PM’S ADDRESS ON THE OCCASION OF
THE 16th CONVOCATION
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIR
The Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee presided over the 16th Convocation
ceremony of the University of Kashmir at Srinagar this morning.
Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s speech on the occasion:
"I am pleased to
be with all of you today at the 16th Convocation of
the University of Kashmir. I am aware of the honour of following
in the footsteps of many great personalities, beginning with Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India who also addressed
the first convocation of your university.
I welcome the opportunity
of congratulating everyone receiving a degree or distinction or
honour at this convocation.
Today is an occasion
for you to express your gratitude to all those who prepared you
to enter the most important phase of your life – a life of challenges
as well as opportunities. The education that you have received
no doubt equips you to shape your own personal career. But it
also enables you to determine how you wish to contribute to creating
a better future for India and for your own beautiful State.
Convocation may connote
the end of formal education, but not of education as such. Learning
is a life-long activity. Prophet Mohammed exhorted everyone, woman
and man alike, to pursue learning from cradle to grave, and to
cross every frontier to seek ilm (knowledge). It is a happy
coincidence that your university is located near Hazaratbal, which
is made famous by its association with the Prophet of Islam.
The very fact that
this Convocation is taking place after a gap of six long years
is an indication of the troubled times in which you had to study,
your teachers had to teach, and the administrators of your university
had to function.
But a student is
one who remains devoted to learning in spite of all the turbulence
around him. Indeed, in learning about the subjects of their respective
courses, students also learn about the turbulence around them.
They intensely reflect on how it may one day be tamed so that
the Garden of Knowledge rides out the storm, and future generations
may savour that Garden’s most cherished fruit: Peace.
Friends, anyone
who experiences the beauty and serenity of Jammu & Kashmir
is bound to conclude that God has been partial to this place,
making it the Paradise on Earth. However, the same person, looking
at the strife and violence that have marred the State’s tranquility,
might also wonder: Why has Peace eluded this Paradise for so long?
It is a question
that needs to be objectively studied by all those who care for
peace, and who care for Kashmir. An unprejudiced examination of
facts would reveal that the ideologies that support militancy,
terrorism and separatism find no support whatsoever in the social
history, cultural identity and spiritual traditions of Kashmir.
Kashmir, like the
rest of India, has been the respecter of all spiritual streams
and alchemist of all cultural influences. It has accepted all
that is noble in mankind’s creation, and rejected none. The interaction
of the three great religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam on
the soil of Kashmir saw a soaring of the human spirit, propagating
far and wide the ideals of humanism, tolerance, communal harmony
and peace among the people.
It is necessary and
useful for us to remember that Sufi Islam arrived here neither
as a conqueror nor as a competitor, but as an ally to Kashmir’s
existing spiritual tradition.
Shiv chuy thali
thali rozan;
Mo zan Hindu
ta Musalman.
Truk ay chuk
pan panun parzanav;
Soy chay Sahibas
sati zaniy zan.
(Shiv – or Allah –
lives everywhere; do not divide Hindu from Muslim. Use your sense
to recognize yourself; that is the true way to find God.)
Thus sang Kashmir’s
greatest mystic poetess in one of her thousands of shlokas
or waakhs that are a part of the folklore of this land.
If she was Lalla Arifa for the Muslims, she was Lalleshwari for
the Hindus. But for all the Kashmiris, she remains, even after
800 years, their own much-loved Lal Ded, the symbol as well as
the source of Kashmiriyat.
It is only in Kashmir
that the Rishi order recognizes Hindu and Muslim spiritual masters
alike. Nooruddin Shaikh, the greatest saint of Kashmir, is also
known as Nand Rishi. His appeal to the people "to break the sword
and forge it into a sickle" reads as if it is coined not only
for Kashmir of today but also for the world of today.
These saints are
remembered and revered even today because, Kashmir, like the rest
of India, places saints and social reformers on a higher pedestal
than kings, shahs and sultans.
And if Kashmir does
adore a king, it adores one like Zainul Abedin or Bud Shah, who
led Kashmir into its Golden Age in the 13th century.
Here was an ideal ruler whose second name was Justice; who led
a simple life and refused to touch the state treasury for his
personal needs; who honored Pandits and Maulvis alike; and who
founded a Dar-ul-Aloom, equivalent to a University, which patronized
learning in all branches.
In our own times,
poets like the Shayar-e-Kashmir Ghulam Ahmed Mehjoor have forcefully
voiced the message of peace and brotherhood. Today I would like
to recall one of Mehjoor’s couplets, which I had quoted in my
Independence Day speech in 2001.
"Clearly, if
Muslim is milk, Hindu is sugar; Let the two mix together;
Discard discord
and love each other."
Didn’t Swami Vivekananda
also express the same thought, after he returned from a memorable
visit to Kashmir? Replying to a letter from a Maulvi, Swamiji
wrote his famous words: "I see in my mind’s eye the future perfect
India rising out of this chaos and strife, glorious and invincible,
with Vedanta brain and Islam body."
I have recalled certain
names and facts from Kashmir’s history only to underscore my belief
that the tradition of brotherhood is not something that belongs
to Kashmir’s past. It is also a part of its living present. The
outpouring of shock, grief, and anger that marked Kashmiri Muslims’
response to the recent massacre of Pandits at Nadimarg is just
one example of this.
It is the responsibility
of academicians, scholars, artists, cultural personalities, mass
media and political workers to highlight the age-old traditions
of communal harmony and national unity in Kashmir and the rest
of India. We should affirm that death and destruction cannot always
claim supremacy over life and creation, that darkness cannot keep
light away forever.
In affirming this,
we should take inspiration from the motto of your university.
Tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
(Lead us, O Lord,
from Darkness to Light.)
