After Vajpayee is it now the turn of President Mukherjee to remind Modi of his ‘Raj Dharma’ ?

By M Reyaz, TwoCircles.net,

New Delhi: On Monday President Pranab Mukherjee once again took to micro-blogging site Twitter to remind the country of how “our collective strength” must “be harnessed to resist evil powers in society.” He also hoped, “Mahamaya – the combination of all positive forces would eliminate the Asuras or divisive forces.”

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Indian civilization has survived for 5000 years because of its tolerance, he wrote in another tweet, adding that it has always accepted dissent and differences.

Tweets sent from the official twitter handle of the Office of the President quoted from his speech delivered at a gathering in Birbhum, West Bengal today, asking, “Is tolerance and acceptance of dissent on the wane?”

The honourable President also said, “Humanism and pluralism should not be abandoned under any circumstance,” adding, “assimilation through receiving is a characteristic of Indian society.”

It should be noted that on October 7, during a book launch function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, President Mukherjee spoke extempore on the importance of preserving the ‘diversity’ and ‘plurality’ in the country and the need for the spirit of `tolerance’. “Indian democracy is a marvel and we must celebrate, preserve and promote its strengths,” he had said, adding, “We should not allow the core values of our civilization to wither away,” in what was seen then in context to the lynching of a Akhlaq Ahmad in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh on the false pretext of consuming beef.

“Hate speech and fear mongering should come to an end. Our values should become part of our daily life. We must amplify the voice of moderation. We should not permit religion to be used as a mask to satisfy hunger for power and control of some individuals,” he further said.

In fact Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had avoided direct condemnation of the Dadri lynching for almost two weeks too had referred to the President’s speech during a rally in Bihar.

It appears that President Pranab Mukherjee is trying act as the conscience keeper of the ‘core values’ of Indian democracy and glorious civilisation, by indirectly reminding the BJP led NDA government and the rabid Hindutva forces of what India stands for.

It should be noted here that immediately in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had reminded him of “Raj Dharma” during a Live press conference, much to the discomfort of Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, who was sitting next to him. Vajpayee had said, “A King must not distinguish between his subjects, based on birth, caste or religion.”

A visibly agitated Modi had quietly said, “Hum wahi kar rahe hain Janab (I am also doing the same Sir)”.

Meanwhile, Twitter has once again reacted to the President’s comment, as within hours “President Pranab Mukherjee” has become one of the top trends. While many supported his views, some have not taken to it kindly. Madhu Kishwar, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, termed it as “sermons” that is getting “tiresome”.