Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari
| Photo Credit: ANI
Addressing a book release event on S.N. Pathan, former vice-chancellor of Sant Tukadoji Maharaj University Nagpur, at MIT World Peace University in Pune on Friday (September 20, 2024), Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] leader, Nitin Gadkari, made strong statements on democracy, secularism, freedom of expression and equality.
Urging writers, poets, thinkers, and philosophers to write and voice their opinion openly and fearlessly, Mr. Gadkari said, “We are called the mother of democracy which stands on the four pillars of legislative, executive, judiciary and media. Our Constitution has specific rights and responsibilities for all the four pillars, which includes freedom to express and opine. Writers and poets should openly and strongly express their views and opinions without fear. Mr. Pathan never compromised with his thoughts,”.
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“When I was a child, my mother would often tell me ‘a critic should be our neighbour‘ so that they can point out our flaws and we work on them to get better’. The biggest test of democracy is that the king [ruling government] is capable of tolerating the strongest opinion and criticism against himself and introspects over it,” Mr. Gadkari said.
Things that happen in politics, happen everywhere, added Mr. Gadkari. “Having a difference of opinion is not the issue right now in our country, the core issue is losing our existence and not having an opinion. We are neither rightists nor leftists, we are opportunists.”
On freedom to elect political representatives, Mr. Gadkari said that he will work for all, irrespective of whether people vote for him or not. “It is up to us to decide, whether one wants to lead the people or lead by the people.”
On the prevalence of nepotism in politics, Mr. Gadkari said one should take a position on the grounds of their merit. “Being someone’s son or daughter is neither a virtue nor a sin. One must prove their ability, merit and worth to sit in a certain position.”
Expressing worry about the social disparity in the country, Mr. Gadkari emphasised on secularism and said a person’s identity does not depend on the caste they come from, religion they believe in, gender they choose or language they speak.
“The core values and fundamental spirit of all religious teachings said in Bhagwat Gita, Quran and Bible are the same. A nation cannot be built on the differences and issues such as casteism and untouchability. In a democracy, people have freedom of religion. It is an individual’s choice what they believe in, which God they pray and how they offer their prayer. The biggest example of secularism is our Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who never destroyed any places of worship of other religion. We must take the path of social harmony to be able to the Vishwaguru [global teacher]. Whoever talks about caste, I will kick them hard.” he said.
Published – September 21, 2024 11:51 am IST