Free campuses of intolerance, violence: Prez

Kochi, March 2: President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday advocated free thinking on university campuses and said it was tragic to see students caught in a vortex of violence and disquiet.

Students and faculties must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagating a culture of unrest, he said while delivering the sixth K.S. Rajamony Memorial Lecture here.

His comments come in the backdrop of violent clashes between RSS-affiliate ABVP and Leftbacked AISA supporters in Delhi University, and a raging debate over free speech and nationalism.

He said there should be no room for the “intolerant Indian” and attacks on women.

The views of Gurmehar Kaur, DU student and daughter of an Army officer killed in action, had prompted Union minister Kiren Rijiju to ask, “who is polluting her mind”. The student was allegedly threatened with rape and mocked by celebrities who questioned her pacifist approach.

“Protection and safety Those who spread violence must remember that Buddha, Ashoka and Akbar are remembered as heroes; not Hitler or Genghis Khan

— Pranab Mukherjee, President of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. India should not fail this test,” the President said.

Mr Mukherjee said he does not consider a society to be civilised if its citizens’ behaviour towards women is uncivilised.

“When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine,” he said.

“Those who spread violence must remember that Buddha, Ashoka and Akbar are remembered as heroes; not Hitler..,” he said.