Supreme Court Judge, Justice D Y Chandrachud, who presided over the 11th convocation of Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) at Gandhinagar virtually on Saturday, said being accepting & tolerant of others' opinions doesn't mean one should accept hate speech.
"The words famously attributed to Voltaire, 'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it,' must be incorporated into our being. Making mistakes, being accepting & tolerant to the opinions of others by no means translates to blind conformity, & it does not mean not standing up against hate speech," the Supreme Court Judge said.
Addressing the batch of 2020, Justice Chandrachud told them not to worry about the distractions of social media that have a limited attention span as their real work is changing the persistent systems of caste, race, gender & class which only have long-term impacts.
He quoted American author Seth Godin & gave the analogy of the current & the wind. He said while the wind gets all the attention with howls & gusts, it is the current this is persistent & heavy.
"The current is our persistent systems of class & race & gender & the powerful industrial economy. & if I may add, in our context also caste. It can be overcome, but it takes focused effort," Justice Chandrachud said.
He said, "On the other hand, the wind is the breaking news, the latest social media sensation & the thin layer of hype that surrounds us. It might be a useful distraction, but our real work lies in overcoming the current, or changing it."
"It also helps to remember, especially in the world of social media with limited attention spans, that a lot of the work we do will only have a long-term impact. That you should not worry too much about the everyday distractions," he added. Justice Chandrachud said in today's world of polarizing opinions & conflicting actions, legitimizing & balancing thought is a grave responsibility of each citizen - young & old.
"Stepping into the world as fresh graduates, amid the increasing noise & confusion of political, social & moral clashes of ideology, you must be guided by the paths of your conscience & equitable reason," said Justice Chandrachud. "Speak truth to power, maintain your composure in the face of unspeakable social injustices & utilize your good fortune & privileged positions to remedy them. It may seem idealistic, but as young wide-eyed graduates, you must aspire to attain utopia - for the harbingers of change are often hopeless dreamers." He also told the young grads that it's okay to follow the heart & be driven by emotions sometimes rather than the stoic image of the law generally seen as the mark of a good judge or lawyer. A total of 247 students were conferred degrees at the convocation including 171 students of the five-year integrated UG programme, 61 students of the PG programme, 12 students of MBA & three doctoral students. GNLU conferred 27 gold medals on 16 students - 15 medals were won by eight girls.
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Social media is bold.
Social media is young.
Social media raises questions.
Social media is not satisfied with an answer.
Social media looks at the big picture.
Social media is interested in every detail.
social media is curious.
Social media is free.
Social media is irreplaceable.
But never irrelevant.
Social media is you.
(With input from news agency language)
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