Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid can be sources of entertainment for the youth but never be their ideals, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh said on Friday.
Addressing the national executive meeting of the party's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Singh also sought to project homegrown software giant Infosys and Israel as 'role models' for party activists.
"Earlier, even students of primary classes knew about freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Khudiram Bose and Baba Jatin, but today they can only recall the names of film stars and cricketers like Ganguly and Dravid," he said.
"Film stars and players can be sources of entertainment but never ideals. It is people like Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh who should be the ideals," Singh said.
He said while the youth were interested in film heroines, they should not forget the people who fought for the nation's self-respect.
Recalling an article in a British daily, which drew parallels between Al-Qaeda and Infosys, he said, "While both were run by individuals, had global operations and required intelligence, the difference lay in motivation. One was engaged in terrorist activities, the other in constructive activities. We too need to motivate in the right direction."
He said the emergence of Israel as one of the powerful nations was due to "cultural reasons" and the youth activists should focus on integral humanism and cultural nationalism.
Singh said while ambition is justified, "it should not cross the limits".