Former Union Minister and economist Subramanian Swamy on Monday opined that preservation of Indian traditions can help build a new India and added that the country can progress faster if the people across the country believe they are one with the Indians having the “same DNA” and do not engage in dividing society in the name of caste or religion.
Delivering the Sardar Panikkar Memorial Lecture at the 60 th Foundation Day of the Regional Institute of Education (RIE) here, Mr. Swamy, while giving a call for the renaissance of the country’s traditions, said India believes in taking all religions together and cited the examples of how the religions were respected in India. Jews were persecuted all over the world but not in India and therefore Israel stood with us, he explained.
The former Minister advised the people not to succumb to the forces that try to divide the society in the name of religion and fall to the propaganda that destabilises peace.
Popularise Sanskrit
Arguing that Sanskrit can realise the vision of new India, he said Sanskrit is a uniting force and argued that it was not a “dead language” as it is described by some people. “It is a reviving and beautiful language, and everyone must learn it. I don’t think it’s a difficult language to learn,” he said, while expressing happiness about the village in Karnataka where the entire population speaks Sanskrit.
Research at UoM
While referring to the research done at the University of Mysore, Mr. Swamy maintained that the people across the country have the “same DNA” and cited the studies done by the scientists at the University of Mysore. Some reputed foreign universities also carried out such studies and corroborate the findings. Irrespective of the castes or religions, all Indians are the one with no distinction and the studies “have proved it”, he claimed.
He said there have been examples of people in the West accepting Hinduism and one of the key reasons for doing so was that it is much freer.
‘Learn law’
Later, participating in an interactive session, Mr. Swamy, while replying to a student on the “secret” of his strength to fight, said he has nothing to hide and advised the students to learn law in addition to their degrees like he did being an economist that gave him the ‘weapon’ to fight.
Asked about Indo-China ties, he said war with China may happen soon over the alleged encroachment of Indian land which was a breach of faith.
Arguing that tweaking of policies can make India a world leader, Mr. Swamy, in reply to a question, said India can become the second largest economy after the United States, overtaking China in another five to six years, if it alters its policies. India has a huge potential and the country, like the U.S., needs to focus on innovations to stay ahead. “Our future relies on the renaissance of our cultures.”
He suggested increasing the allocation to the education sector and paying higher salaries to teachers for reforming the education system.
UoM Vice-Chancellor G. Hemantha Kumar was the guest of honour. RIE Principal Y. Sreekanth was present.
