NEW DELHI: Amid the controversy and protests against the movie “Padmavati”, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu said violence is unacceptable but also stressed that no one had the right to hurt the sentiments of the common people and that outrage should not be selective.

“We need to respect the sentiments of the common people,” the Vice-President said at the inaugural session of the Times Litfest, which he inaugurated on Saturday. “We cannot say outrage by one community is right and another is wrong.” Citing an article by educationist and cultural activist Firoz Bakht Ahmed, Naidu said “selective condemnation” could not be condoned.

Stating that freedom of expression was welcome, he said, “Let debate go on, the beauty of democracy is the right to agree to disagree”, though not at the cost of hurting sentiments.

Naidu said there was now a problem over some films where people felt their sentiments had been hurt, mentioning movies like “Garam Hawa”, “Kissa Kursi Ka” and “Aandhi”, which have created controversies in the past. Stating that “rewards” for physical harm are not acceptable, he suggested that some protesters were looking for cheap publicity. “Whether these fellows have that much money or not, I doubt. Everyone is announcing a Rs 1-crore reward. Is it so easy to have Rs 1 crore?” he asked.

“This is not acceptable in a democracy. You have the right to protest in a democratic manner, go to the appropriate authorities... you cannot physically obstruct and can’t give violent threats. Let us not undermine the rule of law,” he said.

Naidu also exhorted schoolchildren in the audience to learn their mother tongue. “There are five things to remember: mother, Janmabhoomi, mother tongue, motherland and respecting women,” he said, asking youngsters to remember to give back to the country.

“Some politicians have remembered only the 3 Cs: caste, community and cash. But remember that character, calibre, conduct and compassion are important,” he said. Advising children and youth to remember the country’s glorious past, “when India contributed 27% of global GDP before it was invaded”, the Vice-President said, “Manav seva is what our great leaders have stressed on, from Mahatma Gandhi to B R Ambedkar.”

Naidu spoke in favour of demonetisation, saying the measure had gathered global acclaim. He cited the recent Moody’s, S&P and IMF reports and said India is emerging as one of the world’s economic powers and a favoured destination for investors. “I don’t want to get into politics, but, as a citizen, I want an end to corruption and to fight black money. People say all the money came back from demonetisation. But that was the purpose,” he noted. “GST has been transformational. Yes, there are hiccups, but the states and the Centre will come together to resolve this... Let the debate go on, but let it be a meaningful debate,” he added.

The Vice-President also congratulated Times Group for giving people the opportunity to celebrate literature. “Good books, like great leaders, are immortal... A society must always be in conversation with itself,” he said.

Among those present at the inauguration ceremony were students from Amity International School, Saket, DPS International, Saket, St Paul’s, Aya Nagar, Manav Sthali School, Paul George Global School, Heritage School, Vasant Kunj, Ramjas School, Pusa Road, South Delhi Public School, Defence Colony, Tagore International School, East of Kailash, The Indian School, Josip Broz Tito Marg, Bal Bharati Public School and Bluebells School, Kailash Colony.

