Pranab joins lynching debate, says core values of tolerance, plurality cannot be waste

Indian civilisation has survived because of its core civilisational values and we must keep that in mind, he said

President Pranab Mukherjee joined the debate on Dadri lynching, saying the core values of diversity, tolerance and plurality of Indian civilisation cannot be allowed to be frittered away. “I firmly believe we cannot allow the core values of our civilisation to be wasted... Over the years, the civilisation celebrated diversity, and promoted and advocated tolerance, endurance and plurality. The core civilisation values keep us together over the centuries. Many ancient civilisations have fallen. But aggression after aggression, long foreign rule, the Indian civilisation has survived because of its core civilisational values and we must keep that in mind. If we keep those core values in mind, nothing can prevent our democracy to move,” he said.

The President’s remarks come in the wake of lynching of a 50-year-old man at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh by an enraged mob over rumours that he had stored and consumed beef.

Mukherjee was speaking at a function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi, where he was handed over a coffee-table book on him. The book, written by Prabhu Chawla, editorial director of New Indian Express , was released by Vice-President Hamid Ansari.

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 members of Parliament 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 a book release of a volume on him. He said the country had made tremendous progress in many sectors and there was no limit to doing more. “There is no limit. We will have to do much more,” he said. He added there was no end to work in the President’s office, which is considered strictly Constitutional and recalled how his friends jokingly commented that he wouldn’t 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.