Nagpur: Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday warned that any attempt to define India through “religion, hatred, dogmas and intolerance” will dilute our existence and said public discourses must be freed of all forms of violence, as he addressed an RSS event despite criticism by the Congress and his family.
Asserting that India’s identity has emerged through a long-drawn process of confluence, assimilation and co-existence, Mukherjee, in a strong-worded speech on ‘nation, nationalism and patriotism’ in context of Bharat, said India’s soul resides in pluralism and tolerance.
Mukherjee’s message to hundreds of ‘pracharaks’ and top-brass of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is often described as a Hindu right-wing organisation, was described as a ‘mirror of truth to the RSS’ by the Congress, whose several leaders have so far been critical of his decision to attend the event here at the Sangh headquarters.
At the same time, the Hindutva leaders including S Gurumurthy said Mukherjee talked about nationalism not being limited to any religious identity, which was the same message delivered by the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
In an apparent reference to the ‘one-nation-one-culture ideology’ often identified with the RSS, Mukherjee said India’s nationhood is not “one language, one religion and one enemy”.
“It is ‘perennial universalism’ of 1.3 billion people who use 122 languages and 1600 dialects…practice seven major religions… live under one system, one flag and one identity of being Bhartiya and have ‘no enemies’. That is what makes Bharat a diverse and united nation,” he said.
Mukherjee, who served as President of India between 2012 and 2017, said, “Every day, we see increased violence around us. At the heart of this violence is darkness, fear and mistrust. We must free our public discourse from all forms of violence, physical as well as verbal.”
In remarks that come amid an outrage over incidents of rapes including of minors, he talked about “soul of India” getting wounded, every time a child or woman is brutalised and “manifestations of rage are tearing our social fabric”.
Mukherjee said only “a non-violent society” can ensure the participation of all sections of people in the democratic process, especially the marginalised and dispossessed.
“We must move from anger, violence and conflict to peace, harmony and happiness,” he said.
Mukherjee also talked about thousands years of Indian history, including the rules of various dynasties, Muslim invaders, a mercantile company and then the British empire.
He quoted from works of Jawahar Lal Nehru, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and others and praised Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel for uniting India by bringing the princely states into the main fold.
Before the former president spoke, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said the debate over Mukherjee’s decision to attend the RSS event was “meaningless” and no one is an outsider for his organisation.
Mukherjee’s decision to attent the RSS event has already triggered a major political slugfest with several Congress leaders criticising his decision.
