The miracle of artificial intelligence has entered the everyday life of all peoples. As a result, people's burdens were much lighter. But the demographic growth of the population has decreased significantly. In many developed countries, birth rates are falling sharply. It is becoming commonplace to look at marriage, which is the sacred foundation of the family, as if it were a thing of the past. Nations are rapidly aging. Entire cities are deserted and empty.
The wise words of our great grandfather Abdurauf Fitrat, "This world is a field of struggle. The main weapon of this struggle is a healthy body, a sharp mind and good morals" are becoming more relevant today than ever.
After all, true patriotism is manifested not only in words, but also in practical actions, in constant research, in constant pursuit of new things, in bringing benefit to the country with the practice of one's knowledge, and in showing self-sacrifice.
In Hazrat Alisher Navoi's epic "Saddi Iskandari" there is such a beautiful verse:
Iyolu lives for the Motherland,
A person can fight as long as he can.
This means that as long as a real person is alive, he should protect his country and his family (wife) with all his might.will fight to the end to do.
Spirituality is the greatest and strongest foundation of independence! When we can achieve complete spiritual independence, we will have reached our highest goal.
In the early years of independence, we used the expressions "grain independence" and "cotton independence" a lot. However, in fact, we have deeply understood that one of the most important and original foundations of independence is spiritual independence only in the last 10 years. The correct conclusions we have drawn from the path we have traveled to date, our achievements and the shortcomings we have made prove this fact.
So, the glorious 35-year journey behind us has taught us a great lesson that will be a fertilizer for centuries. Now our task is only to be able to understand this lesson correctly and bring it into our real life!
After all, as the President stated: "We are stronger today than yesterday. If we are lucky, we will be even stronger tomorrow. Our thirty-five years of independent development have taught us one truth: if the people and the state work together towards a common goal, there is no goal that cannot be conquered. There is no force that can defeat such a great nation and state. We are a single Motherland, a single people, we will build a new life and a great future together!".


Otabek HASANOV,
Head of the Republican Center for Spirituality and Enlightenment