'No place for terrorism and sectarian hatred'

President Pratibha Patil says terrorism and communal hatred have no place in society as they are enemies of development and stability.

In the backdrop of serial blasts in Delhi and incidents of communal violence in Karnataka and Orissa, President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday said terrorism and sectarian hatred have no place in the society as it was against development.

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"Terrorism and communal hatred are enemies of development, stability and a peaceful society," Patil said after receiving the D Lit (Honoris Causa) conferred by Lucknow University at a special convocation in Lucknow.

Paying glowing tributes to Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma of the Delhi polices' elite special cell, who made the supreme sacrifice during the Jamia Nagar encounter on September 19, Patil hailed the security and police personnel engaged in fighting terrorism.

"It is the duty of every citizen of the country to co-operate in combating terrorism", Patil urged.

"We have to divest hatred from the minds of some of our misguided youth and bring them to the path of peace, amity and communal harmony", the President said.

Expressing her dismay over the decline in the country's research facilities, Patil said this trend needs to be reversed.

"Research facilities in our universities need to be reinforced. Universities must become centres of research and advance research responding to the requirements of society and various economic sectors such as agriculture and industry", she said.

The President said India is committed to building and improving its infrastructure facilities and to ensure health, education and connectivity across the country.

"All these require a large corpus of well-trained engineers and technologists. Technology carries with itself the immense power to bring about revolutionary changes", she said.