Anger justified, but violence no solution, says President

President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday said that while the anger of the youth following the Delhi gangrape incident was justified, reason should not be thrown to the wind and the youth should learn to control their emotions. Violence is not the solution, he said.

Addressing the ninth convocation of the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) here, Mukherjee also expressed "deep distress" over the gangrape.

The President also expressed his condolences to the family of constable Subhash Tomar, who succumbed to injuries he suffered on Sunday during the protests against the incident in Delhi.

Addressing the convocation, Mukherjee said: "I take a moment here to express my deep distress over the recent incident of brutal violence against a young girl in Delhi. The government is alert to the situation and is taking necessary action to ensure that such unfortunate incidents are not repeated in future."

Praying for the speedy recovery of the "brave young girl", he said that attacks against women often happen in the backdrop of negative perceptions about women harboured and propagated by certain elements in society, which must change.

Digressing from the written speech, the President said that the anger among the youth may be justified. "But reason should not be thrown to winds. The youth must learn to control their emotions and face the situation peacefully. Violence is not a solution," he said.

"I share the agony and offer my heart-felt condolences to the family of the deceased, who died on the call of duty. I hope this is not repeated in the future," he said, referring to the death of the constable.

Expressing concern over participation of very few women in higher education and in engineering institutions he said: "I am told that in MNNIT, the percentage of female students in the last 10 years was around eight per cent. This is woefully short of what we should envisage as a nation of equal opportunity. I am hopeful that engineering as a discipline and a career of choice will attract many more girl students in the future."

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