President bats for free speech, says there must be space for legitimate dissent
President Pranab Mukherjee today said that there must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent.
"India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression... Our society has always been characterized by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought & debate/discussion,"he said
"Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution..there must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent," added Mukherjee.
President's comments came in the backdrop of clashes in Ramjas College between ABVP activists with students and teachers over an invite to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid. The last week's incident has snowballed into a major issue with political parties throwing their weight into opposing camps.
In an apparent reference to the ongoing violence in the Delhi University, the President said, "Those in Universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet... There should be no room in India for the intolerant Indian."
Mukherjee also advised the politicians to "listen" to people.
"Our law makers must never take the people for granted. They must focus on the fundamental task of law making and raising of issues of concern to the people," he said.
While reiterating that "the nation and the people must always come first", President said that "sense of national purpose and patriotism alone can lift our nation on to the road of sustained progress and prosperity " and that the "the time has come for collective efforts to re-discover the sense of national purpose and patriotism".
Source: @RashtrapatiBhvn
"India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression... Our society has always been characterized by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought & debate/discussion,"he said
"Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution..there must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent," added Mukherjee.
President's comments came in the backdrop of clashes in Ramjas College between ABVP activists with students and teachers over an invite to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid. The last week's incident has snowballed into a major issue with political parties throwing their weight into opposing camps.
In an apparent reference to the ongoing violence in the Delhi University, the President said, "Those in Universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet... There should be no room in India for the intolerant Indian."
Mukherjee also advised the politicians to "listen" to people.
"Our law makers must never take the people for granted. They must focus on the fundamental task of law making and raising of issues of concern to the people," he said.
While reiterating that "the nation and the people must always come first", President said that "sense of national purpose and patriotism alone can lift our nation on to the road of sustained progress and prosperity " and that the "the time has come for collective efforts to re-discover the sense of national purpose and patriotism".
Source: @RashtrapatiBhvn
