Taking the mission ahead, 4th season of Young Thinkers Meet was organized by India Foundation in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. The purpose of the meet is to bring likeminded youth thinkers on the same platform and have a discussion over issues of national and international importance. The meet was planned over three days i.e. 31st July to 2nd August, 2015. Total participation for this meet was sixty six which included participants from various walks of life namely, students from prestigious institutions, academics, entrepreneurs, professionals working in varying industries, doctors and researchers.
Dignitaries included Senior RSS functionaries, Shri Dattatreya Hosabale & Shri (Dr.) Krishna Gopal, senior leaders of BJP, Shri Ram Madhav and Shri M J Akbar, J&K Science & Technology Minister Shri Sajjad Gani Lone, Director of India Foundation Shri Shaurya Doval and Shri Alok Bansal were available for guidance of the participants. Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh also participated in the event. The format of the meet included large group discussions followed by individual presentations.
Shri Dattatreya Hosabale, Sah Sarkaryawah, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh highlighted on the theme of this meet – “The Great Indian Dream”. Shri Dattaji appealed to every participant that they must work together and reach a common dream for India to become the Vishwaguru and realise it. He quoted Shri Aurobindo that ‘India will rise for the world’. India and all Indians, irrespective of their background want the country to be the Vishwaguru i.e. a stronger, richer and healthier nation. He further mentioned ‘with the help of society and culture, we can achieve The Great Indian Dream’.
Shri (Dr.) Krishna Gopal ji, Sah Sarkaryawah, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh emphasised on uniqueness of India which is unparalleled. He mentioned that we have come ahead and it is a dream come true due to our hard work and determination. We still have to go far and that is our dream now. The concerns like The absence of sensitivity in our society, People working with fake degrees, Civic sense, Missing humanity in our society and Realising and reviving the Oneness vision were put forth for discussion before the group
Shri Shivaraj Singh Chouhan, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh introduced Madhya Pradesh from cultural heritage to historical places to all the participants. He also told about the initiatives taken up by the government which turned MP from a negative growth state to a region pacing up to double digit growth. He counted the achievements of his government by putting up the progress report of his various schemes with the participants. Finally, Shivraj ji explained the truth of Vyapam refuting all the allegations made by media by saying that he is the whistle-blower in this case.
Shri Sajjad Gani Lone, Science & Technology/ Animal Husbandry Minister, Jammu and Kashmir traced his journey from a separatist to a Minister in the government and his view on the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. Explaining the mindset of the Kashmiri people, he said that what they expect the government to deliver most is on the issues relating to their day-to-day life. Shri Lone remained convinced that economic prosperity and development was the only way to ensure Kashmir’s integration with rest of the country. Finally, he spoke about the need for media to show a balanced perspective about Kashmir and ensure that the extremist views of a small minority were not presented as the dominant view of all Kashmiris who remained patriotic Indians.
Shri M J Akbar, National Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, started his talk by describing the subject as ‘the silent question of whether Islamic terror can interfere with our Indian dream and our efforts to create prosperity for modern India’. He traced in great depth the history of Islamist terror. He elaborated that the ideology of these militias was very different from the Prophet’s model of governance which was very inclusive and included a pact of peaceful co-existence with every community. Shri Akbar next elaborated on the origins of the Shia-Sunni conflict which he believed was the defining conflict of our times and was at the root of most conflicts in Middle East. He ended his very insightful talk with an explanation on why ISIS wants to attack India.
