VP Radhakrishnan Calls for National Unity to Protect Diverse Cultures
India's unity had created a vast domestic market for its manufactured goods and made the country strong enough to protect its diverse cultures, he said
Thoothukudi: India's unity as a large nation is essential to protecting its diverse cultures, including Tamil, Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan has said, calling upon students to uphold nationalism and the spirit of patriotism.
Addressing the platinum jubilee celebrations of his alma mater, V.O. Chidambaram College, here on Wednesday, he recalled his opposition to the Emergency as a student and his differences with freedom fighter A.P.C. Veerabahu, the college's founder correspondent. Veerabahu, a staunch Congress leader, had supported the Emergency, while Radhakrishnan had opposed it. Despite their differences, he said, he continued to hold Veerabahu in high regard as a great nationalist.
Recalling how he had unexpectedly spoken against the Emergency at a Rotaract meeting on the college premises, Radhakrishnan said the police subsequently entered the campus, but he managed to escape.
Referring to Tamil Nadu's contribution to the freedom struggle, he expressed confidence that the national spirit inspired by leaders such as Subramania Siva, Mahakavi Bharathiyar, V.O. Chidambaranar, K. Kamaraj and Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar would never disappear from the State. Urging students to revive that spirit, he asserted that nationalism alone could protect Tamil and safeguard the pride of Tamil Nadu. He cautioned that the State should not become an exception to the patriotic values on which the country was built.
India's unity had created a vast domestic market for its manufactured goods and made the country strong enough to protect its diverse cultures, he said. Students should also understand how national fragmentation could leave smaller countries vulnerable to the influence of powerful nations.
On the language issue, Radhakrishnan urged students to learn several languages to take the richness of Tamil to the world. Opposing another language would not help develop one's mother tongue, he said, in an apparent reference to the anti-Hindi sentiment in Tamil Nadu.
Radhakrishnan spoke critical of communism in his address, arguing that it had failed because it focused on distributing existing wealth rather than creating it. Cautioning the students against blindly following any ideology, he stressed the need for human resource development through research in educational institutions. He also credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi with strengthening educational infrastructure across the country with the objective of enhancing the human resource of the nation. Further describing Modi as a great nationalist, he compared him with former US President Abraham Lincoln, saying that around 50 crore people in India had been lifted out of poverty in the past 15 years.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar also participated in the celebration.
