Plain-speaking Pranab Mukherjee reminds RSS of India's 'soul of pluralism'

Speaking at its headquarters former President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday did some plainspeaking on nationalism and patriotism to RSS cadre telling them that Indias multiple faiths and cultures made it tolerant and that the soul of the nation resided in its pluralism and secularismCalling for a dialogue to balance competing interests and reconcile them he made it clear that hatred dilutes nationalism and intolerance will dilute national identity Divergent stands in public discourse have to be recognisedSharing some truths that I have internalized during my 50year long public life as a parliamentarian and administrator he said the soul of India resided in pluralism and toleranceThis plurality of our society has come through assimilation of ideas over centuries Secularism and inclusion are a matter of faith for us It is our composite culture which makes us into one nation he said addressing the third year annual training camp at the RSS headquarters here even as his acceptance of the invitation to the event came in for strong criticism from Congress leaders and Left partiesInvoking the vision of Mahatma Gandhi Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar PatelMukherjee said Indias nationhood was not one language one religion or one enemyIts the perennial one universalism of 13 billion people who use more than 122 languages 1600 dialects in their every day lives practice seven major religions belong to three major ethnic groups live under one system one flag and one identity of being Bharatiya and have no enemies That is what makes India a diverse and united nation he said speaking in English and peppering his speech with some words and phrases from his mother tongue BengaliHe said intolerance diluted nationalism and hate was destroying people Only a nonviolent society can ensure participation of all sections of people in the democratic process especially marginalized and dispossesed We must move from violence anger and conflict to peace harmony and happiness Our motherland is asking for that Our motherland deserves that Mukherjee said in his 30minute addressThe former President surprised the political world when he accepted RSS chief Mohan Bhagwats invitation to attend the organisations event at its headquarters While the Congress officially maintained silence its leaders including Anand Sharma Ahmed Patel and his own daughter Sharmistha were critical of itAs television channels beamed images of Mukherjee watching a drill by RSS cadres in the company of Bhagwat Sharma tweeted that the image of Mukherjee at the RSS headquarters has anguished millions of Congress workers in the countryEarlier Mukherjee who had strongly denounced the saffron founthead during his entire political career visited the memorial of RSS founder KB Hedgewar and wrote in the visitors book Came here to pay my respect and homage to a great son of India KB HedgewarjiOn patriotism the former Congress leader said From our Constitution flows our nationalism The construct of Indian nationalism is Constitutional patriotism which consists of an appreciation of our inherited and shared diversity readiness to enact one citizenship at different levels and an ability to selfcorrect and learn from othersAt the outset he said he wanted to share with RSS cadres his understanding of the concepts of nation nationalism and patriotism in the context of India that is Bharat These three concepts are so closely intertwined that its difficult to discuss any one of them in isolationCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever