New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on July 1 urged people to become vigilant when mob frenzy becomes so “irrational and uncontrollable.” Such alertness is a must to save the basic tents of society, the president told a function to mark 70 years of India’s independence.
He also urged the intellectual class to rise and be vigilant as it could act as the biggest deterrent to forces of darkness and backwardness.
“When mob frenzy becomes so high, irrational and uncontrollable, we have to pause and reflect. Are you vigilant enough,” he added. He, however, clarified that he was not talking of vigilantism. “I am talking about whether we are vigilant enough proactively to save the basic tenets of our time,” he added.
Former Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi were among those present.
Mukherjee also said one cannot obliterate one’s duty toward the issue, saying, “Posterity will demand an explanation from us about what we have done. I raise this question within myself.”
The president also appealed to the media to remain constantly vigilant saying it is because of it that democracy survives.
“You must rise to preserve and ensure human dignity is maintained, slavery is kept away. You will have to maintain your vigilance,” Mukherjee said. “I do believe that citizen’s vigilance, intellectual vigilance and media vigilance can act as the biggest deterrent to the forces of darkness and backwardness,” he said.
Making a veiled attack on the government, Sonia Gandhi said the “inclusive conception” of the country is “under attack” and the nation was facing a great challenge in the form “domestic misrule”.
She said the press was being “pressured to obey and applaud” rather than to question and speaking the truth was the imperative of the present age.
She was speaking at a function here where President Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative publication of the National Herald newspaper on ’70 years of India’s Independence’.
“The National Herald evokes a time when nationalism fought foreign rule. But domestic misrule is as great a challenge for our country,” Gandhi said.
“At a time when the inclusive conception of our nation is under attack, and the press is pressured to obey and applaud rather than to question, speaking truth to power is the imperative of our age,” she said.
She said the ‘National Herald’ newspaper, which was run by the Congress, was a reminder of “what is precious about the India which its founders fought to free”.
The Congress chief called for working together “to safeguard an India in which each person’s voice can be raised and heard — most of all the voices of those who question and disagree.”
(Source: The Tribune)