In a rare remark that has come against the backdrop of the Dadri lynching, President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said the core values of diversity, tolerance and plurality of Indian civilisation must be kept in mind and cannot be allowed to be wasted.
“I firmly believe that we cannot allow the core values of our civilisation to be wasted and the core values are what over the years the civilisation celebrated, diversity, promoted and advocated tolerance, endurance and plurality. These core civilisation values keep us together over the centuries. Many ancient civilisations have fallen. But that is right that despite aggression after aggression, long foreign rule, the Indian civilisation has survived because of its core civilisational values and we must keep that in mind. And if we keep those core values in mind, nothing can prevent our democracy from moving ahead,” said the President.
The President’s remarks come in the wake of lynching of a 50-year-old man in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh by an enraged mob over rumours that he stored and consumed beef, which has sparked an outrage across the country. Mukherjee made these observations at Rashtrapati Bhavan during a ceremony where he was handed over a coffee-table book released by Vice- President Hamid Ansari written by veteran journalist Prabhu Chawla.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and MPs were also present at the function.
In his brief 15-minute address, Mukherjee said being a political leader all along he felt shy speaking at such an occasion where a book on him was written. He said the country has made tremendous progress in many sectors and there is no limit to doing more.
“There is no limit. We will have to do much more,” he said. He added that there is no end to work in the President’s office which is considered strictly Constitutional and recalled how his friends jokingly commented that he would not have anything much to do in the post.
“I in my own way am making my contribution to make the country more important... After three years of coming here, I recognise that much more is to be done. There is no end to working in the President’s office, which is considered strictly Constitutional,” he said.
lauding the strength of democracy in the country, the President said its electorate decisively decided to put an end to the era of coalition and gave a single party Government.
“Despite their diversity and despite having a long period of absence of single party majority, the Indian electorate decisively decided to make an end of that. Many of us thought that perhaps an era of coalition has reached and that no single party would ever come (to power). In true sense, the marvel of Indian democracy has its own strength and we must celebrate that,” he said.
He said he has closely seen many important events in the country right from the first election when people wondered how an election covering 350 million people can take place smoothly, to the last one.
Mukherjee also recalled his days when he entered Parliament as a member of the Rajya Sabha during a “turbulent period” when the Congress faced a major crisis over bank nationalisation and eventually split. The President also recalled his mother telling him to go to school walking 10 kms everyday and that impacted his mind to strive hard when there is “no option”.