Vice-President speaks at University of Hyderabad convocation

Updated on: Wednesday, June 23, 2010

"Eternal vigilance is the only way to safeguard liberty and rights and, as Edmond Burke put it, 'the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'," said the Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari.

The vice president was addressing the twelfth Convocation of the University of Hyderabad today.
The Vice President opined that it is clear that "being a citizen and being a good citizen are far from being the same thing; the former is a legal fact while the latter demands participation in and contribution to the common good."

Calling convocations occasions to honor intellectual achievement, the vice president said, "The pursuit of knowledge is not subject to formal barriers and inquiry in any of its branches does not end with the acquisition of a university decree. The mind trained to think logically and critically does not cease to function. This often brings it face to face with reality at variance with tradition and to which it feels compelled to respond. It is here that the two worlds, within the academia and beyond it, come together."

M. Hamid Ansari also spoke at length about who is a citizen and who is a good citizen, and what citizenship implies.

"The commitment of a society and polity to educating, grooming and nurturing its citizens, eventually manifests itself in the latter's approach to civic participation, standards of personal responsibility and adherence to constitutional morality. Thus a substantive contribution to the shaping of citizens can be made and educational institutions, including those of higher learning, can play a major role in this national effort," he said.

The vice president also spoke about the vast cultural diversity in our nation and said, "A diverse and stratified society like ours requires social harmony for its cohesion, and needs a scientific spirit and excellence to seek and attain all round development. To promote and attain these is among the principal duties of citizens and this is to be undertaken proactively rather than passively, with a spirit of seeking justice and achieving fraternity."

In the end, M. Hamid Ansari recited a poem by the famous poet Mohammad Iqbal and congratulated the students who had been rewarded for excellence and everyone who had received their university degrees.

Wishing them happiness and, the vice-president urged the students to always remember that they were citizens of India and that it was important for them to fulfil all their duties.

Vice-President speaks at University of Hyderabad convocation

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