The Vice President of India, Shri M Venkaiah Naidu today paid rich tributes to the late Prime Minister, Shri I K Gujral while releasing through virtual mode a commemorative postage stamp in his honor.

The Vice President said Shri Gujral was a learned man, soft-spoken and a “gentleman-politician”, who never compromised on his values irrespective of the challenges or hardships he had faced. “Bearing an amiable demeanour, he was courteous to a fault and made friends across the political spectrum”, he added.

Describing the former Prime Minister as a multifaceted personality, he recalled that he had authored several books and used to enjoy reading and reciting poetry. He will be always remembered for the ‘Gujral Doctrine’ enunciated by him during his tenure as India’s External Affairs Minister, he added.

Appealing to all politicians to consider their opponents as rivals and not enemies, the Vice President wanted them to maintain good social relations. Asking all parties to follow the policy of ‘Nation first’, he wanted them to put their differences aside and support foreign policy in national interest.

Pointing out that South Asia was home to almost a quarter of the world’s population, Shri Naidu stressed that the SAARC regional grouping could become an effective and vibrant network to promote prosperity and well-being of the vast multitudes in the region only if all the countries come together sincerely in stamping out the scourge of terrorism.

Unless totally wiped out, the menace of terrorism would negate all the efforts to create a prosperous and flourishing future for all the people in South Asia, the Vice President cautioned.

Reiterating that India always believed in peaceful co-existence with all its neighbors and in maintaining friendly relations, the Vice President said: “Unfortunately, we have been facing relentless state-sponsored, cross-border terrorism for the past several years”.

The Vice President also wanted the United Nations to play a more pro-active role and step up its efforts in isolating nations sponsoring terrorist activities and in imposing sanctions against them. “The conclusion of deliberations at the UN and the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism cannot brook any further delay”, he added.

Shri Naidu said the potential and scope for cooperation and development of the South Asian region was huge and all the countries must seize this opportunity to build a better and brighter future for the people by eliminating barriers like poverty, illiteracy, corruption; providing quality education and healthcare; ending gender discrimination and according priority to enhancing the overall quality of life.

Emphasizing that peace and development should take precedence over everything else, he said “peace is the prerequisite for progress and no development can take place without peace”.

On this occasion, the Vice President emphasized the need for greater participation of women in leadership roles and expressed his happiness that the number of women judges has reached 13 in Madras High court, the highest in the country with the elevation of four women to the bench yesterday.

Complimenting the Madras High Court, the Supreme Court and the Governments of Tamil Nadu and India for this commendable initiative, he called it worthy of emulation by others. Drawing attention to the low number of women judges in High Courts and Supreme Courts, Shri Naidu expressed his concern over their under representation of women in the higher judiciary.

The Vice President further said that the number of women in leadership roles in politics, public administration, corporate governance and civil society organizations has been steadily increasing over the years both in India and the world, but their representation has to be increased further. Expressing his concern over the low representation of women in the legislatures in the States and in the Parliament, Shri Naidu called for enhancing it significantly through necessary political and legislative initiatives. He said that the 17th Lok Sabha has the highest number of 78 women members accounting still only for 14% of the total.

Maintaining that reservations for women in the local bodies in our country have brought lakhs of women into leadership roles, Shri Naidu called for ending the prejudice against them, adding “it can’t be the ‘men’s world’ any longer”. Women deserve their share of opportunities to express themselves in all forms in the emerging knowledge society, he added.

Stressing that gender based discrimination has no justification, Shri Naidu said that on the contrary, giving women their due would make our homes and the world better places to live. He stressed the need to focus on removing the entry barriers to women and said that women deserve high seats in all spheres of decision-making including the judiciary, legislatures and governance.

Shri Naidu also appealed to the people to not lower the guard and continue to take all precautions by following COVID-19 protocols like wearing a mask, frequent hand-washing and maintaining a safe distance.

He also wanted that present generations to be made aware of the life and contributions of great leaders such as Shri Inder Kumar Gujral.

Shri Naresh Gujral, Member of Parliament, Shri Tarlochan Singh, former MP, Shri B.Selvakumar, Chief Post Master General-Tamil Nadu Circle, and Smt. Sumathi Ravichandran, Post Master General, Chennai City Region were among those who had participated in the virtual event.

Following is the full text of the speech –

“I am pleased to release the commemorative stamp in honor of the former Prime Minister, Shri Inder Kumar Gujral on his birth anniversary today.

Shri Gujral was born in Jhelum (now in Pakistan) in 1919 to noted freedom fighters Sh. A.N. Gujral and Smt. Pushpa Gujral. Shri A.N. Gujral later became a Member of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, before his family, migrated to India.

Shri Gujral started his political career as a student leader and was the President of Punjab University Students Union. He was arrested during the Quit India Movement along with his parents.

After partition, Shri Gujral settled down in Delhi. In 1958, he was elected unopposed to the Electoral College of Delhi. Later, he was nominated as Vice President of New Delhi Municipal Committee.

In 1964 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Delhi and in 1967 he joined Smt. Indira Gandhi’s Council of Ministers as Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs & Communications.

He held various important portfolios in the union government including Works &Housing, Communications & Parliamentary Affairs, Information & Broadcasting , Planning during Ms Gandhis’s tenure as prime minister. He was appointed as India’s Ambassador to U.S.S.R and played a crucial role in further cementing Indo-Soviet at that juncture.

