Raipur. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday cautioned people against religious conversion, saying an ‘institutional effort’ was being made to change people’s faith and destroy India’s thousands-year-old culture. Addressing the closing ceremony of the three-day Rajyotsav in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, Dhankhar praised the efforts being made by the state government to stop leftist extremism and stressed the need to eliminate it completely. The Vice President said that the great men of the country served the nation selflessly and remained dedicated to the society.
He said, “Service should be selfless, there should be no selfishness in service. In the name of selfless service, efforts are being made to reach hearts under the guise of attractive mediums. “An effort is being made to change the faith that is in our hearts.” Dhankhar said, “Our culture is thousands of years old, this is in a way an attack on it. The disgusting and disgusting work of changing faith is being done. We should be conscious about this. This is happening in an institutional manner. This is happening on the basis of money power.” He said that this is happening for a purpose and innocence is being taken advantage of and misconceptions are being spread.
The Vice President said, “To keep the soul of India alive and pure, it is necessary to suppress such forces without any delay. In such evil attempts, our tribal brothers and sisters are especially targeted. Society needs to be alert against such mentality.” Dhankhar said that India has had a culture of taking everyone along for centuries, in which every class has a special place and this specialty has to be maintained always.
He said that Naxalism is another matter of concern for the youth in Chhattisgarh and it has to be controlled properly and the government is paying attention to it. Dhankhar said that current Chief Minister Vishnudev Sai and former Chief Minister Raman Singh made continuous efforts to stop Maoism.
The Vice President said, “History reminds us that the outcome of taking up arms against society is never good. We have to be careful that our youth do not get misguided and waste the wonderful years of their lives.” He said that it is a good thing that today due to the positive policies of the government, the youth are getting many opportunities and yet this evil has to be curbed in some way or the other. Recalling the Emergency imposed in the country on June 25, 1975, Dhankhar said that no one has the right to play with the Indian Constitution and any such attempt should be thwarted.
He said, “Constitution Day is coming. I urge the youth to remember the role of the Constitution. This is the foundation on which our country stands. Every year on 26th November we celebrate Constitution Day to remind every citizen, especially the youth, of the importance and power of the Constitution. It is our fundamental responsibility to protect the ideals of the Constitution.” He said that no one has the right to play with our Constitution and we should stop every such attempt.
Without taking the name of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the Vice President said, “There was a time when someone had imposed emergency in the country while he was the Prime Minister. Fundamental rights were suspended for 21 months. The situation in 1975, 76 and 77 was so dire that democratic values were nowhere to be seen. Even our students and lakhs of people were put in jail. There was no freedom of journalism. The entire political class was in exile.” He urged the present generation to learn from that “dark chapter” of history and ensure that such mistakes are never repeated.
Regarding the Women’s Reservation Bill, the Vice President said, “It is the power of the Constitution that in 2023 we have reserved 33 percent seats for women in the Assemblies and Lok Sabha. He said, “I commend the people of Chhattisgarh for the significant change seen in the last assembly elections, where 19 women were elected to the state assembly, a large number of whom were from SC ST.” Dhankhar stressed that the progress of states and development of the nation complement each other.
He said, “There is a huge connection between the progress of the states and the progress of the country. Progress of the state means progress of the country. Both complement each other. The interests of the state cannot be separated from the interests of the nation.” Chhattisgarh Governor Ramen Deka, Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, State Assembly Speaker Raman Singh and others were present on this occasion.