Cuttack: President Droupadi Murmu graced and addressed the convocation of National Law University Odisha at Cuttack on Wednesday and urged students to remain steadfast in observing the Constitutional ideals.
Speaking on the occasion, the President advised students to be sensitive to the priorities of the nation and make conscious efforts to contribute to those national priorities. It is important to deliver justice to the people in the lower rungs of society, she said.
Giving equal opportunity and respect to the vulnerable segments of our population, including women, should be the highest priority for every Indian who is in a position to help fellow citizens, Murmu said.
A very large number of our under-privileged and vulnerable fellow citizens don’t even know about their rights and entitlements, nor do they have the means to move the courts to seek relief or justice. She told students that it is their duty to dedicate some part of their professional time to serving the unserved or underprivileged.
The President urged them to devote at least a small part of their professional activities to helping the poor and the weak with a sense of genuine compassion. It is rightly said that law is not just a career, it is a calling, she added.
Murmu said India’s freedom struggle was led by qualified lawyers. It shows that a large number of lawyers from those generations were filled with the spirit of sacrifice for the nation.
Remembering Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das, popularly referred to as Madhu-Barrister, she said his birth anniversary is celebrated as ‘Lawyers Day’ in Odisha. For the people of Odisha, ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ and ‘Madhu-Barrister’ are the two most respected icons of India’s freedom struggle. Great freedom fighters and lawyers like them also upheld the ideals of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in order to build a progressive and cohesive society.
Referring to the motto ‘Satye Sthito Dharmah’ of the National Law University Odisha, which means ‘Dharma is firmly rooted in Satya or Truth’, the President said that in ancient India the two words frequently used to describe courts were ‘Dharmasabha’ and ‘Dharmadhikarana’. For today’s modern India, our Dharma is contained in the Constitution of India, which is the supreme law of the land. She said that the entire legal fraternity, including the young students passing out today, must abide by the Constitution as their sacred text.
