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There can be no justification
for lawless violence: Kalam

President A P J Abdul Kalam on Thursday expressed concern over growing 'intolerance and contempt' for other religions and spoke out against justification of 'lawless violence'.

He also had a word for judiciary saying it cannot be a 'mute witness' to devaluation of human life.

"The increasing intolerance for views of others and increasing contempt about ways of lives of others or their religions or the expressions of these differences through lawless violence against people cannot be justified in any context," Kalam said inaugurating the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal.

He said every citizen in the country had a right to live with dignity and aspire for distinction. "Availability of a large number of opportunities to resort to just and fair means in order to attain the dignity and distinction, is what our Constitution is all about. And that is what makes life wholesome and worth living in a true and vibrant democracy."

The President said at social levels it was necessary to work for 'unity of minds' and everyone should make his behaviour civilised to protect the rights of each individual.

"That is the very foundation of the democratic values, which I believe is our civilisational heritage and is the very soul of our nation. Judiciary is the guardian of civilised life. No life can be allowed to be devalued by anybody. Particularly, the judiciary cannot be a mute witness to this inhuman act," he said.

Describing the judiciary as the 'angel and marshal' that ensures democracy survives, Kalam said it was the whole process of interpreting social, political, economical and human environment to ensure that wholesome life with dignity and distinction is sustained. "There cannot be any erosion of values, corrosion of quality or any cobwebs in the procedure."

"The majesty of law and justice has to be maintained with magnanimity and magnificence. The members of the judiciary, therefore, become inviolable role models, the perfect incorruptible ideals of a civilised society. It is this that we have to strive for, attain and sustain," he said.

Spelling out 'essential needs' for a developed India, the President said GDP growth should be targeted at nine per cent annually with the number of people below poverty line reduced to nil or a very small part and near self-reliance in defence needs achieved without any 'umbilical' attached to the outside world.

"India has to be economically and commercially powerful, at least to be one of the four top nations in terms of size of the economy... there should be large opportunities for all our people to have a prosperous life," Kalam said.

The 11th President of India: Complete Coverage

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