Recent incidents of brutal assault and rape have shaken the society's collective conscience and there is a need for finding solutions for such criminal depravity to ensure dignity of women, President Pranab Mukherjee today said.
Speaking at the convocation of Sido Kanhu Murmu University here, he said the society at large must introspect at the erosion of values and repeated failure to ensure safety of women and children.
"The recent incidents of brutal assault and child rape have shaken our society's collective conscience. They highlight the urgency with which our society should introspect at the erosion of values and our repeated failure to ensure safety and security of our women and children.
"We must identify and find solutions for such criminal depravity. The dignity and respect for women must be ensured at all times," Mukherjee said.
The two brutal incidents--gangrape of a girl in a moving bus on December 16 last year and rape of a five-year-old girl on April 15--had resulted in agitations by various sections, demanding better law and order to ensure women's security and stringent punishment to the culprits.
Mukherjee also cited his address to the nation on the eve of Republic Day to remind academic institutions about their role to spread values and equality in society.
"I call upon those who educate and nurture the minds of the youth, and who wield a moral authority in the society to set this process in motion.
"Our universities and academic institutions also have a responsibility to take the lead and impart education that will help us meet the moral challenge of our times. It must help in spreading the values of human dignity and equality in the society," he said.
Mukherjee, who is on a two-day visit to Jharkhand, said India is in the unstoppable process of fast and radical change.
"However, change is occurring at very different speeds in each segment of society. The complexity of the Indian society --as embodied in division and subdivision by geography, religion, caste, class, gender and employment--calls for a careful monitoring and deft steering of this process of change.
"The successful management of this change is the biggest challenge of our times. Our response to this challenge will determine the destiny of India as a nation. We simply cannot fail in this test," he added.
