Prime Minister Narendra Modi Addresses Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Students and Staff
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today called for ideology not to get in the way of national interest during his speech at Jawaharlal Nehru University after unveiling a statue of Swami Vivekananda on the South Delhi campus.
“Everyone is proud of their ideology and this is natural. But our ideology must be seen alongside the nation and not against it in matters of national interest,” Prime Minister Modi said in a video.
He spoke about the fight for independence and the fight against the Emergency to highlight how people with different ideological thinking came together for the “national interest” but without compromising their ideologies.
“When the question is about integrity and national interests, then making a decision under the weight of one’s ideology harms the nation,” said Prime Minister Modi. “It is wrong to believe that one will think and act in a certain framework on matters of national interest solely because that is what the ideology says,” he said.
It is a source of immense pride that a statue of Swami Vivekananda is unveiled at JNU. https://t.co/OvXTVpPWMe
– Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 12, 2020
Left-wing student parties have traditionally been strong at JNU. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s ABVP student wing has also been trying to gain influence in the JNU student body.
Small fights between groups of students have been reported from time to time on campus, but the most serious incident occurred in January this year when masked thugs, armed with sticks and stones, stormed the campus and beat students and teachers, seeding chaos and terror.
Aishe Ghosh, president of the JNU Student Union, from the left, was injured in the attack. The ABVP had also said that its members were brutally attacked by those affiliated with left-wing student organizations such as the Indian Student Federation, the All India Student Association and the Democratic Student Federation.
“Swami Vivekananda wanted education in the country to be such as to provide self-confidence to individuals and make them atmanirbhar (self-sufficient) in every way. The new National Education Policy is in the same vein and has inclusion at its core, “PM Modi said today.
.
