Peace can’t be discussed under shower of bullets: Mukherjee

NEW DELHI:  Touching upon the issue of dialogue with Pakistan, Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday pointed out that terror and talks could not go hand in hand.

“Nations will never agree on everything. But the challenge today is existential. If outlaws are able to unravel borders, then we are heading towards an age of chaos... We cannot discuss peace under a shower of bullets,” Mukherjee said in his address to the nation of the eve of the 67th Republic Day, the NDTV reported.

Amid the big debate across the country, intolerance found mention in Mukherjee’s address to the nation.“We must guard ourselves against the forces of violence, intolerance and unreason,” the president said.

It was time to take note, he said, when “grim instances of violence hit at...established values which are at the core of our nationhood.”A respect for the past was an essential ingredient of nationalism, he said, adding, “Our finest inheritance, the institutions of democracy, ensure to all citizens justice, equality, and gender and economic equity.”

The president said to complain, to demand, to rebel. “This too is a virtue of democracy. But let us also applaud what our democracy hasachieved. With investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, health, education, science and technology, we are positioning ourselves well for achieving a higher growth rate which will in the next ten to fifteen years help us eliminate poverty,” he said.

“Peace is the primary objective of a rational consciousness as well as our moral universe. It is the foundation of civilization and a necessity for economic progress. And yet, we have never been able to answer a simple question: why does peace remain so elusive? Why has peace been so much more difficult to attain than degenerate conflict?

“Terrorism is inspired by insane objectives, motivated by bottomless depths of hatred, instigated by puppeteers who have invested heavily in havoc through the mass murder of innocents.“This is war beyond any doctrine, a cancer which must be operated out with a firm scalpel. There is no good or bad terrorism; it is pure evil.

“We on our Subcontinent have a historic opportunity to become a beacon to the world at a time of great danger. We must attempt to resolve the complex edges of our emotional and geo-political inheritance with our neighbours through a peaceful dialogue, and invest in mutual prosperity by recognizing that human beings are best defined by a humane spirit, and not their worst instincts. Our example can be its own message to a world in anxious need of amity.”—Originally published in The News