Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday said the now-abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution “bled India and the state of Jammu and Kashmir” for too long.
Paying homage to Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee on his death anniversary, observed as ‘balidan diwas’ (sacrifice day), he said, “It is a great day in the history of our nation. One of the finest sons of our soil, it is his balidan diwas today – Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.”
The Vice President remembered how he gave the slogan ‘Ek Vidhan, Ek Nishan, Ek Pradhan’ during a campaign in Jammu and Kashmir in 1952.
“We suffered from Article 370 for too long. It bled us and the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 and the draconian Article 35A deprived people of their basic human rights and fundamental rights. We had a visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a Home Minister in the shoes of Sardar Patel, Amit Shah.
“Article 370 does not exist now in our Constitution. It was abrogated on 5th August 2019, and the legal challenge to the Supreme Court failed on 11 December 2023. I therefore cannot be at a more befitting place than this to pay tribute to one of the finest sons of our soil. My tributes to him,” the Vice President said.
Addressing an inaugural session of the 99th annual meet and National Conference of Vice Chancellors 2024–2025, organised by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), at Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, Dhankhar also talked about the National Education Policy.
“I must share with you something which happened after more than three decades that has really changed the landscape of our education. I am making reference to the ‘National Education Policy’ 2020. As Governor, State of West Bengal, I was associated with it. Some major inputs – in the hands of thousands – were taken into consideration for the evolution of this policy,” he said.
“The policy resonates with our civilizational spirit, essence, and ethos. It is a bold reaffirmation of India’s timeless belief that education is the awakening of the self – not just for education of skills,” he was quoted as saying in the document.
“I have firmly believed education is a great equalizer. Education brings about equality as no other mechanism does. Education decimates inequities. As a matter of fact, education gives life to democracy,” he added.
He also applauded India’s national progress, and said, “India has emerged as a land of opportunity, of entrepreneurship, of startups, of innovation, of unicorns. In every parameter where growth and development can be gauged, we are rising.”
During his address on the occasion, he also touched upon the role of universities and said they are not meant to just hand out degrees.
The degrees must carry great weightage. Universities must be sanctuaries of ideas and ideation, crucibles of innovation. These places have to catalyse big change, he added.
“That responsibility lies on the Vice-Chancellors in particular and academia in general. I appeal to you, there must be space for disagreement, debate, dialogue and discussion. That is how the mind cells are activated,” the Vice President added.
He also called for equitable expansion of higher education, and said, “A lot of our institutions have remained brown-field. Let us fall in line with the global groove – let’s go green. Greenfield institutions alone bring about equitable distribution. There is clusterization in metros and Tier 1 cities. Many regions remain untouched.”
“Let’s go in for greenfield institutions in such areas. Vice Chancellors are not only the watchdogs, but impregnable bulwarks against commodification and commercialisation of education. One of our fundamental objectives is to ensure affordability, reach, and accessibility of quality education for ordinary people,” he said.
“Education is not just merely for public good. It is our most strategic national asset. It is integrally connected not only with our development journey in infrastructure or otherwise, it assures national security also,” he told the gathering.