New Delhi/Nainital : Vice-President, Jagdeep Dhankhar today said that, “50 years ago, this day, the oldest, the largest and now the most vibrant democracy went through difficult air pocket, unexpected hazard in the shape of headwinds, nothing short of earthquake to destroy democracy. It was imposition of emergency. The night was dark, the cabinet was sidelined. The beleaguered Prime Minister then facing an adverse High Court order, yielded to personal gain, ignoring the entire nation and the President trampled constitutionalism, signed declaration of emergency. What followed for 21, 22 months was turbulent period for our democracy, never imagined. The darkest period of democracy we had the occasion to see.”
Addressing students and faculty members as Chief Guest at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Kumaon University in Nainital, Uttarakhand today he stated, “ A lakh and forty thousand people were put behind bars. They had no access to the justice system. They could not vindicate their Fundamental Rights. Nine High Courts, fortunately, stood the ground and they hail — emergency or no emergency — Fundamental Rights cannot be put on hold, ruling firmly that every citizen of the country has a right which can be fructified by judicial intervention. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court — the highest court of the land — got eclipsed. It overturned the verdict of nine High Courts. It ruled, it decided two things– Emergency declaration thereof is a decision of the Executive, not open to judicial review. And, it is also a decision on the time for how long it will last, and that citizens do not have Fundamental Rights while there is emergency. It was a major setback to the people at large.”
Underlining the significance of ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ for the youth of the day he said, “ Just reflect young boys and girls because you will have to learn about it unless you do it you will not know it. What happened to the Press? Who were the people put behind the bars? They became Prime Ministers of this country. They became Presidents of this country. That was the scenario and that is why to make aware our youth…….you are the most vital stakeholders in governance, in democracy. You therefore cannot forget. or cannot afford not to learn about that darkest period. Very thoughtfully the government of the day decided that this day will be celebrated as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Divas’. The celebration will be that it will never happen again. The celebration will be that those guilty, those who allowed such kind of transgression of humanity’s rights, spirit and essence of the Constitution. Who they were? why they did it? In the Supreme Court also, my friend will bear me out, one judge dissented H.R.Khanna, and it was commented by a leading newspaper in the US that if ever democracy returns to Bharat, a monument will surely be built for H.R. Khanna who held his ground.”
Stressing on the role of on campus learning, Shri Dhankhar said, “ Academic institutions are much beyond just learning centers for degrees and credentials. Otherwise, why there is difference between virtual learning and a campus learning? You immediately know the time you spend amongst your colleagues on the campus defines your mindset. These places are meant to catalyse the change needed, the change you want, the nation you want. These are natural organic crucibles of ideation and innovation. Ideas come, but there must be ideation of idea. If an idea comes in out of fear of failure, you don’t engage in innovation or trial. Our progress will come to stand still. These are places where worlds envy our demographic youth as the occasion to script not only their own career, but to script the destiny of Bharat. And therefore please get going. There is a tagline of one of the corporate products which you must come across. Just do it. Am I right? I would add one more. Do it now.”
Emphasising on the importance of alumni and alumni contribution, Shri Dhankhar said, “ Over 50 years you have had large number of Alumni……..Alumni of an Institution is a very important component. You look to social media and google. You will find some Institutions in the developed world have Alumni Fund corpus, more than 10 billion US dollars. One has a corpus of more than 50 billion US dollars. This comes not as a deluge, it comes by the trickle effect. Let me for instance give an illustration. If these 100,000 alumni of this great Institution decide to make a contribution only of 10,000 rupees a year. The annual amount will be 100 crores……..and just imagine if it is year after year, then you will not be looking here and there. You will be self-sustaining. It will soothe you. Secondly, the alumni will have the occasion to connect with the Alma mater. So you will have easy route….He will handhold you. She will handhold you. So I strongly urge that let there be initiation from Dev Bhoomi about Alumni Association.”