Merely crying out "Bharat Mata ki Jai" not patriotism: Venkaiah Naidu
Mumbai, Nov 15: Merely crying out "Bharat Mata ki Jai" does not represent patriotism, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said Thursday, adding real nationalism is to work towards the upliftment of "all 130 crore Indians".
He was speaking at the annual Jamnalal Bajaj Awards presentations ceremony, where awardees were feted for their outstanding contribution to society.
"Patriotism does not mean crying out 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' or crying out 'Jai Hind' after watching a movie," Naidu said, after referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's definition of patriotism where everybody does his/her work dutifully.
Naidu said 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' means the upliftment of all the 130 crore Indians. "This is the meaning of Bharat Mata Ki Jai, that is "deshbhakti", that is patriotism, that is nationalism. That sort of attitude has to be there," he said.
Making a strong pitch for things "Swadeshi", Naidu said even in the era of an interconnected world and liberal foreign direct investment, we have to support local enterprises as recommended by Mahatma Gandhi.
He also hit out against growing "materialism" and "selfishness" in society and underlined the need for taking a wider view of things.
The Vice President said the nuclearisation of families from the earlier joint family system may be resulting in some of the degradation in society.
Lamenting that "we are sans morals and only behind science", he pitched for a need to "overhaul the education system to restore the value systems".
The colonial English mindset was akin to a "disease" which has continued even after the British left India, Naidu said.
"We need more of culture than religion in our discourse," Naidu said, adding "Google cannot replace the guru's place in our society".
In remarks bordering on the political, the BJP leader- turned-Vice President said "dynasty is nasty for a democracy" and recalled Mahatma Gandhi's remarks on the "need to disband the Congress after Independence".
He was quick to add that he is Vice President now and does not want his remarks to be misconstrued.
Naidu said there has been a change under Modi, where lesser known persons are being awarded the 'Padma' awards, compared to the practise in the earlier (Congress) era when most of the names in the list would be from "Lutyens' zone".
British architect Edwin Lutyens was responsible for much of the architectural design and building in the national capital when India was part of the British empire.
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Abhigyan Kundu hits 209 not out for first-ever double ton in Youth ODIs for India
Dubai (PTI): Wicketkeeper-batter Abhigyan Kundu on Tuesday created history with first-ever double ton in Youth ODIs for India, scoring an unbeaten against Malaysia in the U-19 Asia Cup match here.
The 17-year-old Kundu thus recorded only the second instance of a double century in Youth ODIs after South Africa's Jorich Van Schalkwyk, who had scored 215 off 153 balls against Zimbabwe earlier this year in Harare.
Batting at No 5, the left-handed Kundu hit an overall 19 fours and seven sixes to smash 209 not out off only 125 balls.
His knock powered India U-19 to a huge 408 for seven batting first.
Earlier in the same tournament, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had scored a 95-ball 171 against the UAE, which is overall the ninth highest individual score in the format.
