‘Say no to bribes’, was President Pranab Mukherjee’s message to graduating students at convocation of NLSUI on Sunday. Urging the students to be brave, he asked them to have the courage to refuse paying bribes if asked to.
Mr. Mukherjee said that if students were asked to support violence, corruption or oppression, they should have the courage to say no.
“If you fear reprisal, remember that breaking an unjust system is about making difficult choices. Mahatma Gandhi, who was also a lawyer, could not have forged the instrument of Satyagraha and led the people of India to Independence had he not been brave and willing to make the choice of fighting against the colonial rulers in South Africa,” he said.
He said the legal fraternity should battle for the rights and welfare of people, and students should look for ways to do their bit for the country. “Choose to engage with our beautiful complex, often difficult and sometimes noisy democracy. Help strengthen and refine our legal and political institutions,” he said.
Mr. Mukherjee told the graduating batch that over the past two decades, there has been a paradigm shift in legal education and there was a need to bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and practical application.
