Peace can prevail only when India is powerful: Nishank

Peace can prevail only when India becomes powerful, Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said on Sunday, stressing that people from around the world came to the country to gain knowledge at the ancient Nalanda and Takshashila universities.

Speaking at a felicitation programme for retired teachers at a coaching centre in Rajasthan's Kota, Nishank said the whole reached to India that time because there was no other institute of higher education.

Established around 2,700 years ago in ancient India, before partition, Takshashila was the most famous centre of learning. Nalanda, too, was an ancient centre of higher education in present-day Bihar.

Terming the "guru" to as sublime and as high as the Himalayas, Nishank said teachers play the biggest role building a nation, He said India is proud to have offered the world the unique "guru-shishya parampara".

"Only when India is powerful, peace can prevail in the world," he said.

"Guru embodies Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and is said to be superior even to God as only guru shows the path to god," the human resources minister said.

Also present on the occasion was Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who represents Kota constituency in Parliament.

Terming Birla the "headmaster" in the school of world's biggest democracy and Kota as "Kashi and pilgrim of education", Nishank claimed the Speaker's tenure would be remembered as "historic".

Birla said whenever he is among teachers, he gains energy and strength.

Appreciating the scientists of ISRO for their efforts on Chandrayaan 2 mission, Birla said, "India is very proud of her scientists".

"Unless one attempts fresh experiments in science every day, he won't be able to succeed," he said, referring to the possible crash-landing of the Vikram module, part of the ambitious mission, on the lunar surface.

Besides, the directors of the Allen Career Institute, Govind Meshwari, Brijesh Meshwari, Naveen Maheshwari, BJP MLA from Ramgangmandi Madan Dilawar, Sandeep Sharma, ex-state minister Prabhulal Saini, ex-MLA Heeralal Nagar were present at the programme.