“Indian democracy is an ongoing and unfinished project. We have one person one vote. But, till we have one person one value, our experiment with democracy would not be complete,” said well known historian and public intellectual Ramachandra Guha. He was speaking at the 17th annual convocation of the NALSAR University of Law on Saturday in Hyderabad.
Mr. Guha quoted Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Kamladevi Chattopadhyay and B.R. Ambedkar to prove the pervasive inequity and the struggle against it as part of freedom struggle. “The Indian Constitution tried to build on the bedrock of freedom struggle to create a society where justice and equality were accessible to everyone. But 70 years after independence, we are still some distance from reaching the goal of equality. Louis Dumont used the phrase ‘homo hierarchicus’ for the society where the hierarchy has been perfected. We have to unshackle that,” said Mr. Guha in his convocation address.
Chief Justice of High Court of Telangana and Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law Justice Raghavendra S. Chouhan presided over the function which saw conferment of degrees and diplomas on 380 candidates.
On the occasion, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, was conferred LL.D. (honoris causa) by the university.
Heart of the matter
“Creating a brief is an art. Many young lawyers collect information and compile it in order. You have to understand the brief and go to the crux of the case. Go straight to the heart of the matter. I learnt this in my initial days from my father,” said Mr. Venugopal advising the young graduating lawyers of the university.
University Vice-Chancellor Faizan Mustafa listed the achievements of the institution and invoked Nachiketa and Iqbal to drive home the point about effort and its link, success. “Victories are gained not on battlefields... but in educational institutions, which are the seedbeds of culture, where children in whose hands quiver the destinies of the future are trained. From their ranks will come statesmen and soldiers, patriots and philosophers, who will determine the progress of the land,” said Mr. Mustafa quoting a Supreme Court ruling of 1993.
He asked the students to celebrate the diversities of the country and to be proud of the diversity.
University registrar Prof. V. Balakista Reddy lead the convocation procession.
Sadhika Gulati, a B.A., LL. B student, received 15 gold medals instituted by various organisations and individuals. Overall, 49 gold medals were awarded to meritorious candidates.
