‘Naam jappo, kirt karo, vand chhako’: President Murmu invokes Guru Nanak in Amritsar

“Amritsar — with its Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and Durgiana Mandir — is the cultural, spiritual city of significance in India,” said President of India Draupadi Murmu in the holy city today.

Addressing the convocation of Guru Nanak Dev University, she said, “Guru Nanak Dev gave the world a mantra for social harmony — Naam jappo, kirt karo, vand chhako. These principles, when practised, present a solution to most of our social problems.”

She expressed happiness that girls were excelling in every field. In a light-hearted moment, the President said that the GNDU should be given additional pluses in its NAAC accreditation just because 99 per cent of the students receiving awards of academic excellence at the convocation were girls. She said it was "a true sign of women empowerment through education”.

She said women constituted 50-per cent of the work force of the nation that could help achieve the goals of the ‘Viksit Bharat’ drive.

"Education is not just meant for making a living, but also for contributing towards making the nation better," she said.

"Just moving forward is not courage. Taking the ones who are lagging behind, during one’s journey ahead, is courage," she said.

On the issue of drug abuse in Punjab, she said, "We need an absolute solution to it and that can only come when youth connect with youth, and education is accessible and inclusive."

She maintained that the youth needed to move towards the future with a scientific temperament, a sense of responsibility and a commitment towards their nation.