[1]Addressing the nation on the eve of the 65th anniversary of independence, President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday trained his guns at self-styled anti-corruption crusaders Anna Hazare and Ramdev.
Giving a subtle political overtone to his maiden address as President, Mr Mukherjee, talking of “endemic” protests against corruption, warned that India would be “flirting with chaos” if its democratic institutions come under assault.
Saying Parliament was the “atmaan” (soul) of the nation, Mr Mukherjee said, “When authority becomes authoritarian, democracy suffers, but when protests becomes endemic, we are flirting with chaos.”
Mr Mukherjee acknowledged “anger against the bitter pandemic of corruption is legitimate, as is the protest against the plague that is eroding the capability and potential of our nation.”
But though there were times when “people lose their patience”, this, he warned, “cannot become an excuse for an assault on our democratic institutions”.
A leading parliamentarian for decades before elevation to the nation’s highest office, Mr Mukherjee said these “institutions were the visible pillars of the Constitution... If they crack, the idealism of the Constitution cannot hold”.
In a clear reference to the relentless attacks on Parliament and other institutions by Ramdev and Hazare, the President said: “They (the institutions) are the interface between principles and the people. Our institutions may have suffered the weariness of time; the answer is not to destroy what has been built, but to re-engineer them so that they become stronger than before. Institutions are the guardians of our liberty.”
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/prez3jpgcropdisplayjpg-913