Laudatio Sonia Gandhi

Laudatio for Mrs. Sonia Gandhi

By prof. dr. Benjamin Van Camp, Rector Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

The solemn conferment of the title of Doctores Honoris Causa is one of the highlights in the academic life of a university. It is a celebration in honour of personalities that have been accepted into our university community as primus inter pares.
Because we keep the standards of excellence in high regard the nominees fulfil stringent criteria. Moreover it is not only excellence in a particular scientific field that we wish to celebrate, but also outstanding contributions to human society in general and the human condition in particular. It is this excellence that is reflected in the social mission of our university, which is based on the freedom of thought and action as motor to the progress of humanity in all its aspects. In this context the Vrije Universiteit Brussel conferred in the past the title of DHC to personalities such as Nelson Mandela, Willy Brandt, Perez de Cuellar, Vaclav Havel, Hans Blix, Daniël Barenboim.
Today we are honoured to confer the title of DHC to Mme Sonia Gandhi, for her steadfast defence of pluriform democracy in the Indian secular state, her engagement to social equity and affordable healthcare for all and her efforts to enhance the living conditions of the poorest.

Your Excellency
Mme Sonia Gandhi,

Two years ago, the general election campaign brought you to the front stage of national politics. In the first place your engagement was a courageous personal decision, but for millions of Indians your constructive posture permitted to channel their high expectations into a new development agenda that aims at political and socioeconomic consensus.

In Europe, when we look at the economic emergence of India, we are inclined to focus on the steep climb of the country’s GDP-curve, and on its booming trade volume. Rarely, it occurs to us that there is a reality beyond the promising statistics. We tend to forget how globalisation impinges on India’s intricate social structures and political sensitivities. India is a country of extreme diversity. From an economic perspective we have the high-tech miracle of Bangalore on the one hand and subsistence farming on the other. The richest state in India is nearly five times as affluent as the poorest. The cultural map comprises 216 languages, hundreds of ethnic minorities, numerous religions and sectarian groups.

The question is how to turn diversity strength, how to translate differences into unity: a community that permits its citizens to breathe and to develop.
Mrs. Gandhi, the VUB wants to acknowledge your response to this knotty question.

We appreciate your proposals to reconcile the need to protect the poor with the necessity of opening-up borders, in order to transform India into a prosperous trading nation. The government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is determined to create an attractive investment market that taps the flows of globalisation. Foreign capital and technology are likely to generate millions of new jobs in industry and services. Continued efforts to strengthen domestic research and scientific projects are enabling Indian companies to discover overseas markets. At the same time however, India’s main economic identity will remain to be that of an agricultural nation for many more years. You personally contributed to several ambitious programmes that will allow poor peasants to enjoy more economic mobility. The Rural Employment Scheme for instance will give the legal right to get 100 days of work a year to millions of impoverished citizens. Repeatedly you urged to approve tangible measures to promote basic education and better health facilities in remote villages. As Amarty Sen argued, development brings freedom, not only individual freedom! Applied on the entire society, it creates the social liberty for being innovative and realizing the creative revolution India needs and deserves.

We also noticed your efforts to foster a multicultural, tolerant society that values its cultural diversity instead of struggling with it. Multiculturalism means that no culture is perfect or represents the best life and that it can only benefit from a critical dialogue with other cultures. You supported Islamic communities building mosques next to their Hindu compatriots. You visited Hindu temples, appealed to shun extremism and urged to practice religion in dignity. You insisted on respecting and protecting minorities in their cultural practices. Only the secular democratic state that you favour will be able to unite India’s society into a colourful composition. To capture it with the words of Rabindranath Tagore: the clear stream of reason may not lose its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.

Finally, Ms. Gandhi, we would like to highlight your unabated pledge for gender equality. The idea of making a legal provision for reserving a third of seats in the parliament and state assemblies for women is only one example. Since a couple of weeks, women will be given protection and compensation from abuse endured in their own homes for the very first time.

Ladies and gentlemen,

For all of the above mentioned reasons the VUB is honoured to confer to Mme. Gandhi the title of Doctor Honoris Causa.