Indian family values act as deterrent to IS, says Rajnath Singh

He was speaking at a conference, Taleem ki Taquat, organised by Maulana Azad National Urdu University of Hyderabad in Lucknow, on Sunday.

University Chancellor Zafar Sareshwala, who said there was lot of positivity in the country but people “unnecessarily raised negativity”, he claimed. “It was the first time in 65 years that a Union home minister had directly addressed an event of Muslims.”

Citing an example to show why the IS couldn’t flourish in India, the Union minister said, “A Muslim youth got caught in radicalisation in Mumbai and his parents came to me with the request to save him. Such are the values of our country. I have full faith that the IS can never have supremacy in India.”

Rajnath also pointed out that thousands of Indian imams had recently taken out a procession against the IS. “If this culture of the country can be saved, no one can stop India from becoming the most powerful nation with maximum knowledge in the world,” he said.

With the conference theme being how education helps empower and energise communities, the Union minister said education should “develop tolerance”. “The education system and culture of India develop tolerance among us. I believe that such education and culture should be kept alive,” he said.

The country had never discriminated on the lines of caste, religion and sects, Rajnath said, noting that the Parsi and Jewish communities have written about the respect and affection they got in India. India is the only country where all 72 sects of Muslims live together, he added. “It does not happen even in any Islamic country.”

Rajnath added that only education could help people get rid of problems such as terrorism, Maoism, extremism and insurgency. “But knowledge of only alphabets and any particular subject is insufficient. Knowledge of certain life values and commitment to these values is also necessary. Not only towards human beings, there should be love and affection towards animals and birds also,” he said.

Hindus, Muslims, Christians and other religions could jointly work towards making Lucknow a heaven, the minister added.