Taking strong exception to the senior parliamentarian remarks to an English daily, VP further said. “I do not have words strong enough to condemn such a kind of narrative being set brough. A member of parliament being labelled as a part timer, ultimately it is a parliament that is a last source of law formulation.”

Appealing to the aforementioned leader to withdraw his “derogatory, defamatory and highly insulting observations to the Members of the Parliament,” VP asked him to hold himself accountable to his conscience.

Wishing that such a thing had never been said, Shri Dhankhar cautioned that we need to be on guard “when informed minds knowingly lead you astray.” If you say something different which you don't believe in, everyone will believe you because you are having elevated position, he added.

Addressing the 12th convocation of IIST in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala today, Shri Dhankhar remarked, “This morning when I read a newspaper, an informed mind who has been finance minister of this country, a parliamentarian for long and a Member of Rajya Sabha currently, he stunned me because I took great pride that this parliament has done a great thing. It had unshackled us from colonial legacy by giving three laws that are of epochal dimension. From “Danda Vidhan” we have come to “Nyaya Vidhan”.

Highlighting that every Member of Parliament had the opportunity to contribute when these three laws were being debated in the House, Shri Dhankhar lamented, “This honourable gentleman, a distinguished member of parliament has a great background as finance minister. But with heavy heart, I am sharing with you, he did not use his lung power, he gave total rest to his vocal chords while debate was going on.”

Disapproving the non-participation of other legal luminaries in Parliament during the debate on the three laws, VP said, “Not only he, his distinguished colleagues from my legal fraternity, senior advocates did not come forward to help the nation. They had an opportunity to make this point in the parliament. It was a failure on his part to perform his constitutional duty and obligation and how can we count on such a man, speaking in high decibel trying to seek resonance from people only to unsettle mechanism.”

Shri Dhankhar said that he was “shocked beyond words” and asked everyone to beware of minds that deliberately run a narrative trying to run down our nation, demean our institutions and taint our progress. They don't see the writing on the wall, they engage in criticism for the sake of criticism, he added.

Lauding the success of missions led by the Indian Space Research Organisation, Shri Dhankhar underscored that these missions have contributed significantly to India's diplomatic soft power and enhanced the quality of life of millions.

Congratulating the graduating students, Shri Dhankhar advised them to keep learning in their lives. Describing the education as the most impactful transformational mechanism, he said “It fosters equality& antidotes inequities.It's a mechanism of positive change.”

Recalling his visit to ISRO, VP said that he was inspired, motivated and enthused, energized by the work being done by the people there.

Shri S Somnath, President, Governing Body IIST, Secretary, Deptt of Science, Shri Dr. B.N. Suresh, Chancellor ISD, Dr Unnikrishnan Nayyar
Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, faculty, staff, graduating students and their parents were present.

Read Full Text here :https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2031214

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MS/RC/JK