"Khap Our Culture, You Can't Assess It On Isolated Incidents": Vice President

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday said khap is our culture and a symbol of the depth of our civilisation, and it cannot be evaluated on the basis of some isolated incidents.

He said, "Look at our culture, khap (clan-based outfits). Go into the background of khap. You will find that khap is positive. You cannot assess it on isolated incidents," said Mr Dhankhar.

Mr Dhankhar also praised 'akharas' in Haryana, saying they have a glorious history.

Addressing a gathering in Faridabad after releasing a book '9 Incredible Years of Haryana Government: Emergence of a New and Vibrant Haryana' at Surajkund, he said India has changed in the past 10 years, from being in the news for scams, to now poised to becoming the third largest economy in the world in the next two and three years.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar among others were present on this occasion.

In his address, Mr Dhankhar said, "I want to state how much India has changed in the last 10 years. There are some reasons behind the change. First is that corruption was rampant in the country.

"If you look at the period 10 years ago, India used to remain in the news for two things - scams and that our economic position was quite worrying in the eyes of the world. It used to be said that India was part of the fragile five," he said.

"Today we are the fifth largest economic power in the world. We have left Canada, England and France behind and in the next two-three years, India will be the third largest economy in the world, surpassing Japan and Germany," he added.

"It means that corruption eats into development. Corruption is antithetical to meritocracy," said Mr Dhankhar.

He said, "There used to be a time when no work was possible without liaison agents and middlemen. Power corridors were infested with corrupt elements. They leveraged decision making through extra legal means." "Today, middlemen have vanished and power corridors have been fully sanitised," said Mr Dhankhar.

The vice president said the second very important thing for development was that everyone is equal before the law. 

"We cannot think of democratic values surviving in a country where there is no equality before the law. But we have seen that some people used to think what law can do to them as they were above the law. Now it has changed," said Mr Dhankhar.

Referring to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Mr Dhankhar asked whether anybody had ever thought that the temple would be built. "How much the suffering of five centuries troubled our minds. But it came to fruition on January 22," he stated, adding, "It has been brought about by righteousness and as per rule of law." On Articles 370 and 35A in Jammu and Kashmir, Dhankhar said nobody thought how long it would continue to trouble everyone. "The country was virtually bled to death. Today the situation has completely changed," he added, adding that a large number of tourists now visit Jammu and Kashmir.

He further stated that India has completely changed. He referred to the landing of Chandrayan-3 on the Moon last year.

However, he said, "A few 'bhramit log' (confused people) have weak digestion power when the issue of 'Bhartiyata' comes up. They are not filled with national sentiments. They want to taint, tarnish and demean our institutions and cultural heritage in the country and also outside.

"Today, there is no need for any Indian to remain silent and such acts must be dealt with. We are proud Indians. We take pride in our historic exponential phenomenal growth," he added.

He praised the Khattar government in Haryana and said the state has set an example by making the recruitment process for government jobs transparent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)