'LoC Can Become A Line Of Peace'

Full text of the PM's convocation address at the University of Jammu:

"I am honoured and delighted to receive the Degree of Doctor of Letters (HonorisCausa) that has just been conferred on me by His Excellency the Chancellorof the university. I have received similar honours before but your gesture isindeed very special for me. This beautiful state of Jammu and Kashmir has alwayshad a special place in my heart. More recently, its development and well-beinghave been on top of my agenda in the Government of India.

Let me say, at the very outset, that I have been truly impressed by theremarkable strides that the University of Jammu has made in recent years. Icompliment you all, particularly, your dynamic Vice-Chancellor, ProfessorAmitabh Mattoo. The steps taken by your university to establish itself as acentre for excellence are indeed very impressive. This auditorium in which Istand right now is itself a symbol of excellence. I commend the university’sachievements in teaching and research, especially in fields like high-energyphysics, glaciology, bio-technology and strategic studies. I am also happy thatthe university has actively participated in extension work, in partnership withcivil society, in disaster management, empowerment of rural women and theefforts at strengthening the region’s culture of tolerance and peace. It isprecisely this blend of academic excellence, social relevance and aestheticsensibility that our universities must nurture.

Our country has a 5,000 year old history of the human quest for knowledge.Ours has always been a knowledge society. The challenge is now to transform itinto a knowledge economy. It is clear that our greatest strength, in years tocome, will be our human resources. Our huge pool of young women and men,adequately skilled, can become India’s greatest force for progress. I havebelieved that it is this soft power, not just military strength, which will bethe real marker of India’s greatness. And I am confident that Jammu andKashmir’s young men and women will become a shining example of this softpower.

I am, therefore, here to seek your partnership in building Jammu and Kashmirinto a robust and vibrant knowledge economy. As a partner, I commit myself andthe Central Government to creating institutions of excellence in the State,which can channelise the creativity and energy of the youth of Jammu andKashmir. We will together build and strengthen a cadre of extraordinarilyskilled men and women who are dedicated to a vision of a peaceful and prosperousJammu and Kashmir. That alone is a guarantee for sustainable peace in the state.

Many new and imaginative initiatives have been taken by the state government,including the opening of a large number of degree colleges and the Universitiesof Jammu and Kashmir have opened off-site campuses in several parts of thestate. Campuses are also being proposed for Leh, Poonch, Ramnagar and Reasi.Much more needs to be done, both in terms of access as well as the quest forexcellence. The Knowledge Commission, in its recent report, has recommended avast expansion of our higher education system. I have recently announced that weintend to establish 30 new Central Universities across the country. I would likeat least one of them to be in this State.

We also need to address the problems of the educated unemployed, especiallyin Jammu & Kashmir. In the new globally competitive environment, it isessential to keep upgrading skills, build first-rate infrastructure in ourinstitutions of knowledge and ensure top quality of teaching and training.Fortunately, with the latest developments in information and communicationtechnology it is possible as never before to create such facilities quickly, andwith relatively little investment. We could consider setting up knowledgecentres at the district headquarter level in Jammu & Kashmir. These centrescould be equipped with the latest ICT facilities, be fully networked and offercourses that would upgrade skills to a world class level, especially in thefield of software where there is a huge shortage of professionals. Many of thesecourses could be offered through video-conferencing or through web-casts andother electronic means. Students from these centres would be so well trainedthat they would be able to secure employment anywhere, from Srinagar to theSilicon Valley. The universities in the state can be the nodal institutions formanaging these knowledge centres. The National Knowledge Commission has proposedcreating such a network to connect all universities, libraries, laboratories,hospitals and agricultural institutions to share data and resources across thecountry. These knowledge centres would be part of such a network.

We also need to revitalize the spirit of entrepreneurship that Jammu has beenfamous for all over northern India. Jammu has been known as a city of freeenterprise of job-creators and not job-seekers, and we hope that this traditioncan be sustained and further strengthened.

Universities can play a vital role in this through a structuredacademia-industry interface, and by setting up business-development incubatorswhich can facilitate start-ups and new business ventures.

Jammu has another legacy that it can be rightly proud of. All of you knowthat the city is believed to have been founded when Rajah Jambhu Lochan, on ahunting expedition and crossing the river Tawi, discovered a tiger and a goatdrinking water from the same tank. When he sought an explanation, his aides arebelieved to have explained that the "soil of the place excelled in virtue andfor that reason no living creature bore enmity against another". It is thisremarkable tradition of pluralism that all of you have inherited, and whichsustained itself even today.

I know that over these years you have welcomed, with open arms, thousands ofmigrants, refugees and displaced persons. These include the large number ofKashmiri Pandits, but also refugees from Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Pakistan.I assure all of them that our government is committed to their properrehabilitation and ensuring that they will get equal rights. I salute the peopleof Jammu for maintaining a culture of peace and tolerance during these difficulttimes.

