India's 5,000-Year Old Philosophy of Inclusivity Needs No Lessons: Vice President Dhankhar

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday (25 October) said that India's 5,000 year old philosophy of inclusivity does not need lessons.

"We are a nation that can give guidance to everyone and anyone on the planet [on] what is inclusivity. Surely, we don't need lessons in something we have lived through for more than 5000 years!," Dhankhar said while addressing students at Adichunchanagiri University in B G Nagara, Mandya, Karnataka.

"This philosophy alone is sustainable and makes for global peace and harmony, but some people have a different concept of inclusivity that is destructive of the essence of inclusivity," he added.

"On the contrary, discordant voices need to gather lessons from our civilisational essence," the Vice President said.

In a veiled attack on the practice of religious conversions using charity, Dhankhar said that structured use of charity to influence faith of the beneficiary has serious consequences in a democracy.

He remarked that assistance to the needy, marginalised, and vulnerable should be without any strings attached.

Reflecting on India’s civilisational ethos, he stated that charity, assistance, or such handholding needs to be with no strings attached.

"Our civilisational ethos tells us, never speak of charity. Charity is never to be claimed. You do it, and you forget about it," the Vice President said.

He emphasised that charity putting freedom of faith in captivity is a cause of concern.

When you influence the faith of the needy, the marginalized, the vulnerable, things become really very critical, he added, warning that such actions could have serious consequences on the spirit of nationalism and constitutional values.

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