President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that ideally dialogue should be a continual engagement for resolving disputes among nations but peace cannot be discussed under a “shower of bullets”.
In significant remarks that come 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 on the eve of 67th R-Day.
Mukherjee said nations will not agree on everything but the challenge today is existential because militants 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.
Mukherjee said that the sub-continent has a historic opportunity to become a beacon to the world at a time of great danger.
“We must attempt to resolve the complex edges of the emotional and geo-political inheritance with neighbours through a peaceful dialogue, and invest in mutual prosperity by recognising that human beings are best defined by a humane spirit, and not their worst instincts. Our example can be its own message to a world in anxious need of amity,” he said.
The President asserted that the optimism at the beginning of the 21st century that energies of people would be committed to a rising prosperity that would eliminate the curse of extreme poverty has faded in first 15 years.
“There is unprecedented turbulence across vast regions, with alarming increase in regional instabilities. The scourge of terrorism has reshaped war into its most barbaric manifestation. No corner can now consider itself safe from this savage monster,” Mukherjee said.
He said terrorism is inspired by insane objectives, motivated by bottomless depths of hatred, instigated by puppeteers who have invested heavily in havoc through the mass murder of innocents.
Mukherjee said the country should guard itself against forces of violence, intolerance and unreason.
In remarks that come against the backdrop of debate on intolerance in the country, he said reverence for the past is one of the essential ingredients of nationalism.
“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 the R-day address.
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.