Governor Bandaru Dattatraya said that national unity means feeling of loyalty and fraternity towards the nation and this unity paves the way of development and progress.The Governor was presiding over the 7th Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Lecture on “Ethical Foundation of Nationalism” organized by Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, today.He said that Rabindranath Tagore was not only the doyen of Indian writers, poets and thinkers, but also a visionary who foresaw a rising India and contributed to nation building in many remarkable ways. He has been synonymous with high ethical standards and the pioneering spirit of civilization, development and philosophical humanism. He said that National Integration was the bond and togetherness between people regardless of their caste, creed, religion or gender. It was the feeling of oneness, brotherhood and social unity under communities and society in a country, he added. National Integration helps to keep the country unified and strong from within despite the diversities.“I believe that this sense of national unity should always prevail in everyone. This is not just a situation arising out of speech or in emergency, but it is an awakening feeling in the soul which should last forever”, said Dattatraya.The Governor said that the nation was rising in stature in various fields - be it economic, academic, geo-political influence, defence, sports, science, IT and space technology and we were proud of being the world's largest and the most vibrant democracy of about 133 crore aspirational Indians representing a vast diversity of religions, regions, castes, cultures and traditions.
He said that the fundamentals of Indian economy were strong and India continues to be among the fastest growing major economies of the world. He said that India has improved its ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking and was placed at 63rd place among 190 nations.Shri Dattatraya said that IIAS was a premier Institution for higher learning and research and added that the Institute has managed the pandemic as well as the academic challenges very well. He also appreciated the Institute for the theme of the lecture and said that it not only generates positive thoughts and feelings about the inherent strength of our nation, but reminds us of the glorious past and the need to strive further continuously for building a bright, prosperous and inclusive India.While delivering the 7th Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Lecture Shri Ram Madhav said that Indian theory of Nation and Nationalism was century old. He put their view on the nationalism theory of western and said that they didn't have theoretical clarities. He also discussed about the essentialities of the nation. "We remembered our own culture or heritage, whatever the land we adopted to live", said Shri Madhav. He added that nation was formed on the basis of soal. He also narrated about challenges before the nationalism.Earlier, Prof Makarand R. Paranjape welcomed the Governor and Ram Madhav and briefed about the Rabinderanath Tagore Memorial Lecture. He also focused on Tagore's work and said that he had contributed extraordinarily to the nation and humanity. He added that he had defined nationalism in a very broad way and stressed on localism ' Swadeshi Samaj' which reflects in his work.