Union Home Minister and Minister of CooperationShri Amit Shah today addressed the 72^nd convocation of Gujarat Vidyapith in Ahmedabad as the chief guest. Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat and several other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Addressing the convocation, Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that today 900 students of Gujarat Vidyapith are receiving their degrees and entering social life, and that this is a precious moment inthe lives of these students.

Shri Amit Shah said that he has been an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi since childhood. His mother too has been a devoted follower of Mahatma Gandhi. Shri Shah said that in the early years of his life he wove khadi and also spun yarn. He said that his mother took a vow from him to wear khadi throughout his life.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that Gujarat Vidyapith is the very place where strategy used to be formulated to win the country its freedom in the independence struggle, and where great men such as Acharya J. B. Kripalani and Kaka Saheb Kalelkar worked to awaken the people for Indianness and the mother tongue. He said that when Mahatma Gandhi laid the foundation of Gujarat Vidyapith, he had decided that after India became free, Gujarat Vidyapith itself would create the model for the Indian education system.

Shri Amit Shah appealed to the students receiving their degrees from Gujarat Vidyapith today to be sure to set the goal of their lives before leaving the campus. While setting that goal, there should be no burden in the mind about whether the goal will be achieved or not. He said one should never think whether the work can be done or not, but whether the work is worth doing.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah told the students that one should never set goals for oneself, but rather set them for the nation, society, the people, and especially the poor. If a goal is set for society and the nation, the burden of victory or defeat will not remain on you. No matter how many difficulties one faces in life, there will never be any room for disappointment. If goals are set for oneself and one’s family, difficulties can lead to disappointment, and one may even lose one’s way. Citing his own example, Shri Shah said that he had faced many difficulties in life, but he never became disappointed. He said the reason was that the goals he had set were neither for himself nor for his family. That is why his enthusiasm to work always remained intact. He said that despite all efforts to discourage him, he was never disheartened.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that he has read about, understood and imbibed the thoughts of many great personalities in his life. However, the message of Mahatma Gandhi was relevant then, is relevant today, and will remain relevant for the next 100 years. He said that Gandhi Ji’s message shows the path of welfare to the entire world. Indian ways of life, Indian values and traditions are the fundamental basis of Gandhi Ji’s message, and therefore, it will never become irrelevant.

Shri Amit Shah said that today, 900 students are graduating from Gujarat Vidyapith with degrees and 11 gold medals. Going forward, they will have to face many family and social challenges, but these can be overcome through daily practice and self-study. He said that Gujarat Vidyapith is based on Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Basic Education, which emphasises village-centric development and the transition from “self” to “others”—that is, an education that teaches us to think of everyone rather than just ourselves. He said that after returning to India, Mahatma Gandhi, following the advice of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, travelled across the country. Despite the immense diversity of languages, dialects, attire, food habits and religions, when he returned, he told Dr. Rajendra Prasad in Champaran that he had witnessed a remarkable sense of unity in the country. He worked to translate this unity into reality through numerous experiments, and Gujarat Vidyapith became a laboratory for these efforts. Shri Shah said that, in accordance with Gandhi Ji’s thoughts and guidance, Gujarat Vidyapith was established on October 18, 1920.

Shri Amit Shah said that Mahatma Gandhi believed that independence remains incomplete until our language, culture, labour and objectives are aligned with the national interest. He believed that Swaraj can never be achieved without one’s own language. He said that if we are not connected with our religion and culture, freedom has no meaning. If our labour and our objectives are not connected with our nation, then even after attaining independence, we will not be able to protect it.

The Home Minister said that the objective of education should be to rebuild the nation through the harmonious integration of the hands, the heart and the mind. Education should impart skills to the hands, awaken sensitivity in the heart, and equip the mind with knowledge along with wisdom and discernment. He said that a mind filled with knowledge alone can give rise to arrogance, whereas a mind enriched with knowledge and wisdom fosters humility and scholarship.

Shri Amit Shah said that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 rests on five pillars—mother tongue, skills, multidisciplinary learning, the Indian knowledge tradition, and holistic personality development. In a way, this is the same education system that India had imparted to the world for centuries, and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji has now brought that very education system back for the youth of India. He said that without changing its core essence, modern advancements from across the world have been incorporated into the National Education Policy.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that Mahatma Gandhi identified seven social sins. If these seven social sins are avoided, 90% of the evils in society can be eliminated. These include politics without principles, business without morality, wealth without labour, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice. He said that all young people should always remember these seven social sins. He added that none of us is a great personality who can claim that we would never commit any of these sins. However, if we remain conscious of them, we will hesitate and stop ourselves when faced with the temptation to commit them; and if we ever do commit one, we will also be willing to repent and atone for it.

Shri Amit Shah said that Mahatma Gandhi had prescribed 11 vows, including non-violence, non-stealing, celibacy, non-possession, physical labour, control of the palate, fearlessness, equal respect for all religions, Swadeshi, and the removal of un-touchability. These 11 vows remain relevant even today, and we should move forward by following them. He said that Gandhi Ji had described religious conversion as a sin. The students have also taken a pledge today to live according to their own ‘Swadharma’.

Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah said that Khadi is not merely a fabric or an economic activity; it is an idea that one should uphold the spirit of Swadeshi in every aspect of one’s life. He said that the turnover of Khadi and Village Industries was ₹31,000 crore in 2013–14, which increased to ₹1.87 lakh crore in 2025–26. He said that Mahatma Gandhi placed great emphasis on cleanliness, and today there is not a single household in the country without a toilet. He added that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has worked to instil the values of cleanliness in the new generation by integrating them with education.

Shri Amit Shah said that there is no objection to learning any language in the world when it comes to knowledge of languages. However, there can be no greater mistake than thinking that speaking in one’s own language will make one inferior. Language is what connects us with the values, history and roots of our country. That is why Gandhi Ji also emphasised the importance of one’s own language. He said that Gandhi Ji also placed emphasis on Gram Swaraj, Gram Samriddhi and cooperation. The Modi Government is working afresh in all three of these areas.

The Home Minister said that even during the period of colonial rule, despite facing repeated setbacks, Gandhi Ji always used the term ‘Punar – Nirman’ of the nation, rather than ‘Navnirman’. Gandhi Ji believed that the principles that had been followed for thousands of years would remain unchanged; however, we would modernise and undertake reconstruction. Shri Shah said that over the past 12 years, the country has embarked on the path of reconstruction. The Modi Government has made a concerted effort from 2014 to 2026 to move forward with the nation’s strength, prosperity, security, self-reliance, and ethics in leadership as its core principles. He said that when the country completed 75 years of Independence, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi placed a resolve before the youth of the country that by 2047, the centenary year of India’s Independence, India should be number one in the world in every field. He said that if we become number one, we will not think only about ourselves but about the welfare of the entire universe. We will be powerful, but our power will be used with wisdom and discretion. We will be prosperous, but that prosperity will be for every citizen of the country and for every suffering person across the world. It is with this vision that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has presented the vision of India in 2047 before today’s youth.

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