New Delhi: Former president Pranab Mukherjee's much-anticipated speech at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur on Thursday drew widespread praise as people from across the ideological spectrum spoke positively about his address.
Senior BJP leader Ram Madhav said, "Great address by Dr Pranab Mukherjee at Nagpur. His address and (RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's) address are in a way complementary to each other. 'Nation first' is the core message of both."
On the other end of the political divide, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Mukherjee's speech "showed the mirror to the RSS at their headquarters."
Here is a list of the top quotes from former President's address:
"I am here to share my understanding on nation, nationalism and patriotism about our country which is 'Bharat'."
“Indian nationalism is not one nation, one language, one religion, one enemy. It’s perennial universalism of its people.”
"In India, we derive our strength from tolerance, and respect our pluralism. We celebrate our diversity."
"We must free our public discourse from all kinds of fear and violence."
“Soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance. This plurality came with assimilation of ideas over centuries. Secularism is a matter of faith for us”
“Any attempt at defining our nationhood in terms of dogmas and identities of religion, region, hatred and intolerance will only lead to dilution of our national identity”
“A dialogue between diverging groups is necessary. We may argue, we may agree, we may not agree but we cannot deny multiplicity of arguments. Only a dialogue can make us respect differing opinions.”
“From our Constitution flows our nationalism. The construct of Indian nationalism is constitutional patriotism.”
“Our national identity has emerged after a long drawn process of confluence and assimilation, the multiple cultures and faiths make us special and tolerant.”
“When we go to Parliament, just above the lift in gate number 6, there is a quote by Kautilya which says, in the happiness of the people lies in the happiness of the king. Their welfare is the king's welfare. Kautilya places people at the centre even before India's constitution was laid down.”
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