Mr. Pranab Mukherjee is considered to be the most versatile Indian politician, who has occupied several ministerial portfolios in the Government of India. He is a personality that would not be exaggerated to be called The Political Warrior Of India.
Before being elected as the President of India, he was Union Finance Minister from 2009 to 2012. He got his congress ticket from the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who helped him to get elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament of India.
He is the only minister to have handled a major ministry; defence, commerce, foreign & finance. After the demise of Indira Gandhi, Mukherjee quit the Congress & formed his own political party, the Rashtriya Samajwadi Party.
In 2019, The President of India, Ram Nath Govind, awarded India's highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, to Mr. Pranab Mukherjee.
Pranab Mukherjee's Death
During the COVID-19 pandemic, on 10 August 2020, he announced on twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19, before his surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain. He accidentally slipped in the bathroom & then got admitted to Army's Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi Cantonment.
On 21 August, the hospital stated “The medical condition of Shri Pranab Mukherjee remains the same. He is being treated for lung infection and continues to be on ventilatory support. His vital parameters are being maintained and he is haemodynamically stable.”
And on the 31st of August 2020, he said goodbye to this world. The whole nation grieved the passing away of Bharat Ratna Shri Pranab Mukherjee, who left an indelible mark on the development trajectory of our nation.
The year 2020 has been terrible and we lost yet another great personality today. Nevertheless, we have his wisdom residing in his words and deeds with us. Let us remember him in our prayers as we bring to you a few of his quotations from his articulate speeches regarding his vivid vision for India.
Quotes by Pranab Mukherjee for India & Humanity
1. I have seen vast, perhaps unbelievable, changes during the journey that has brought me from the flicker of a lamp in a small Bengal village to the chandeliers of Delhi.
The above quote denotes the drastic changes gifted by the unparalleled experience in governance with the rare distinction of having served at different times as Foreign, Defence, Commerce & Finance Minister, during his life journey.
2. There is no humiliation more abusive than hunger.
Mr. Mukherjee seems deeply touched with the poverty prevailing in our country. The above quote calls for erasing the inequality from the dictionary of modern India.
3. The fact remains that secularism is inherent in the Indian system, in the Indian ethos and culture. India cannot but be secular.
Pranab Da here denotes Secularism as the innate property of Indian Constitution, although our ethos & culture be secular as they follow casteism. The basic strand of our Indian culture is based on casteism, which categorises people into different classes. So, is it worth stating it as secular?
4. No problems are ever resolved by violence. It only aggravates the pain and the hurt on every side.
Mr. Pranab's peace loving nature can be portrayed from the above quotation. Even the victory in the wars cannot shield the conqueror from the disastrous agony and pain.
5. Hatred and intolerance will only lead to dilution of our national identity.
Pranab ji has penned down the most critical issue of our nation, I.e., division of population on the grounds of hatred and has provoked us to call against bigotry, for both are threats to the nation.
6. Our national identity has emerged after a long drawn process of confluence and assimilation, the multiple cultures and faiths make us special and tolerant.
Mr. Mukherjee seems to carry the pride of being an Indian, he eulogizes the struggle our country men had gone through in order to make India free and to express our peculiarity in culture and traditions, which when united gives us our own national identity.
7. Every time a child or woman is brutalised, the soul of India is wounded.
Mr. Mukherjee's beauty of ideology can be very clearly seen in the above quote, which talks about the violence against the children and some of our society. He considers both to be the immortal conscience of our civilization which when hurt will devastate humanity.
8. The trust placed by the people in the political system & those elected should not be betrayed.
Compassion is the humane quality of understanding the suffering of others & wanting to do something to alleviate that suffering. Good political leaders like Pranab Da, use compassion to see the needs of those he or she leads & to determine the course of action that would be of greatest benefit to all those involved in order to respect the trust of people in them.
9. Trickle-down theories do not address the legitimate aspirations of the poor. We must lift those at the bottom so that poverty is erased from the dictionary of modern India.
