Treat all regions, communities equally, says Markandeya Katju

MANGALORE: Press Council of India (PCI) chairman justice Markandeya Katju said that all communities, regions and lingual groups in the nation should be given equal respect and treated equally.
Delivering the sixth silver jubilee endowment lecture at SDM Law College and Centre for Post Graduate Studies and Research in Law here on Tuesday, he said, "India is characterized by its tremendous diversity, which is broadly due to the fact that it is a large country of immigrants.Hence, to bring the country together, it is essential that all the communities, regions and lingual groups should be given equal importance and Articles 14 to 18 and Article 25 of the Constitution demand the same."
Ours is a federal government, which caters to the regional aspirations, he said. "In a country of such tremendous diversity, federalism is a absolute necessity," he added.
Lauding the efforts of national leaders including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Katju said that because of the greatness of those leaders, the nation remained secular. "There must have been tremendous pressure on Pandit Nehru and other leaders to declare India a Hindu state. It is the greatness of our leaders that they kept a cool head and declared our nation a secular state," he added.
"India must remain united, because only a united India can provide the huge market, which modern industry must have. Only modern industry can generate the wealth required to lift our people from poverty and other social evils," he added. PCI member Rajeev Ranjan Nag, SDM Education Society secretary Yashovarma and SDM Law College principal BK Raveendra were present.