Katra: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today heaped praise on Dipa Karmakar, who yesterday became the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics, saying ‘if girls continue to excel, males may protest demanding reservation in coming days’.
“Just yesterday, a daughter of India brought fame to the country at the Rio Olympics. These incidents set examples, give us strength,” he said while addressing the 5th Convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University at Katra in Jammu.
“Mata Vaishno Devi must be happy to see girls winning medals. If girls continue to excel, males may protest demanding reservation in coming says,” he said, adding that “I salute all the mothers who motivate their daughters to study.”
He also asked students to get to the position where they could make the best use of knowledge acquired to serve the nation and humanity.
“India has always showed the way whenever the human kind has entered in an era of knowledge and this is a century of knowledge,” the PM said.
Citing the examples of former president APJ Abdul Kalam and the mountain man Manjhi, Modi said that the success does not always come through resources but strong determination and hard work also lead to miracles.
Speaking on the occasion, Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti assured that state government is committed to address the issues of non local students in the state. Her remark holds significance as it came in the backdrop of unrest at NIT in Srinagar where nearly 1500 non-Kashmiri students were forced to leave the institution after violence over Team India’s loss to West Indies ICC World T20 tournament.
"We welcome the students, who come here from different part of the nation on the lines of 'atithi devo bhava'. When these students come, they come as guests but they leave as our goodwill ambassadors," she said.
"I would request all to make them feel at home so that when they go back they talk about our hospitality and good behaviour and treat our children of the state, who are in lakhs in rest of the country in the same way. We need to behave in such a manner that this cultural mix prospers and the brotherhood flourishes," she added.
This was the first time when J&K Chief Minister and the Prime Minister were seen together at a dais.
Earlier this morning, the Prime Minister inaugurated Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Super Speciality Hospital at Kakryal Katra, the base camp of Shri Mata Vaishno Cave Shrine. The hospital has been recently constructed at a cost of Rs 300 crore.
