Nawada: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday broke his silence over the lynching of a man near Delhi by urging Hindus and Muslim to jointly fight the common enemy of poverty.
The prime minister also urged people to ignore “irresponsible” statements made by politicians, even if he himself makes any.
Some people had criticized the prime minister for not condemning the killing of a 52-year-old Muslim at Bisara village near Dadri in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
A mob attacked Mohammad Akhlaq’s family on September 28 alleging that they had eaten beef. Akhlaq’s 22-year-old son Danish was also seriously wounded in the attack.
The prime minister, who was addressing an election meeting in Nawada in Bihar, invoked President Pranab Mukherjee, who on October 7 called for preserving India’s core values of diversity, tolerance and plurality. Modi should people should following the president’s message seriously.
“I have said it earlier also. Hindus should decide whether to fight Muslims or poverty. Muslims have to decide whether to fight Hindus or poverty….Both need to fight poverty together…. The country has to stay united,” Modi added.
He also said only unity, communal harmony, brotherhood and peace will take the nation forward.
Asking people to ignore the “irresponsible” statements made by politicians, he said they are doing so for political interests and it should end.
“Some politicians are making irresponsible statements for political interests… Such statements should end… Do not pay attention to such statements, even if Modi himself makes any such statement,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
Referring to the president’s remarks, he said, “there is no bigger guidance, there is no bigger message, no bigger direction.”
“Small time politicians are hell bent on making irresponsible statements for their political interests. You should ignore those statements…. If you need to pay heed, it should be to the guidance given by the president,” Modi said.
“Yesterday, the president showed the path. Whatever the head of the country of 125 crore (1.25 billion) people has said, there can be no bigger message, no bigger direction, no bigger inspiration,” the Prime Minister said.
He said all the countrymen should tread the path shown by the President and “only then can India meet the expectations that the world has from us,” the Press Trust of India reported.
Mukherjee, while addressing a function on Wednesday, had said, “I firmly believe that we cannot allow the core values of our civilization to be wasted and the core values is what, over the years, the civilization celebrated diversity, promoted and advocated tolerance, endurance and plurality.”
The president had also said, “These core civilization values have kept us together over centuries. Many ancient civilizations have fallen. But despite aggression after aggression, long foreign rule, India’s civilization has survived because of its core civilizational values and adherence to them. We must keep that in mind. And if we keep those core values in mind, nothing can prevent our democracy from moving on.”