Vice-President of India and Panjab University (PU) chancellor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday exhorted students to stay true to who they are for they will be the warriors of the country in 2047 when the country celebrates 100 years of independence.
Addressing the annual convocation at PU, Dhankhar said: “It will be the young generation who will take the country forward when many of the older generation won’t be there. You must feel proud to be Indian and Panjab University has the capacity to be one of the best universities in India.”
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He went on to recount the achievements of the university’s alumni and how they graced the country’s top positions.
He said India has an edge in technology and the mobile internet usage and online payments have bridge the digital divide. Sharing how education was tool for social empowerment, he shared his own example to say how if he hadn’t received a scholarship, he may have ended up elsewhere in life.
He awarded former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and philanthropist and writer Sudha Murty honorary degrees of DLitt.
Dhankhar recalled how he had appeared before Gogoi as a senior advocate and thought of him as a no-nonsense judge. He said that now it’s the other way round when he sits as the chairman of Rajya Sabha of which Gogoi is a member. “That’s something I take great pride in,” the Vice-President said. He called Sudha Murty “sewa ki murti (idol of service)” in view of her philanthropy.
While talking about Bharti Enterprises vice-chairperson Rakesh Bharti Mittal, who was awarded the Udyog Ratna, he recalled how he was acquainted with his father who had once told him with concern that his sons had wanted to pursue something in technology. “The rest is history,” Dhankhar said.
Parasitologist Veena Tandon was conferred with the Vigyan Ratna and Rattan Singh Jaggi was awarded the Gyan Ratna.
After lyricist Irshad Kamil was conferred with the Sahitya Ratna, Dhankhar spoke about the importance of sahityas and their contribution towards society.
He congratulated students and added on a kind note that academics is not everything. “Everyone has experienced failure in some form or the other, and students must not fear failure,” he said before ending with the popular quote from the Hindi film, Sholay, “Jo dar gaya, so mar gaya” amid applause from the audience.