PM Modi: ‘Congress sowed seeds of Partition, treated all other people as untouchable’

Accusing the Congress of conspiring against organisations with different ideologies, especially the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), PM Modi said, “We all know what happened with Sardar Patel and his legacy under the Congress government. What did these people do with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar while he was alive and even when he was gone… What did they do with Subhas Chandra Bose, Jayaprakash Narayan and Dr Lohia… Outside one party and one family, every person and every thought was treated as untouchable.”

After paying floral tributes at the Statue of Unity and presiding over the Ekta Diwas parade, PM Modi urged citizens to “reject thoughts” that weaken the country’s unity. He said, “In democracy, national unity means that we respect the diversity of thought. In a democracy, disagreement is acceptable but hatred… The people who were given responsibility (to run the country) by the citizens after independence, attempted to kill the spirit of We The People… They showed disdain for all those people and organisations that were different from their ideology.”

Stating that it was the BJP-led NDA government that built national memorials for former Prime Ministers, Modi said, “We created the Statue of Unity, turned Babasaheb Ambedkar’s house in Delhi into a memorial… Under the Congress, there was a museum only under one Prime Minister. We have risen above political untouchability and created a PM museum dedicated to the works of all Prime Ministers… We bestowed the Bharat Ratna on Karpuri Thakur and on Pranab da (Mukherjee)… Even a leader with opposing views like Mulayam Singh Yadav has also been bestowed with Padma awards… The rationale behind these decisions was to rise above political untouchability and work for the nation.”

On national security, Modi said that under the NDA government, the country had “broken the back” of Naxalism. “Prior to 2014, the condition was such that within the country, the Naxalites ran their own hukumat (empire)… After 2014, our government launched a massive attack on Naxalism and Maoist terrorism. We brought the urban Naxals to the shore. We won the ideological battle and also entered the Naxal homes and captured the entrenchments… Today, the result is in front of you.”

He said that out of 125 villages once controlled by Naxals, only 11 villages and three districts “remain affected”. “Until the country is completely free from the threat of terror and Naxalism, we will not rest or sit back,” he said.

Blaming the Congress for adopting a “spineless attitude” in dealing with sovereignty issues, Modi criticised Jawaharlal Nehru over Kashmir, saying the Congress separated Kashmir from India with a “separate constitution and seal”, “allowing” Pakistan to illegally occupy a part of it. “…Today, Pakistan and the masterminds of terror have also come to know the real strength of India… Every time, India’s response is bigger and more decisive,” he said.

The Prime Minister also said that one of the cornerstones of unity in India has been “not enforcing one language on people”. Expressing pride at the oldest language being Tamil and the scriptures in Sanskrit, PM Modi said, “We (in India) consider every language as the national language. We say with pride, we have the oldest language like Tamil and Sanskrit for scriptures… We are promoting every language of the country and we want the children of the country to study in their own mother tongue. The people know about other languages and learn from them.”

The Prime Minister urged citizens to take inspiration from Sardar Patel to “create history and not write history”.