Chief minister Mamata Banerjee underscored the need to fight for the protection of the Constitution and fight against inequality and injustice in her convocation address at St Xavier’s University, New Town, on Monday.
The chief minister was conferred a DLitt (honoris causa) at the university’s fourth convocation, an honour that she said inspires her to keep fighting for the protection of the “democratic, secular Constitution”.
“This respect that you gave, (inspires) me to work for the unity of this country, peace of the world, fight against hunger, fight against poverty, fight against injustice, fight against inequality and also to protect our Indian Constitution, the secular, democratic Constitution in every part of my life,” the chief minister said in her address amid loud applause from the graduating students in a packed auditorium.
Before her address, the chief minister received the DLitt certificate and citation from Father Felix Raj, vice-chancellor of the university, in the presence of governor C.V. Ananda Bose and education minister Bratya Basu.
The university’s executive committee recommended the chief minister’s name for the honour in recognition of her “exemplary contribution to social development and education”, Father Felix Raj said in his address.
The chief minister said she would dedicate the honour to “common people, especially the weaker sections”.
“I am a commoner and I want to be by the side of common people. The degree will be dedicated to the people of my state, especially the weaker sections. Give me the strength never to disown the poor,” the chief minister said.
“This (recognition) is an inspiration so we can do a lot in future.
The chief minister quoted from Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali to highlight the values of a free state. “I will end my speech with this poem of Rabindranath Tagore. ‘Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free. Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls’. Let me work for this in the country.”
St Xavier’s University acknowledged the chief minister’s efforts to keep “diverse communities and religious groups” together.
“Mamata Banerjee’s alignment with the aspirations of the common people has transformed the hierarchies immanent in the political and social space into coterminous existence,” a teacher said in her introduction.
Mamata laid the foundation stone for the university in December 2013. She inaugurated the campus on July 7, 2017.
At the convocation on Monday, Mamata proposed the creation of a government-sponsored Mother Teresa chair at the university. It would demonstrate how West Bengal respects its mothers, she said.
“Today, I propose from the government of West Bengal a respected chair for the sainthood of Mother Teresa towards the St Xavier’s University so that it can work for education, and a message can go to the world — ‘Yes, Bengal gives full respect to mothers’,” the chief minister said.
Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, visitor of St Xavier’s University, was effusive in his praise for the chief minister. “A deserving woman leader has been awarded. Kudos to her,” he said.
The governor also spoke about politics in education and its perils.
“What I see is that when education invades politics, there is refinement. When politics invades knowledge, there is chaos.... Here we see a happy marriage of knowledge and statecraft.”
The chief minister also inaugurated the Loyola Tirtha, the new administrative block of the university that houses the offices of the VC and other senior officials.
“She became an honorary alumna of the university’s alumni association on Monday,” said Father Felix Raj.
A total of 770 students were awarded degree certificates at the convocation.