Can't allow civilisation's core values to be wasted: President

New Delhi: Days after the Dadri lynching, President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday appealed for tolerance and sent a strong message, saying core values of the civilisation could not be allowed to be wasted.

"We can't allow the core values of our civilisation to be wasted. The core values are that over the years, civilisation celebrated diversity, promoted and advocated tolerance, enjoyed plurality. These core civilisation values keep us together over the centuries," Mukherjee said at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

"Many ancient civilisations have fallen. Despite aggression after aggression, our civilisation has survived because of our core civilisational values. If we keep that in mind, nothing can prevent our democracy from moving ahead," he added.

The remarks come after a 50-year-old Muslim man, Mohammed Akhlaq, was beaten to death by a mob on the night of September 28 in Bisara village in Dadri near the national capital over rumours that he ate cow's meat.

Mukherjee was speaking after receiving the first copy of a coffee-table book on him titled "The Nationalist President - Pranab Mukherjee" from Vice President Hamid Ansari, who formally released it at the function.

The president said he felt "humbled" on the occasion and has received much more from the country than he has given to it.

The president said he had seen political developments in the country for a considerable period of time, adding: "India has made tremendous progress and there have been many advancements but we will have to do much more."

Before releasing the book, Ansari said it was a record of the president's enlightened vision.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on the occasion that during the last five decades, Mukherjee dominated the political scene and has been known as an eminent political leader and a consensus builder.

The book is edited by senior journalist Prabhu Chawla and produced by the senior editorial team of The New Indian Express.