Mr. Mukherjee here speaks about the 'trickle down economics’ failure. It generally doesn’t work because cutting taxes for the wealthy often does not translate to increased rate of employment, consumer-spending & government revenues in the long term. Instead, cutting taxes for middle & lower income earners will drive the economy through the trickle-up phenomenon.
10. The young people of India will build a string and powerful nation, a nation that is politically mature & economically strong, a nation whose people enjoy both a high quality of life as well as justice.
Pranab Da here refers to igniting the minds of youth to be the illumination of the nation. He conveys all the learners a strong message to work together for the nation so as to make our India socially, economically, politically and judicially healthy.
11. Propelled by freedom of faith, gender equality and economic justice for all, India will become a modern nation. Minor blemishes cannot cloak the fact that India is becoming such a modern nation: no faith is in danger in our country, and the continuing commitment to gender equality is one of the great narratives of our times.
Mr. Mukherjee here enlightens the growth of India & praises many of our key properties as well.
12. India is a land of plenty inhibited by poverty; India has an enthralling, uplifting civilization that sparkles not only in our magnificent art, but also in the enormous creativity and humanity of our daily life in city and village.
Mr. Mukherjee seems to be deeply touched by India's splendid cultural & traditional diversity, talents, art, creativity & compassion of Indians impeded by destitution.
13. As Indians, we must of course learn from the past; but we must remain focused on the future. In my view, education is the true alchemy that can bring India its next golden age.
Mr. Mukherjee being an excellent orator inspires us to hustle hard till we reach the goal we set to achieve by learning the mistakes committed in the past and focussing the forthcoming. He always emphasizes Indians to acquire education in order to make a better future.
14. The soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance. This plurality of our society has come through assimilation of ideas over centuries.
Mr. Mukherjee seems to carry a big baggage of positivity within himself as he sees the large population not as a crowd but as a profitable resource of India.
15. We must move from conflict, violence and anger and move into harmony and peace. Our mother land is asking for it, it deserves it.
Pranab Da humbly requests us to move ahead from the hatred spread over the nation and achieve conciliation for the sake of harmony.
16. In the happiness of the people lies the happiness of the king, their welfare is his welfare.
Pranab Da's selfless love for the country men & their progress reflects from the above quotation.
17. It is when you stand by a person in his or her hour of crisis that you reveal your own humanity.
Pranab ji reveals the true meaning of humanity; selflessly helping a needful in his/her hardship and scoring well as our good deeds.
18. Science, education, research and innovation are the four pillars on which the development as well as the work culture of a nation rests. Scientific temperament cannot happen unless we improve the delivery of education at all levels.
His every word clearly echoes the recipe for the perfect developed nation which tastes delectable.
19. It is our composite culture which makes us into one nation. India’s Nationhood is not one language, one religion, one enemy. It is the ‘Perennial Universalism’ of 1.3 Bn people who use more than 122 languages & 1600 dialects in their everyday lives, practice 7 major religions, belong to 3 major ethnic groups – Aryans, Mongoloids, and Dravidians live under one system, one flag and one identity of being ‘Bhartiya’ and have ‘No Enemies’. That is what makes Bharat a diverse and united nation.
Pranab ji here talks about unity. He here emphasizes on the unity in diversity of beliefs, cultures, traditions, languages, etc. National unity is the most priceless asset for Bharat.
20. I am not a great scholar, never was a very bright student, became an average leader.
Not many know that apart from being a diplomat, Mukherjee was once a professor. He taught Political Science at the Vidyanagar college in West Bengal in 1963.
Nothing is left unsaid by him about all the key ingredients to brighten up the gem; India. Every word said by Shri Pranab Mukherjee provokes us not only for the betterment of our life but also for the welfare of the nation.
He was a scholar par excellence and a towering statesman. He was admired across the political spectrum and by all sections of society. The government of India has announced 7 day mourning on the death of Pranab Mukherjee, and it is rightly done. May his soul rest in peace.
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