Admiral. Laxminarayan Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian navy was interviewed by us on the question of nationalism and the retired soldiers’ march to protesting incidents in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
He said, a protest in an institute should not be treated as anti-national. All Indians have the right to air their views, to dissent and protest.
Dissent should not be considered as enmity to the nation. JNU is a national level prestigious institute, and definitely there will be students from various places of the country with different characteristics. If somebody doesn’t have correct understanding of the nation, it is not only the problem of that individual but also of the society where that person has grown up, says Admiral. Ramdas.
The former Naval Chief also talked about Indo-Pak relationships. He said, both the nations don’t really understand the role of a third party in the issues. India should not treat Pakistan as an enemy. Many in Pakistan don’t subscribe to the idea of Islamic state, which Zia-ul-Haq made several years after independence. It is the same idea RSS want in India to be — a Hindu rashtra.
This notion is declined by the majority of Indians. He demanded that India should uphold the principles of its well defined secular constitution rather than spreading hatred.
