He also called for reforms in the anti-defection law to make it more effective. “It bars defections in retail but allows defection in wholesale,” Naidu said.
On the language issue, the vice president said that “we should not have unnecessary controversies”.
In his characteristic style, Naidu said “no imposition (of any language) and no opposition (to any language), that should be the position”.
He also said that in his young age, he took part in the anti-Hindi movement, but later realised its importance.
Naidu made these remarks at the release of a biography of late freedom fighter and political leader Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna here.
The book titled ‘Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna: A Political Crusader’ (English) and ‘Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna: Bhartiya Chetana Ke Samwahak’ (revised edition in Hindi) has been written by Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Ram Naresh Tripathi.
Addressing the gathering, the vice president said many of India’s heroes of the freedom struggle did not get the recognition and the respect they deserved in history books.
He called for making people aware of the sacrifices made by such great men and women so as to inspire the new generation to follow in their footsteps and work for nation building.
“The history of our freedom struggle is replete with innumerable stories of sacrifice and selfless devotion to the motherland and people should be proud of India’s glorious past,” Naidu said.
Describing Bahuguna as a renowned freedom fighter, a principled politician and astute administrator, the vice president said he dedicated his entire life to the service of the nation.
“When we go through his biography, at the first glance it appears that he was a rebel, but as we read on, it becomes clear that to him the nation came first,” he said.
Observing that Bahuguna was deeply wedded to the concept of liberty, Naidu said he joined the freedom movement at the young age of 17 and was imprisoned and tortured by British authorities for his role in the Quit India Movement.
Praising his selfless love for the motherland, the vice president referred to an incident wherein Bahuguna declined to accept a piece of land offered to him under the freedom fighter quota, with a request that it be allotted to some other needy freedom fighter.
Calling Bahuguna a man of principles and Gandhian values, Naidu lauded him for opposing the imposition of Emergency in the country.
Referring to his sensitive and caring nature, he said that since his student days, Bahuguna always took up the cause of poor children at school and tried to help them in various ways.
“As chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the state stood first in India in land distribution to the SC/ST community. Impressed by his contribution Vinoba Bhave gave him the title of Mitti Nandan,” he added.
Praising Bahuguna’s concern for the underprivileged sections of society, the vice president said he would often assemble boys and conduct cleanliness drives in a village and help women fetch drinking water from far-flung areas.
Complimenting the government for taking these issues of the common man on priority through various programmes such as Swachh Bharat Mission, Naidu appealed to every citizen to become an active partner in the implementation of these schemes and work for making India neat, clean and green.
Naidu also mentioned an incident when in 1980, Bahuguna resigned from his political party, and as a matter of principle, resigned simultaneously from Parliament as well, even though there was no anti-defection law at that time mandating his resignation.
He called such principled and high moral standards as a shining light for parliamentarians today to emulate. “Bahuguna’s impatience was not for power but for a positive change in the system,” Naidu asserted.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami, Union Minister of State of Law and Justice SP Singh Baghel, former chief minister of Uttarakhand Vijay Bahuguna, Rita Bahuguna Joshi were among those who attended the event.
