Addressing students at a seminar organised by Delhi University (DU) on May 19, Thursday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was the chief guest, spoke about 'Swaraj to New India', which is the theme of the seminar. The event is a part of the centenary celebration of DU and it will continue for three days, from May 19-21. In his address, the Minister opined that universities should not become a battleground for conflicting ideologies. "Universities should become platforms for the exchange of views and not become spaces for ideological conflict," he said, as reported by PTI.
The Home Minister also spoke about India and its defence policies. And he praised his own government and the Prime Minister, stating that India did not have a proper defence policy before Narendra Modi came to power. "Before Prime Minister Modi, India did not have a defence policy. Even if it existed, it was a shadow of the foreign policy. Earlier, terrorists would be sent to attack us and there were similar attempts to do so with the Uri and Pulwama attacks. But with the surgical strikes and air strikes, we showed what the defence policy meant," he said, as stated in the PTI report.
"The journey from Swaraj to New India is a journey to re-establish our rich social, cultural, spiritual and holistic existential heritage over the centuries and to embody the ideas that once made us a prosperous civilisation beyond the realm of imagination," the university said in a statement, as mentioned in a report by the Business Standard.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, DU's Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh and Mukul Kanitkar, National Organisation Secretary of the Bhartiya Shikshan Mandal, are some of the other important speakers at the seminar. The seminar will have a total of sixteen sessions, including four plenary sessions. Business Standard has also reported that about a hundred keynote speakers of national and international importance will be present at the event.
