New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said peace cannot be discussed under a shower of bullets, a remark held significant against the backdrop of the Pathankot attack.
He also said terrorism is a war beyond any doctrine and is a "cancer which must be operated out with a firm scalpel".
"There is no good or bad terrorism; it is pure evil," the President said in his address to the nation on the eve of 67th Republic Day.
Mukherjee said nations will not agree on everything but the challenge today is existential because terrorists seek to undermine order by rejecting the very basis of strategic stability which are recognised borders.
"If outlaws are able to unravel borders, then we are heading towards an age of chaos. There will be disputes among nations; and, as is well known, the closer we are to a neighbour, the higher the propensity for disputes.
"There is a civilised way to bridge disagreements; dialogue, ideally, should be a continual engagement. But we cannot discuss peace under a shower of bullets," he said.
The President also cautioned the country to guard itself against forces of violence, intolerance and unreason, a statement that comes against the backdrop of debate on intolerance in the country.
"Our finest inheritance, the institutions of democracy, ensure to all citizens justice, equality, and gender and economic equity.
"When grim instances of violence hit at these established values which are at the core of our nationhood, it is time to take note. We must guard ourselves against the forces of violence, intolerance and unreason," he said in his address to the nation on the eve of 67th Republic Day.
The President said there will be occasional doubters and baiters who will continue to complain, to demand, to rebel.
"This too is a virtue of democracy. But let us also applaud what our democracy has achieved. With investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, health, education, science and technology, we are positioning ourselves well for achieving a higher growth rate which will in the next ten to fifteen years help us eliminate poverty," he said.
The President said January 26, 1950, when the Republic was born and Constitution was adopted, it saw the culmination of heroic struggle of an extraordinary generation of leaders who overcame colonialism to establish the world's largest democracy.
"They pulled together India's amazing diversity to build national unity, which has brought us so far. The enduring
democratic institutions they established have given us the gift of continuity on the path of progress," he said.
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