National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval on Tuesday said that the youth of India is bursting with energy to march ahead with patriotism and that if they put their collective energy towards nation building, they could transform India and the world at large.
‘A visionary’
Mr. Doval was delivering the first Swami Vivekananda Memorial Lecture at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The lecture marked the culmination of a week-long Swami Vivekananda Youth festival that was organised at the university.
Mr. Doval said that Swami Vivekananda was a revolutionary young monk and a visionary who was the first to make the world look towards India and realise the glory of Hinduism.
“It was Swami Vivekananda who made a multitude of Indians believe in themselves and take responsibility for their destiny that ultimately led to India’s Independence,” said the National Security Adviser.
He added that at the time when Swami Vivekananda was propagating his message, the country was politically saturated, economically impoverished, socially fragmented and psychologically stunned to silence and his message helped people look towards a better future with hope and a belief that it can be changed.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar said that Swami Vivekananda has often spoken about the importance of education, the role of the youth in nation building and integrating Indian spiritualism with modern progress.
“When all of us are trying to build a sustainable world with inclusive growth, based on Indian ethos, the teachings of Swami ji become all the more important today,” Mr. Kumar said.
Last year, a statue of Swami Vivekananda was unveiled at the Administration Block of JNU by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The statue stands on the opposite side of ‘Freedom Square’, where a statue of Jawaharlal Nehru stands — built with the help of contributions from the university alumni.
