PM Modi urges saints to push social reforms

He urged saints to show the path to freedom from ills like illiteracy, ignorance, malnutrition, black money and corruption that have “gripped Bharat Mata”.

casteism, modi against casteism, role of religious leaders, Indian religions, terrorism, fanaticism, saints, India news, Indian Express

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivering his address via video conference, at the seventh centenary celebrations of Jagadguru Sri Madhwacharya, Udupi, in New Delhi on Sunday. (PTI Photo)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday emhpasised the role of religious leaders and institutions in freeing the society from “casteism” and spreading the message of rising above “caste barriers”. Addressing the 7th centenary celebrations of Jagadguru Sri Madhvacharya being held in Udupi via video conferencing from Delhi, he said fanaticism was at the core of terrorism.
“Hum kehte hain sabhi ka poshan ho, sabhi ko shakti mile, koi kisi se dwesh naa kare. Kattarta ka yahi samadhan hai. Aatank ke mool me hi ye kattarta hai ki mera hi maarg sahi hai (We say that every one should get nourishment, all should become powerful, and there should be no ill-will among people. This is the answer to fanaticism, which is at the heart of terrorism),” the Prime Minister said.

Lauding saint Kabir, Vaishnavite saints Ramanand, Ramanujacharya, Chiatanya Mahaprabhu, and Sikh Guru Nanak for their role in fighting caste system, Modi said, “He (Ramanujacharya) also showed the path of connecting to God, rising above casteism. He used to say that God can be reached by work, knowledge and devotion. Following his path, Saint Ramanand dealt a hard blow to casteism by making people from all castes and religions his followers. Saint Kabir also made herculean efforts to free the society from casteism and rituals.”

Making a nationalistic pitch, he talked about the need for recognising “Rashtra Dev” and “Bharat Mata”. He urged the saints to show the path to freedom from ills like illiteracy, ignorance, malnutrition, black money and corruption that have “gripped Bharat Mata”.
“The time has come, when this fight is led by the saints (Sadhu-Sant Samaj). It is the unique feature of Indian society that from time to time we have got such great godly persons, who hae recognised these ills and showed the path of freedom from them,” he said lauding Sant Madhvacharya for his contributions against popular ills of that time.
“From eradicating casteism to creating public awareness, from devotion to people’s power, from checking the custom of Sati to encouraging sanitation, from social harmony to education and from health to literature they have left a deep mark,” Modi said hailing the contribution by Mahatma Gandhi, Dr B R Ambedkhar, Jyotiba Phule, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and others.
At a time when his government had declared fight against graft as a major focus area, he also quoted social reformer Basaveshwara to say that selfishness in personal and social conduct was root cause for corruption.
He also quoted saint Madhavacharya as saying that “as we give tax to government, in the similar manner when we serve the humanity, it is like giving tax to the God…”

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