It is a highly appropriate
motto. On the one hand, it captures the timeless wisdom of Kashmir,
the land from where Khudayi Noor or the Heavenly Light
is being radiated since time immemorial. On the other, it also
reflects the historic transition from darkness to light that is
now taking place in your State.
My current visit
to Kashmir has reinforced my belief that darkness and despair
are, indeed, departing; that Light and Hope are, indeed, arriving.
Indeed, one such
bright ray of hope was visible when the people of Jammu &
Kashmir expressed their will in a heroic and unmistakable manner
in the Assembly elections held six months ago. Through the power
of democracy, they gave a ringing verdict against the militancy
and terrorist violence unleashed against us from across the border
for the past decade and more. Defying threats and violence, they
turned out in impressive numbers to exercise their franchise.
As far as the Central
Government is concerned, we fulfilled our promise that the elections
would be transparent, free and fair. They were indeed deemed to
be so by the whole world, except those who have their own ulterior
agenda to project the elections in a different light.
The verdict has clearly
shown that the vast majority of the people are fed up with violence.
They want to live a normal life, a life of dignity. They voted
for change, good governance, faster development, more employment
opportunities and, above all, for peace to return to their State.
They reposed their faith in our democratic institutions and electoral
processes. They will not be disappointed.
The elections and
their aftermath have given us a great opportunity to build upon
the positive elements in the current situation. The newly elected
Government has taken several good initiatives and measures. The
Central Government is committed to working sincerely with the
State Government and give it all reasonable assistance. We have
also started a process of talks with the elected representatives
and other sections of public opinion in the State. I believe –
and I would like one and all in Jammu & Kashmir to share this
belief – that there is no problem which cannot be resolved peacefully
and democratically.
Today, our sincere
commitment to bring peace and normalcy to Jammu & Kashmir
makes me admit that we have often faltered in our journey towards
this goal. It was sometimes forgotten that democracy is too delicate
a plant to be subjected to manipulation and mishandling. We must
learn from these mistakes and resolve not to repeat them. We should
look to the future with a constructive approach, and not remain
obsessed with the acrimonies and unrealistic goals of the past.
Today, I would also
like to caution that, in order to prevent the youth from being
misled or driven into negative activities, we must ensure that
they do not lose faith in our institutions, in the fairness of
our systems and in the rule of law. Therefore, good governance
and an effective check on corruption and nepotism are of prime
importance in the task of Nation building – and building a New
Jammu & Kashmir. Our political leadership, cutting across
party lines, should also see that our youth do not get carried
away by ethnic or religious extremism or fundamentalist ideologies.
My young friends,
Your State, like
the rest of India, is beckoned by a bright future. Our country
is making rapid strides in agriculture, industry, infrastructure
and services. What has especially astonished the international
community is the remarkable progress that our country has made
in science and technology, and in frontier areas of the Knowledge
Economy.
One such icon of
the Knowledge Economy, Shri N.R. Narayan Murthy, is with us today.
I appreciate your University’s decision to honour him with D.
Litt. I hope that he and his fraternity would suitably assist
promotion of employment and entrepreneurship in IT in Jammu &
Kashmir.
The main focus of
the reforms agenda pursued by the Government is creation of large-scale
employment, self-employment and business opportunities in diverse
areas of our economy. Today it is neither necessary nor feasible
to seek only government jobs. Therefore, I would like young graduates
from this university to fully seize these opportunities in India
and abroad. Indeed, I would like to see more employment opportunities
created in Jammu & Kashmir itself.
In recent years,
there has been a welcome trend of more and more young students
from Kashmir going to universities and colleges in different parts
of the country to pursue higher education. I would like the UGC,
Ministry of Human Resource Development, and non-governmental educational
institutions to create many more opportunities of this kind for
students from this State.
Your Vice Chancellor
has rightly pointed out the inadequacy of Kashmir Valley, with
a population of over 50 lakh, having only one university. Today
I would like to assure that the idea of establishing more professional
institutions and Kendriya Vidyalayas would receive our serious
and sympathetic consideration.
Here, too, I call
upon reputed non-governmental institutions in the rest of the
country to come forward. I was in Sikkim last week. A prestigious
educational institution from Manipal in Karnataka has established
a medical college there. The Centre and the State Government can
encourage similar initiatives in your State.
I am pleased to know
that yours is the only university in India that has a dedicated
Centre for Central Asian Studies. When I look at Kashmir, I find
that both geographically and historically, it links India to the
lands and peoples of a very important part of Asia. We are deeply
interested strengthening our ties of friendship and mutually beneficial
cooperation with all of them.
In particular, we
are adding a new dimension to our external relations by deepening
and broadening our traditionally friendly ties with all the countries
of Central Asia. We call it the "New Silk Route Initiative". I
was in Kazakhstan last year to attend the first ever summit meeting
to discuss issues pertaining to security and cooperation in Central
Asia. I would like the academics working in your University to
make a solid contribution to this effort.
My dear students
and teachers, as I said at the beginning of my address, this
convocation is taking place at an important point – almost a turning
point – in history of Jammu & Kashmir. India is a vast country
with a rich diversity of religion, language, and ethnicity But
there is a silken civilisational thread that has woven a priceless
unity in this diversity. The same thread of unity also runs through
the three main regions of your State – Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh.
Our secular democracy has further strengthened our nationhood.
The destiny of the people of Jammu & Kashmir are inseparably
tied to the destiny of India. Let there be no doubt that a bright
future awaits us.
I call upon the students
and teachers of this great University, and all the people of this
beautiful State, to march towards this bright future, together
with your sisters and brothers in the rest of India, with hope
in your hearts and unity in your steps.
Thank you".
