Need space for dissent, debate in university and respect for women, says President Pranab Mukherjee.

Mukherjee’s remarks came days after Gurmehar Kaur, an undergraduate student at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and the daughter of a martyred Indian Army captain, was trolled on social media over her stand against the ABVP.

President Pranab Mukherjee spoke about free speech and nationalism. He was in Kochi to deliver the sixth KS Rajamony memorial lecture. (PTI Photo)

In first remarks after campus violence fuelled a debate on free speech versus nationalism in Delhi University and a college student who called out the ABVP was threatened with rape, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said “there should be no room in India for the intolerant Indian… there must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent” and “universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest”.

Delivering the sixth K S Rajamony memorial lecture in Kochi, the President said: “I do not consider a society or State to be civilised if its citizens’ behaviour towards women is uncivilised. When we brutalise a woman, we wound the soul of our civilisation. Not only does our Constitution guarantee equal rights to women but our culture and tradition also celebrate the feminine as divine. Protection and safety of our women and children must be a nationwide priority. The acid test of any society is its attitude towards women and children. India should not fail this test.”

Mukherjee’s remarks came days after Gurmehar Kaur, an undergraduate student at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and the daughter of an Indian Army captain who died fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir, was trolled on social media over her stand against the ABVP and an earlier video campaign advocating peace between India and Pakistan.

Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, who stoked a controversy with his comments about “polluting” the mind of Gurmehar Kaur, on Wednesday the Idea Exchange programme at The Indian Express that the government would provide “full security to every individual of this country, including Gurmehar”. He also said he had instructed the Delhi Police to”identify and take action” against people who had threatened her online with rape.

The President said: “India has been since ancient times a bastion of free thought, speech and expression. Our society has always been characterized by the open contestation of diverse schools of thought and debate as well as discussion. Freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. There must be space for legitimate criticism and dissent.”

“India was a world leader in the field of education when our universities like Nalanda and Takshshila were at the height of their glory. Nalanda and Takshshila are not mere geographical expressions but representations of the idea for free thought which flourished in these great universities of the past. Our premier institutions of higher education are the vehicles on which India has to propel itself into a knowledge society.”

“These temples of learning must resound with creativity and free thinking. Those in universities must engage in reasoned discussion and debate rather than propagate a culture of unrest. It is tragic to see them caught in the vortex of violence and disquiet,” he said.