Patriotism means respecting every caste, religion: Venkaiah Naidu

Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu (File Photo) 

Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said patriotism does not mean merely garlanding the portrait of Bharat Mata or chanting Vande Mataram, but respecting every caste, region and religion, and standing up for them. “There are 130 crore people who speak hundreds of languages. India is one, one nation, one people and one country; we should keep this sentiment in our minds. This diversity should be respected and kept intact. There should be no injustice to anyone. There are Muslims, Christians, Hindus, forwards, backwards. They are all Bharatiya and children of Bharat Mata,’’ Naidu said while delivering the third convocation address of Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication.

“You should highlight their concerns, problems and issues. This is patriotism, not just garlanding portrait of Bharat Mata and chanting Vande Mataram,” Naidu said while asking budding journalists to be honest. Meanwhile, Naidu also spoke at the third convocation of Kushabhau Thakre Patrakarita Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay auditorium in Raipur, where he said that the front page of a newspaper should contain news, while views should be restricted to the editorial page.

At both the events, Naidu said he was not against English, but education has to be in mother tongue. “We should have an education system that lays emphasis on local language. There should be a policy to this effect. It’s already late,” he said while blaming “those who ruled till recently” for not implementing it.

— with PTI inputs from Raipur