At JNU’s first Swami Vivekananda lecture, Doval asks youth to focus on nation building

Addressing students of Jawaharlal Nehru University during its first Swami Vivekananda Memorial lecture on Tuesday, national security advisor Ajit Doval said the “revolutionary monk” had given the country “specific guidelines particularly relevant to the youth of India.”

In his video address, Doval said Vivekananda exhorted the youth “to focus their individual and collective energies to build a strong and powerful India”. The lecture was organised on the 158th birth anniversary of Vivekananda.

“He [Vivekananda] particularly talked about unity of society and lamented that one of the causes of India’s degradation was its social fragmentation, caste system and self-centric narrow vision. He said and I quote “The solution to the caste problem in India is not to degrade the higher caste but to raise the lower up to the level of the higher”,” Doval said

The national security advisor also said the country was on the “threshold of a great leap forward” and the youth showed “a new surge to carry the nation forward with a new passion of patriotism”.

“If they [youth] work with the single goal of nation building, your generation can play a seminal role not only in transforming India at a pace and in a way as never before but also the world at large,” Doval said.

He also said JNU has played “seminal role in academics, research, and public affairs” and said the country was “proud” of the contributions of cabinet ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, who are the alumni of the university.

JNU Rector III RP Singh said the week-long celebration of Swami Vivekananda festival included a series of lectures, sports, mini marathons, badminton, table tennis and other activities. The awards will be given to students on January 26 during the Republic Day celebrations, Singh said.

In November, JNU had also announced that it will organise week-long “Swami Vivekananda Youth Festival” every year. On November 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also digitally unveiled the statue of Swami Vivekananda on JNU campus.

“This would immortalise the messages, thoughts and visions of this great son of India and spread the teachings of Swami ji among the JNU community, especially among the students,” JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar had said.