Attacks on weaker sections need to be dealt with firmly: Pranab Mukherjee

President comes down on forces of intolerance

President Pranab Mukherjee, in his address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day, criticised attacks on dalits and minorities and said these should be dealt with firmly.

“In these four years, I also saw with, some disquiet, forces of divisiveness and intolerance trying to raise their ugly head. Attacks on weaker sections that militate against our national ethos are aberrations that need to be dealt with firmly,” the President said.

Mr Mukherjee cautioned against “unmindful pursuit” of a divisive political agenda and polarising debates by groups and individuals, saying they lead to institutional “travesty” and constitutional “subversion.”

Mr Mukherjee, in his last address as the President, also made it clear that democracy was not just about exercising choice to elect governments periodically. He asked the authorities and institutions of state power to adhere to the “maryada (dignity)” in the discharge of their duties, as established in the Indian ethos.

The President said the collective wisdom of the Indian society and polity gave him the confidence that such forces will remain marginalised and India’s remarkable growth story will continue uninterrupted.

“The great tree of liberty requires constant nourishment through the institutions of democracy. Disruptions, obstructionism and unmindful pursuit of a divisive political agenda by groups and individuals lead to nothing but institutional travesty and constitutional subversion. Polarising debates only deepen the fault lines in public discourse,” he cautioned.

Mr Mukherjee said the Constitution has clearly defined the duties and responsibilities of every organ of the state. The President said India will grow, only when all of India grows.

“The excluded ones have to be included in the development process. The hurt and the alienated have to be brought back into the mainstream.”