Problems will end only when people abide by law: Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu
PUDUCHERRY: Expressing concern over “violence happening in the country,” Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said an attitudinal change among people is the need of the hour. Delivering the 28th annual convocation address of Pondicherry University, he said, “In a democracy, people have the right to stage agitation or express themselves. However, it should be done in a peaceful manner. By causing destruction, you are doing harm to your future and to the country as well. It is time people changed their attitude and started being more positive.
It is not sufficient to merely have laws or a police force. Problems will disappear only when people start following the law and rules.”Citing Nirbhaya case, Naidu said the government came out with a Bill to prevent such atrocities against women. However, such heinous crimes continue. “Mere Bills will not suffice. What you require is political will, administrative skill and that alone will destroy social evil,” he said. To tackle issues such as exploitation and tension, there is a need to go back to the tradition of culture and ethics, Naidu said.
“Students should learn as many languages as possible, like Hindi, French and Chinese in addition to their mother tongue. Learning their mother tongue should be a priority. If you learn Hindi, you may get opportunities all over the country. Leaning English will get you more opportunities outside the country as well. Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, a former Union Minister, was able to scale great heights because he could communicate with a lot of people in other languages, including Hindi. However, no language should be imposed on people. I would like to also add that blind opposition to any language is bad,” Naidu said. Universities should consider discarding colonial robes during convocation.
“We should have a simple Indian dress. I am not prescribing anything. Whatever it is, it could be something connected with khadi or silk or with rural artisans,” Naidu said.
Students released Protesting students, who were earlier detained in another block of the university, were released after Naidu left the premises. They came back to the Administrative block after 18 hours of confinement and resumed their agitation against fee hike. Rangasamy boycott Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition and N R Congress founder N Rangasamy boycotted a reception accorded to Naidu at the Puducherry airport, as he was ‘subjected to security check like a common man.’
Rangasamy, who was invited by Narayanasamy, came to the airport along with party legislators TPR Selvam, NS Jayabal and SV Sugumaran. However, security forces tried to frisk them. Objecting to this, Rangasamy and his party MLAs left the airport. NR Congress general secretary V Bhalan said that frisking Rangasmay was disrespectful.