Subsequently, he served as the External Affairs Minister in the Cabinets of Shri V P Singh and Shri Deve Gowda. He also served as the leader of the Rajya Sabha from 1996- 1998. In 1997, he assumed office as the 12th Prime Minister of India. He demitted office in 1998.

Shri Gujral was a learned man, soft-spoken and a “gentleman-politician”, who never compromised on his values irrespective of the challenges or hardships he had faced. Bearing an amiable demeanour, he was courteous to a fault and made friends across the political spectrum.

He was indeed a multifaceted personality and authored several books, enjoyed reading and reciting poetry. He used to take a keen interest in Theatre and Visual Arts.

He will be always remembered for the ‘Gujral Doctrine’ enunciated by him during his tenure as India’s External Affairs Minister.

Dear sisters and brothers,

Every nation formulates its foreign policy in line with its national interests. No policy can remain static or be cast in stone in a dynamically evolving geopolitical situation.

India always believed in peaceful co-existence with all its neighbors and in maintaining friendly relations. Unfortunately, we have been facing relentless state-sponsored, cross-border terrorism for the past several years.

Today, the whole world is facing one of the worst economic and health crises in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. And this is the time for all nations, particularly those in South Asia, to focus on rebuilding economies, ramping health infrastructure and protecting livelihoods.

South Asia is home to almost a quarter of the world population. The potential and scope for cooperation and development of the region is huge and all the countries in the region must seize this opportunity to build a better and brighter future for the people by eliminating barriers like poverty, illiteracy, corruption; providing quality education and healthcare; ending gender discrimination and according priority to enhancing the overall quality of life.

Peace and development should take precedence over everything else. Peace is the prerequisite for progress and no development can take place without peace.

The SAARC regional grouping can become an effective and vibrant network to promote prosperity and well-being of the vast multitudes in the region only if all the countries come together sincerely in stamping out the scourge of terrorism. Unless totally wiped out, the menace of terrorism will negate all the efforts to create a prosperous and flourishing future for all the people in South Asia.

I feel the time has come for the United Nations to play a more pro-active role and step up its efforts in isolating nations sponsoring terrorist activities and in imposing sanctions against them.

The conclusion of deliberations at the UN and the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism cannot brook any further delay.

Sisters , brothers and my dear friends,

On this occasion of the virtual release of postal stamp on one of our great leader former Prime Minister Sri Gujral ji , I would like to say something on the need for greater participation of women in leadership roles and women empowerment

On this occasion, I would like to refer to a landmark achievement of Tamilnadu.

I am extremely delighted to know that the Madras High Court now has the highest number of 13 women Judges with the elevation of 4 more women to the bench yesterday. Of the 63 judges, 13 are now women, accounting for about 21% of the total, the highest in the country.

This is highly commendable and worthy of emulation by others.

I compliment the Madras High Court, the Supreme Court and the Governments of Tamil Nadu and India for this commendable initiative.

Since the appointment of Justice Fatima Beevi as the first woman Judge in the Supreme Court in 1989, only 8 women served as Judges of the apex court so far. They include two women judges currently on the bench out of the total 33 Judges. In the 25 High Courts of the country, we have only 78 women Judges. This is gross under representation of women in the higher judiciary.

This takes us to the debate over the ability of women to don the leadership roles which involve complex decision making.

Leadership is not about physical attributes. It is more about the cognitive abilities and other attributes that enable a holistic examination of issues under examination.

The number of women in leadership roles in politics, public administration, corporate governance and civil society organizations has been steadily increasing over the years both in India and the world. But the ratio of their representation does not match with the number of women in the society.

Reservations for women in the local bodies in our country have brought lakhs of women into leadership roles. With experience, they are asserting themselves without the need for being assisted by their husbands.

Low representation of women in the legislatures in the States and in the Parliament is still a matter of concern. This needs to be enhanced significantly through necessary political and legislative initiatives. The 17th Lok Sabha has the highest number of 78 women members accounting still only for 14% of the total.

It can’t be the ‘men’s world’ any longer. Prejudice against women shall be brought to an end at the earliest. Women deserve their share of opportunities to express themselves in all forms in the emerging knowledge society.

Gender based discrimination has no justification. On the contrary, giving women their due will make hour homes and the world better places to live. Women deserve high seats in all spheres of decision making including the judiciary, legislatures and governance of all kinds. We need to focus on removing the entry barriers to women.

It is for this reason, I compliment all the concerned for enabling the presence of 13 women in the Madras High Court. This should inspire others.

Dear sisters and brothers,

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the economy and disrupted our lives in an unprecedented manner.

I must express my deep appreciation to all the frontline corona warriors—doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, police, sanitation staff and media personnel for their selfless service during the pandemic.

I would like to specially compliment our farmers, who worked tirelessly in spite of the hardship and restrictions during the lockdown to produce sufficient food grains and other Agri produce.

Before concluding, I would like to appeal to the people to not lower the guard and continue to take all precautions by following COVID-19 protocols like wearing a mask, frequent hand-washing and maintaining a safe distance.

Let us lead a healthy and safe lifestyle as we wait for the arrival of the vaccine.

I have great pleasure in releasing the first day cover of the stamp in memory of Shri Gujral.

JAI HIND!”

*****

MS/DP