Varsities should not be ideological battlegrounds; the best will emerge on its own: Shah

He was delivering the inaugural address at an event titled Revisiting the Ideas of India from ‘Swaraj’ to ‘New India’, organised by Delhi University’s political science department.

“Universities should not become a wrestling ground for ideological conflict… Youth should give space to discussions rather than conflict when it comes to ideology. Whatever is best will itself emerge. Why should we worry?” Shah said in the speech.

The home minister said there was a new movement where people were fighting for rights and creating disorder in the process. He said the youth should also remember their duty. “The duty that the youth have towards the country, society and the poor, they should always be mindful of that,” he said.

Shah said India did not have a defence policy before Narendra Modi became prime minister. “Before Prime Minister Modi, India did not have a defence policy. We considered our foreign policy as our defence policy. Even if it existed, it was suppressed under the shadow of the foreign policy,” he said.

“Earlier, terrorists would be sent to attack us and there were similar attempts to do so with the Uri and Pulwama attacks. But with the surgical strikes and airstrikes, when we entered homes and gave a fitting reply, it became clear in front of the entire world what our defence policy meant,” he said.

He said India wanted to take along all nations and believed in peace “but if somebody messes with our army and our borders, we are determined to respond to them in their language”.

Shah also talked about those who spoke of human rights violations that take place in areas under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or Afspa. “We removed Afspa from 75 per cent of the Northeast. It is an answer to those who (asked for) removing Afspa on the basis of human rights… I want to tell those who talk about human rights of those spreading terror that even those who die due to terrorism have human rights,” he said.

Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, in his speech, said that Delhi University should start new courses. “Today when technology is playing the role of a disruptor, the role of our universities becomes even more important. With futuristic courses like [those on the] patent process, blockchain accounting and e-commerce arbitration, the creative power and employability of the youth of the country can be further strengthened,” he said.