Kerala's Christian Community is Pride of India: President Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind Praises Christians' Role in India's Education

President Ram Nath Kovind on Aug. 7 has praised the Christian community in Kerala, saying it was a symbol of India's non-negotiable commitment to diversity and pluralism. Inaugurating the centenary celebrations of St Thomas College in Thrissur, Kovind said the community's heritage and history was a matter of "immense pride" for the country.

"The Christian community in Kerala is one of the oldest not only in India but anywhere else in the world. Its heritage and history are a matter of immense pride for the entire country – and a symbol of India's non-negotiable commitment to its diversity and pluralism," said Kovind.

The real worth of education lies not in degrees but in how we learn to serve and heal fellow human beings, he said.

Helping one another is the greatest service man can offer to God; and St Thomas College has been part of this noble culture, he added.

Last year during his visit to Ethiopia, Kovind said he was moved as people there remembered the services of Indian teachers, many of them from Kerala and from the community, who had educated generations of Ethiopian children.

The college is the alma mater of two former Kerala chief ministers – E.M.S. Namboodiripad and C. Achutha Menon.