Cleanse minds of divisiveness: President Pranab Mukherjee

As Parliament discussed growing incidents of intolerance across the country, President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday emphasised on “cleansing minds of divisive thoughts” and said the “real dirt of India lies not on the streets but in our minds ... and in our unwillingness to let go of views that divide society into them and us”.

Speaking at a event at Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Ashram, Mr Mukherjee spoke of Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of India as an inclusive nation in which every section of the population lived in equality and enjoyed equal opportunity, adding that the essence of being human was “our trust of each other”.

“Every day, we see unprecedented violence all around us. At the heart of this violence is darkness, fear and mistrust. While we invent new modes of combating this ever-spiralling violence, we must not forget the power of non-violence, dialogue and reason,” he said.

President Mukherjee has been repeatedly speaking out against intolerance after the horrific Dadri lynching and subsequent events in other states. He said ahimsa (non-violence) was not a negative force and “we must free our public discourse of all forms of violence, physical as well as verbal. Only a non-violent society can ensure the participation of all sections of the people, especially the marginalised and the dispossessed, in our democratic process”.

The President said Gandhiji gave us an object lesson in ahimsa by taking the assassin’s bullets with the name of Ram on his lips. Inaugurating the ashram’s archives and research centre, Mr Mukherjee said the real dirt of India lies not in our streets but in our minds, and in our unwillingness to let go of views that divide society into “them” and “us”, between “pure” and “impure”.

“We must make a success of the laudable and welcome Swachchh Bharat Mission. However, this also must be seen as just the beginning of a much larger and intense effort to cleanse minds and fulfil Gandhiji’s vision in all its aspects,” said Mr Mukherjee, who is on a three-day visit to Gujarat. “So long as the dehumanising practice of carrying night soil persists, we cannot have real Swachchh Bharat,” the President added.