India In Midst Of World War IV, Says President Pranab

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NEW DELHI – Pranab Mukherjee took over as the 13th President of the country at a ceremony in Parliament on Wednesday. Mukherjee, who replaced Pratibha Patil in the high office, was administered the oath of office by chief justice of India S H Kapadia.

In his acceptance speech, Mukherjee touched upon social and global challenges facing the country and said India was in the midst of fourth world war — war against terrorism. He said India was fighting this war much before any other country realized its destructive potential, praising the Indian armed forces for their fight against the menace.

The President called for focused action on education, eradication of poverty and fight against corruption to take the country forward.

“There is no humiliation more abusive than hunger. Trickle-down theories do not address the legitimate aspirations of the poor. We must lift those at the bottom so that poverty is erased from the dictionary of modern India,” he said. The brief ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament was witnessed by several CMs, including Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, Akhilesh Yadav and Ashok Gehlot. Banerjee had opposed Mukherjee’s candidature from UPA before coming around to vote for him.

The political parties were represented in full strength, with leaders of opposition in Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley in the front row. PM Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi were there too, with former President A P J Abdul Kalam seated next to the PM.

Mukherjee, in his speech touching upon social challenges like poverty and education and global challenges like terrorism, recalled his own journey from a village in Bengal to becoming the first citizen of the country. “I have seen vast, perhaps unbelievable, changes during the journey that has brought me from the flicker of a lamp in a small Bengal village to the chandeliers of Delhi,” he said. He spoke about social harmony, talking about co-existence of “temple, mosque, church, gurdwara and synagogue” as symbols of unity in diversity.