CM inaugurates Christmas meet at St. Xavier’s College

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Christmas meet at St. Xavier’s College here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Banerjee said, “Practice is anytime more important than preaching and what we need is practice the ideals preached by great souls like Jesus Christ to combat intolerance.” 

She said the ideals preached by Rabindranath and Swami Viveknanda had helped us to combat intolerance. “Their message has taught us to be united and has always spoken about harmony and peace. The Chief Minister prayed to Jesus “to give us strength to fight against intolerance.”

Banerjee said, “Bad governance had given rise to intolerance and only good governance can give peace and happiness.”  Bad governance means divide and rule that gives birth to intolerance, while only good governance can unite people and bring peace and prosperity, she said.

Praising the role of St. Xavier’s College in spreading education, she said: “If the college authorities can read out from the Gita and the Holy Quran why not us follow this in our lives.” 

Recollecting her personal experience she said that while in hospital after being beaten up, she used to sing the songs of Tagore and recite the writings of Swamiji which gave her strength. “I had to be admitted to hospitals quite often after being beaten up, and I used to sing songs of Tagore and recite writings of Swamiji to get back strength.” She said Swami Viveknanda used to say that strength lies in unity. Describing Christmas as a global festival, she said: “It brings all together.”  Referring to the great teaching of Christ, she said that it was our duty to look after the poor and the downtrodden and bring back light to their lives. “This festival is for peace and tolerance,” she maintained.

Banerjee said that St. Xavier’s College was imparting quality education to the students and announced that it would soon become a university.