India the most tolerant country in the world, says Fadnavis

Nagpur: At a time when “intolerance” is being hotly debated, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis stressed that world’s most tolerant nation was India which has always given asylum to all persecuted communities. Fadnavis said India gave shelter to Parsis and Jews facing persecution and now they are an integral part of the country and its culture. CM made the statement while inagurating the Indian International Model United Nations (IIMUN) on Friday at Jain International School.
CM’s speech about tolerance was in response statement of his preceding speaker Rishabh Shah, founder of IIMUN, that a peace loving country like India should be a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Shah questioned how a country like US that ‘invaded Iraq and Afghanistan’ could have a veto in global peace and war issues. Agreeing with him, Fadnavis said, “India in its history of over 5,000 years had never invaded any country because, as Swami Vivekananda said, our basic philosophy was about peace. Invading countries don’t have a right to talk about peace. India as a permanent member of the Security Council is an idea whose time has come.”
Addressing a crowd made almost entirely of school and college students, Fadnavis said, “I don’t agree when someone calls you leaders of tomorrow. You are leaders of today and your time is now. In fact, we (referring to himself and other politicians present on dais) are leaders of yesterday.” In a couple of months, the IIMUN is planning to gather 65,000 students in Mumbai with placards demanding India be made a permanent member of Security Council. Fadnavis promised the the organizers that he too will take part in the gathering which will hopefully kickstart a signature campaign.
Over 300 students from Nagpur region will participate in the event actually starting on Saturday at the sprawling campus of Jain International school at Fetri (Katol road). Students will be discussing contemporary and contentious issues like legalization of gay marriages and reservation quota. The idea is to allow students to take over role of a diplomat and debate issues that the world is currently facing. The suggestions are then forwarded to the government departments concerned. This is the first time IIMUN is being held in Vidarbha.
Later a couple of students got to interact with the CM with one graduate level student asking him about the state’s plans to improve primary education. Fadnavis said, “Our focus was on expansion of education so it should reach everyone but along with that we could not provide excellence. Soon that will happen and you will see the results.”