Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s vision and action for combating social evils continue to be relevant to this day, and find resonance in the government’s initiatives like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and the New Education Policy, said Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday.

Jagdeep Dhankhar was speaking at the release of a commemorative postage stamp on the 200th birth anniversary of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, founder of Arya Samaj.

The vice-president recalled the dedicated efforts of Swami Dayanand ji for the eradication of social evils like untouchability, and towards empowerment of women through education that continue to form the foundation of social welfare in Independent India.

He praised Swami Dayanand’s contribution as a thinker-philosopher of modern India, and as the founder of the Arya Samaj. During colonial rule, when India had lost its spiritual and cultural moorings, Swamiji reinfused Vedic wisdom with a rational outlook to revitalize India’s civilizational ethos, he said.

He recalled that Swami Dayanand Saraswati was the first to give the clarion call for Swaraj, which was amplified by Lokmanya Tilak and went on to become a Jan Andolan. Independence, for Swami ji, was not detached from true independence of the mind and spirit, Mr Dhankhar said.

The vice-president said that it is painful to see some people going abroad and trying to malign their own country from there. He stated that a true believer of Bharat & Bharteeyata would always think of his or her country first and contribute to nation’s reform process; rather than making unfounded comments on the country’s institutions from foreign soil.

Dhankhar underlined Swamiji’s contribution towards ensuring that languages like Sanskrit and Hindi get their deserved recognition. “There is no language in the world and no grammar which has the depth that Sanskrit is possessed of. It is like the mother of all languages,” he noted, calling on citizens to never forget their roots.

The postage stamp release program was organised by the Satya Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications & IT, and Ministry of Culture.

Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communication; Dr Satya Pal Singh, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); Swami Sumedhanand Saraswati, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); Swami Ramdev, Patanjali Yogpeeth, Haridwar; Swami Chidanand Saraswati, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh and senior officials from the Ministry of Communication were present on the occasion.