“For new India to be secular and progressive, surely it must be an India where you won’t get lynched for the fruit you eat, won’t be marginalised for the faith you hold, not be criminalised for the person you love and not imprisoned for making use of the very fundamental rights that are guaranteed to you by the Constitution,” said Mr Shashi Tharoor, a Member of Parliament, at the inauguration of the 96th annual conference of the Association of Heads of Anglo-Indian Schools’ on Saturday at Frank Anthony’s Public School, Bengaluru.

He said that today, some speak in intolerant ways as Hindus and yet betray what Hinduism has always been about. “The attitude of tolerance has been fundamental both to Hinduism and Indian democracy. Secular and progressive India needs to be preserved,” he said.

Stressing on the importance of education and employment that must be provided, he said, “Today, we have reached 79% literacy from 17%and have over 20 million students with more than 650 universities and 35,000 colleges producing several engineers, doctors and computer experts.”

During a panel discussion, Dr Rajeev Gowda, a Member of Parliament and Congress leader, said, “The role of education is very important in today’s life, especially for youth. We have seen a lot of aggressive reactions. We should step back and introspect.”

Following the discussion, Dr V.S. Elizabeth of National Law School of India University emphasised on the importance of education among youth and how equality and justice needs to be embraced as a nation.