IndiaTomorrow.net,
Kolkata, April 2: The atmosphere in our institutions should be free from both physical as well as mental violence. Indians could be described as argumentative but never intolerant, said President of India Pranab Mukherjee while speaking at the 52nd Annual Convocation of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta here on Saturday.
“In ancient India, seats of higher learning such as Nalanda, Vikramshila and Taxila attracted mighty minds from all over the world and truly became a confluence of civilizational thoughts and ideas,” said the President.
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, he said: “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any”.
“If our feet are firmly on the ground, we will not be blown off by ideas from outside. India is a land of tolerance. We adopt, embrace and absorb but never reject. Let there be debate, disagreement and dissension but not intolerance,” said the President.
The President said that he had been repeatedly emphasizing that institutions of higher learning in our country should find their place in the top global rankings as per rating agencies.
He said that he was glad to observe that the IIM-Calcutta has retained its distinctive charm.
IIM Calcutta was established on November 14, 1961 to give shape to the vision of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The IITs and IIMs were envisaged by Pt. Nehru as national institutions of excellence in engineering and management education that would mould high caliber of human capital. Over the years, IIM Calcutta has endeavoured to walk this path of excellence.