You know that the problems of Jammu and Kashmir have been receiving mypersonal attention. I have chaired three round-table conferences at which almostthe full spectrum of public and political opinion in the state has beenrepresented. The roundtable process has emerged as an effective platform foraddressing all the concerns of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. I am sorrythat some groups have so far opted to stay away. I hope they will come torecognize the historic significance and the transparent sincerity of theroundtable process and will join it in future.

At the last conference, the reports of four of the working-groups that havebeen set up were presented and discussed. We are presently working on theserecommendations with the active help and cooperation of the state government. Iam looking forward to the fifth report on Centre-State relations. All of us haveto show both wisdom and creativity in dealing with the issues at hand. Isincerely hope this report will also address the issue of effective devolutionof powers among different regions within the State. The aspirations of allsections of the people in each of the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakhmust be taken into account, and a common understanding reached on ways ofmeeting all these aspirations. I believe it is possible to pursue thedevelopment of a united state of Jammu & Kashmir even while respecting andaddressing the legitimate aspirations of the people of each of the threeregions.

I wish to highlight a larger point here today. There comes a time in thehistory of a people, when they are energized enough to make history. For sixtyyears we have lived with tension and periods of violence, both internally and inour relations with Pakistan. You all know, better than anyone else, the tragicconsequences of war, terrorism, conflict and displacement. It is time to make agenuine effort to build peace and create the conditions for a historicreconciliation of hearts and minds in our region. And I believe young people,without any bitter memories, and full of hope and energy, are the ones who canlead this process of change.

Jammu and Kashmir is the finest expression of the idea of India. Diversity offaith, culture, geography and language has traditionally never been a source ofconflict. In fact the people of this state of celebrated diversity and lived inharmony for most of the time. We now need to revive those bonds and that spiritof accommodation and mutual respect even while we sit down, in good faith, toresolve many of our genuine differences. My vision, I have stated many timesbefore, is to build a naya Jammu and Kashmir which is symbolized bypeace, prosperity and people’s power. You are all the real stakeholders in thefuture of Jammu and Kashmir, and it is only through your energetic participationthat a naya Jammu and Kashmir can truly be built.

As I have often said, real empowerment is not about slogans. Only when everyman, woman and child from Ladakh to Lakhanpur and from Kargil to Kathua throughKashmir feels secure, in every sense of the word, can we truly say that peoplehave been empowered.

Security is freedom from fear and this is what we wish to achieve. We wouldlike the people of Jammu and Kashmir to be free from all fears about theirfuture. It is only this sense of comprehensive security, within a framework ofgood governance that can really empower the people. We would like the people tobe physically secure and this can only happen if violence and terrorism endpermanently. We seek to ensure that the people are economically secure and thiscan only happen if the tremendous potential of the state and its people ischannelised and every citizen has access to quality education and health care.We would like every group to be politically secure and this can only happen oncepower is decentralized to the villages. Finally, we would like that everycommunity is culturally and socially secure. This means that we value thecultural distinctiveness of every community and create conditions for theflowering of their languages, their life styles and their arts and crafts.

The vision of empowerment and comprehensive security is related to goodgovernance and people’s active participation in formulating basic policies andmonitoring their implementation. When power flows to the grassroots and everycommunity gets space, there will be no sense of discrimination. I appeal,therefore, to the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh to join hands in buildinga glorious future for all the young people of this beautiful state. Our dialoguewith Pakistan seeks to end the bitter legacy of the last 60 years, and begin anew chapter in our bilateral relations. I hope and believe that Jammu andKashmir can, one day, become a symbol of India-Pakistan cooperation rather thanof conflict. As I have stated earlier, borders cannot be changed, but they canbe made irrelevant. There can be no question of divisions or partitions, but theLine of Control can become a line of peace with a freer flow of ideas, goods,services and people.

The natural resources of the state of Jammu and Kashmir could then be usedfor the benefit of all its people. They need no longer be points of contentionor a source of conflict. We could, for example, use the land and water resourcesof the region jointly for the benefit of all the people living on both sides ofthe Line of Control. Similarly, there are vast opportunities to jointly worktogether for the mutual benefit of our people. It goes without saying that thiscan only happen once terrorism and violence end permanently. I have said thisbefore and I say it again, real political power in a democracy comes from theballot box, not the barrel of a gun. We are firm in our resolve to fightterrorism and to end the blackmail of terror in this peace-loving State. We arecommitted to winning the hearts and minds of all. We will never allow anyone tostop the heartbeat of a peace-loving people in whatever cause. We will alsocontinue our dialogue with Pakistan, despite difficulties, in this spiritbecause I genuinely believe that there is no alternative but to work forbuilding peace. I also know that the yearning for peace is most intensely felthere in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

My young friends, I wish you all a bright future and a life full of purposeand compassion. May your path be blessed."