"Reference To Sanatan Evokes Reaction Beyond Comprehension": Vice President

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday lamented that reference to Sanatan and Hindu in India evokes baffling reaction from "misguided" people.

He also said that people who react to these terms without understanding the depths of the words and their deep meaning are "misguided" souls driven by a "dangerous ecosystem".

Addressing the International Congress of Vedanta organised at JNU here, Dhankhar said it was ironical and painful that in this country "reference to Sanatan, reference to Hindu evokes baffling reaction beyond comprehension." "Rather than understand the depth of these words, their deep meaning, people tend to be in a reaction mode at the drop of a hat," he said.

Dhankhar dubbed such people as "souls which are misguided themselves". He said such persons are "driven by a dangerous ecosystem that is a threat not only to society but to themselves".

The Vice President said at a time when global disciplines are embracing the Vedanta philosophy, there are "some in this land of spirituality" who dismiss Vedanta and Sanatani text as "regressive".

"This dismissal often stems from perverted, colonial mindsets, inefficient understanding of our intellectual heritage. These elements, who act in a structured manner, in a sinister fashion, the design is pernicious. They camouflage their destructive thought process by perverted versions of secularism. This is very dangerous," Dhankhar said.

This intolerance, he opined, undermines our democratic values, disturbs harmony in society and doesn't allow productivity. "On all counts, it leads only to disaster and failure," he said.

Referring to disruptions in Parliament, he said "expression" and "dialogue" are fundamental.

"Right of expression is a divine gift. Its curtailment, its dilution by any mechanism is not wholesome and this brings into picture another aspect, dialogue. If you have right of expression, (but) you don't engage in dialogue then things can't work out. Both these must go hand in hand," said Dhankhar, who is also the Rajya Sabha Chair.

He said disruptions have virtually defeated dialogue and expression. "Dialogue, debate, discussion, deliberation have exited under the onslaught of disruption and disturbance, even in the theatres of democracy," he said.

"What a travesty. In these temples of democracy, their sanctity is outraged," he said. 

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