Indian President Pranab Mukherjee Friday asked the youth of the Indian diaspora
to learn about India, its traditions and thought process and to use the
knowledge for the betterment of the global community at large.
Speaking
to a group of Indian youth diaspora attending the 'Know India
Programme' (KIP) of the ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) here,
Mukherjee said they were fortunate to learn from their Indian ancestors
the principle of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (The world is a family).
Answering
questions from participants at Rastrapati Bhavan, the president
emphasized the importance of values for the youth and said: "We are
fortunate to have learnt from our ancestors the principle of Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam."
Naming Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and
Mahatma Gandhi as contemporary exponents of the ancient philosophy,
Mukherjee said the same is enshrined in the Indian constitution, which
has been described as a 'Magna Carta' for the socio-economic
transformation of a large majority of the human race.
Describing
the Indian constitution as a living document, which is operationalised
every day through statecraft, he pointed out how India has been
empowering people through legislations such as the Right to Information,
Right to Education and Right to Food, which entrusted a tremendous
amount of responsibility on the government.
The president asked
the youth attending the 21st edition of KIP to "always keep in mind
India's unity amidst extraordinary diversity, economic goal of inclusive
growth and the fact that the key to attaining inclusive growth is
spread of knowledge".
"The story of India is not a few paragraphs
in a text book of history, but the story of a vast multitude of human
beings trying to find their rightful place in the comity of nations," he
said and noted that this story is enacted everyday in Inida's villages,
agricultural fields, offices, factories, laboratories and classrooms.
Expressing
confidence that each of the participants would take home a little part
of India in their hearts, he encouraged them to continue learning about
India based on their first hand experiences acquired through the KIP.
Commenting
on the influence of the western world on India, Mukherjee said India
has always been an open society with a continuous flow of cultural
influences to and from outside.
India, he said, assimilated the foreign influences and redesigned them to suit its own, unique identity.
"English
education and parliamentary system are some of the contributions of the
West to India. India added its own traditions of Sabha and Samiti
(local bodies of governance) to the democratic system.
The
president said every modern nation is a product of assimilation and
India has led in civilizational interaction with other parts of the
world.
The 21st edition of three-week KIP has participants of
Indian origin from 11 countries such as New Zealand, Surinam, Malaysia,
Fiji, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Iran,
Slovak Republic and Israel. All are in the 18-26 age group.
KIP's
objective is to introduce India to the youth of Indian origin living
abroad and to link the youth diaspora with their country of origin.
Under
the present edition, the participants will visit Tamil Nadu to see and
experience historical, cultural, industrial and administrative
institutions. They will also interact with the Indian media, visit NGOs
and women's movements.
The first leg of this edition of KIP began on Aug 29 and ended with the participants' interaction with Mukherjee.
The
visitors will visit their host state from Sep 8 to 15 and return to the
national capital to share their experiences with the MOIA officials
from Sep 16 to 18.
Learn about India- Mukherjee asks youth diaspora
