Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled the statue of Swami Vivekananda on the JNU campus, which has long been an ideological battleground for Hindu and leftist groups and claims to be in the national interest. state instead of against it.
Speaking to students after unveiling the statue via video conference, Modi said that putting one’s ideology above the national interest has severely damaged the country’s democratic institutions.
“It is natural that everyone is proud of his ideology. But our ideology must be seen as a position of the country, not against it, on issues of national interest,” he said.
He spoke about the struggle for independence and the movement against the state of emergency, noting that people of different ideological beliefs came together in the national interest without compromising their ideology to express their views.
Modi said therefore that when the issue involves integrity and national interests, making decisions under the weight of ideology harms the country.
“Just because that’s what one’s ideology says, it’s wrong to think that a person will think and act within a certain framework on matters of national interest,” he said.
Jawaharlal Nehru University has long been considered a bastion of the left, with its affiliated student union in command on campus.
BJP and Hindutva groups, including the ABVP student wing of the RSS, often claim that groups with “anti-national” sentiments are supported by left-wing groups on campus.
In the past, there have sometimes been violent clashes between them.
The decision to install a life-size statue of Vivekananda, a Hindu monk highly revered and idolized by the Prime Minister, was filled with rich symbolism on campus.
Modi expressed his confidence that the statue will teach people the great dedication to the country and the strong love for our country, which he added was the main message of Vivekananda’s life.
Modi said the statue will inspire us to realize his dream of a strong and prosperous India, noting that he said at the beginning of the 20th century that the next century would belong to India.
Speaking about the culture of famous universities debating and discussing different ideas, he said that now they can also do so in the shadow of the statue.
In his speech, Modi said that good reforms used to be considered bad policy, but now they are good policy because his government’s intentions and commitments are pure and prepared for the poor and other vulnerable groups before being implemented as a “protective shield”. “.
He said that people had already voted in favor of our reforms and advised JNU students to investigate how his government’s reforms had gained popular support, unlike in the past.
In his attack on the initial government, he said that the poor were only given slogans but never made an effort to integrate them into financial and other systems and that they remained “ignored, disconnected and economically excluded”.
Modi said his government provided them with houses, electricity, clean water, digital banks, fast internet connections, and described the measures as a protection shield for the poor and wings for their aspirations.
The Prime Minister said that the statues on the campus will inspire everyone and instill the courage and compassion that Swami Vivekananda wants to see in everyone.
“Swami Vivekanda hopes that education in the country will give people confidence and make them ‘atmanirbhar’ in every way. The new national education policy is in line with this and has inclusion at its core,” he added.
India’s youth population is its global brand ambassador, he said, adding that they should not only be proud of their old identity, but also forge a new one for the country in the 21st century.
Modi’s unveiling of the statue sparked protests from the JNU student union.
Before unveiling the statue, the students displayed “Modi Goes Back” and “We Want Answers” posters.
He chose the university to install the statue, but whenever students raised their opinions on any issue, they all “hounded” and demanded that the university be closed, said JNU student union president Aishe Ghosh, who is at the college. North led the protests. at the door.
N Sai Balaji, former director of JNUSU and national chairman of the leftist All India Students Association (AISA), asked: “Why didn’t the prime minister come to inaugurate the dormitories on campus? Why didn’t he make a speech? about the students? Didn’t I get a scholarship? Our library. The budget was cut by 80%. Why didn’t you come and announce that the funds would be sanctioned?
Earlier that day, the unions had written a letter open to the prime minister, saying they were deeply divided on his Indian ideas.
