Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu: Must respect all religions, people

Kolkatta, Dec 30: On Saturday, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu addressed the gathering at the kolkata Chamber of Commerce to mark the 187th anniversary celebration of Kolkata Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking at the Chamber Naidu said that religion was a way of worship and culture a way of living and that the two must be respected.

He added irrespective of the different languages spoken in the country, all its people were Indians.

"Religion is a way of worship and culture is a way of living. We must respect that.... Irrespective of the languages we speak, we are all Indians and we are one nation," Naidu said.

"There are challenges like poverty. These challenges have to be fought together and everyone has to participate," Naidu said, adding that the Parliament needed to function properly to address these issues.

"I am now the chairman of the Rajya Sabha and I have 20 years of experience in parliamentary democracy. I feel that parliamentarians are role models. They carry the image of the political party they belong to," he said.