India sees you with pride: Prez Kovind in Kashmir
Says exciting new possibilities are opening up in the region
SRINAGAR: President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday said that democracy has the capacity to reconcile all differences and bring out the best of citizens’ potentials, and that the people of Kashmir were “happily” realising this vision.
The President also asserted that Kashmir is bound to acquire its rightful place as the crowning glory of India and the younger generation will slowly realise this dream.
Speaking at the 19th annual convocation of University of Kashmir at Sheri Kashmir International Convocation Centre (SKICC), Kovind said, “Kashmir, happily, is already realising this vision. Democracy lets you build your own future, a peaceful and prosperous tomorrow. The youth and women especially have high stakes in it, and I am sure they will not let go of this opportunity to rebuild lives and rebuild Kashmir.”
Kovind also said that exciting new possibilities are opening up in the region. “The whole of India is watching you with admiration and pride. Kashmiri youth are scaling new heights in a variety of sectors, from civil service exams to sports and entrepreneurial ventures,” he said, adding that he wishes to see the Valley as paradise on earth.
“I am squarely banking on the younger generation of Jammu and Kashmir to realise this dream which I am sure will come true sooner than later. Kashmir is bound to acquire its rightful place as the crowning glory of India,” he said.
The President, who arrived in Srinagar on Sunday for a fourday visit to the UT, also urged the younger generation to learn from Kashmir’s rich legacy, saying that violence, which was never a part of the Valley, became a daily reality. It was most unfortunate that this outstanding tradition of peaceful existence was broken, he added.
“Violence, which was never part of Kashmiriyat, became the daily reality. It is alien to Kashmiri culture, and it can only be termed as an aberration – a temporary one, much like a virus that attacks the body and needs to be purged. Now, there is a new beginning and determined efforts to regain this land’s lost glory,” he said.
The President said that Kashmir has always been a beacon of hope for the rest of the country.
“It is impossible to write a history of Indian philosophy without referring to Kashmir’s contributions to it. One of the oldest manuscripts of the Rigveda were written in Kashmir… Hinduism and Buddhism flourished in Kashmir, as did Islam and Sikhism after it arrived here in later centuries,” he added.
Quoting the Valley’s medieval spiritual poetess Lal Ded, Kovind said one can see how Kashmir provides the template for communal harmony and peaceful coexistence..