Speaking at a function in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Monday, the President said, “We celebrate diversity, we promote tolerance, we accept dissent... and if it wasn’t there India’s civilization couldn’t have survived for 5000 years and in any circumstances.”
Mukherjee’s statement is significant as the government pooh-poohed the action of writers returning their Academy awards to protest against the environment of intolerance in the country.
“Humanism and pluralism should not be abandoned under any circumstance,” he tweeted later to reinforce the message. “Our collective strength must to be harnessed to resist evil powers in society. Hope Mahamaya - the combination of all positive forces would eliminate the Asuras or divisive forces.”
This is the second appeal from the president, the first appeal for tolerance was made on October 8, days after a mob lynched a Muslim man in Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri, allegedly over rumours of cow slaughter.
“We can’t allow core values of our civilisation to be wasted... The core values are that civilisation has celebrated diversity, promoted and advocated tolerance, endurance and plurality,” the President had said.
He was Mukherjee speaking at a function to launch a book on his life’s journey. Soon after President spoke his mind on the issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who till then had maintained a studied silence, criticized the killing urging Hindus and the Muslims to fight poverty hand-in-hand.
However, the appeals by the two top leaders seem to have fallen on deaf ears as more cases of lynching over rumours of cow killings have been reported from elsewhere – in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur and in Nahan, Himachal Pradesh.
Referring to what he called “recent events as highlighted by the media” the President said the reports were planting doubts on whether the country is “progressing on the right path”.