Pranab Mukherjee uses RSS dais to tell Congress : 'Shun violence to make India a happy country in world'
NAGPUR, June 7: Laying all speculations and probabilities regarding his address to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Tritiya Varsh Sangh Shiksha Varg valedictory function, former President Pranab Mukherjee called for freeing the public discourse from all forms of violence, physical and verbal to make India a happy country in the world.
“We must move from anger, violence and conflict to harmony and happiness”, he said appealing to swayamsevaks to be agents of peace, harmony and happiness as “this and only this will be able to create a happy nation where nationalism flows automatically”.
Stating that he accepted the invitation of RSS as he wanted to share his understanding of the concepts of Nation, Nationalism and Patriotism in the context of India that is Bharat, the former President and a prominent Congress leader explained at length what these concepts meant to him.
He said that India has been an open society, connected to the world by Silk and Spice routes that exchanged besides mercantile and commerce the ideas of culture, faith and inventions as the merchants, scholars and sages traversed the mountains and crossed the deserts, seas and oceans. Nalanda, Vikramshila, Takshshila, Valabhi, Somapura were some of the universities that catered to the educational and academic needs of the world for over 1800 years, he said. These universities were the magnets for the finest minds and scholars in the world.
Endorsing what RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat said earlier in his speech about the diversity of Indian culture, Pranab Mukherjee said “Our national identity has emerged through a long drawn process of confluence, assimilation and co-existence. The multiplicity in culture, faith and language is what makes India special. We accept and respect our pluralism. We celebrate our diversity.”
Quoting from eminent historian Vincent Smith, former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindra Nath Tagore, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Surendra Nath Banerjee, Mukherjee said that India has a long historical tradition of honoring all faiths, thoughts and ideologies that maintained their individualities yet merged into one nation that is called Bharat.
The former President said that in the index of happiness, India is mapped 133rd out of the 156 countries exposing the very poor state of our nation. Quoting from Kautilya, he said that the happiness of the king lies in the happiness of the people. The king should treat as beneficial to him whatever causes happiness to all people. People are the centre of all activities of the state and nothing should be done to divide the people and create animosity amongst them.
Breaking the RSS tradition, Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat who spoke before the chief guest expressed gratitude to Pranab Mukherjee whom he described as ‘rich in knowledge’ and ‘rich in experience’ (ज्ञान समृद्ध और अनुभव समृद्ध) for accepting invitation to address the swayamsevaks drawn from all over the country.
Bhagwat categorically stated that the RSS always upheld the age-old tradition of India of celebrating the diversity and to experience the latent unity in the diversity. Everyone born in this country is a “Bharatwasi” and the differences of language, sect or ‘sampradaya’ and political ideologies notwithstanding all are one. The RSS respects this diversity and experiences the inherent unity.
Strength is needed for fulfilling any work. But that strength should be positive and benevolent. The RSS has been busy creating such strength of society to bring about the positive transformation. The Sangh has sailed through many turbulent situations and now there is some favorable atmosphere. But the swayamsevaks do not get complacent with this favorable atmosphere and keep them busy to fulfill their mission of making India a world leader and teacher of humanity.
Earlier, the participants of the camp performed physical drill and demonstrations. Sarvadhikari of the camp Sardar Gajendra Singh Sandhu introduced Pranab Mukherjee and Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat welcomed him with a floral bouquet. Varg Karyawah Shyam manohar gave the details of the camp and Nagpur Mahanagar Sanghchalak Rajesh Loya introduced the dignitaries present.
