‘They laid the foundation of…

While paying tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 150th birth anniversary on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress and said that the policies implemented and decisions taken by India’s first Home Minister created a new history and enabled the merger of more than 550 princely states with the country. Addressing the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas program at Kevadia in Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi said the Congress “not only inherited the party and power from the British but also imbibed the slavery mentality”.

Interacting with the media in the national capital, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge hit back and accused the BJP and RSS of trying to capture Sardar Patel and his legacy “while they had banned the organization after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination”. Prime Minister Modi said that when the British divided Bengal in 1905, Vande Mataram became the voice of every citizen who protested and became the voice of unity and solidarity of the country.

“The British even tried to ban the idea of saying Vande Mataram. The British failed in this attempt! The Vande Mataram slogan continued to echo in every corner of India. But what the British could not do was done by the Congress. The Congress abolished some of the Vande Mataram on religious grounds. So the Congress both divided the society and furthered the agenda of the British. And today I say something with great responsibility – the day when the Congress decided to dismember, cut and divide Vande. Mataram, that day It laid the foundation for the partition of India. If the Congress had not committed this sin, the picture of India today would be different.” said PM Modi.

He said that Sardar Patel kept the country’s sovereignty above all else, but unfortunately, in the years following his death, the then governments did not act so seriously about the country’s sovereignty. “On the one hand, the mistakes made in Kashmir, on the other hand, the problems that emerged in the Northeast and the Naxalite-Maoist terrorism that developed in various parts of the country were direct challenges to the sovereignty of the country. However, instead of complying with Sardar Sahib’s policies, the governments of the time preferred a spineless approach. The country suffered the consequences in the form of violence and bloodshed.”

PM Modi said many people from today’s younger generation may not know that Sardar Patel wanted the entire Kashmir region to be united just like he united other princely states. “But Nehru ji did not allow his wish to come true. Kashmir was divided with a separate constitution and a separate flag. The country burned in the fire of the mistake made by the Congress for decades on Kashmir issue. Due to the bad policies of the Congress, a part of Kashmir came under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. Pakistan gave impetus to terrorism, state-sponsored terrorism. Kashmir and the country paid a very heavy price. But the Congress always succumbed to terrorism.”

“The Congress has forgotten Sardar Saheb’s vision, but we have not forgotten. After 2014, the country once again witnessed his inspiring steely determination. Today, Kashmir has thrown off the shackles of Article 370 and has been fully integrated into the mainstream. Today, Pakistan and the masters of terror have realized what the real power of India is! Today, in Operation Sindoor, the whole world saw that if anyone dares to raise an eyebrow at India, India enters their homes and attacks. Each time, India’s reaction is more than before.” “This is also a message to India’s enemies, this is Iron Man Sardar Patel’s India, he will never compromise on his security and dignity,” he added.

Prime Minister Modi said that India’s biggest achievement in national security in the last 11 years was breaking the backbone of Naxalism-Maoist terrorism. “Before 2014, the situation in our country was such that Naxalites and Maoists were ruling within the country, in the heart of the country. The Constitution of the country was not implemented in the Naxalite areas. The police administration could not work there. Naxalites were openly issuing new decrees. They blocked road construction. Schools, colleges, hospitals were blown up with bombs. The government and administration seemed helpless in the face of these.” he said.

“After 2014, our government launched a massive offensive against Naxalism-Maoist terrorism. We marginalized urban Naxalite supporters and urban Naxalites as well. We won the ideological battle and confronted them in their strongholds; the results are before the country today. Before 2014, around 125 districts of the country were in the grip of Maoist terrorism. Today, this number has come down to just 11.” The Chief Minister said Naxalism was still seriously prevalent in only three districts. “And today, in the presence of Sardar Patel of Ekta Nagar land, I assure the entire country that we will not stop, we will not sit in peace until the country is completely free from Naxalism, Maoism and terrorism.”

PM Modi said the infiltration poses a significant threat to the unity and internal security of the country. Foreign intruders have been coming to the country for decades, occupying citizens’ resources, disrupting the demographic balance, endangering the unity of the country, but previous governments continued to turn a blind eye to such a big problem. “The security of the nation has been consciously endangered because of vote bank politics. For the first time, the country has decided to wage a determined fight against this great threat. I announced the Demographic Mission from the Red Fort. When we raise this issue seriously today, some people put their own interests above the national interest. These people are engaged in a political struggle to give rights to those who infiltrated. They believe that once the country is divided, it does not matter to them whether it continues to be divided or not.”

Prime Minister Modi said national unity in democracy requires “respecting diversity of opinion”. “Differences of opinion are acceptable in democracy, but differences of heart should not be. But look at the irony, after independence, the people to whom the country was entrusted with responsibility tried to kill the spirit of ‘we the people’. They belittled and tried to discredit every person and organization that differed from their thoughts and ideologies. Political immunity has become a culture in the country. We all know what happened to Sardar Patel and his legacy during the Congress governments?”

“What did these people do to Baba Saheb Ambedkar during his life and even after his death? What did they do to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose? The Congress did the same to people like Dr. Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). What attacks and conspiracies were made on the Sangh! Every effort was made to make anyone and everyone untouchable. This idea was outside one party and one family.” he added.
Prime Minister Modi said unity is the foundation of the existence of a nation and society. “As long as there is unity in the society, the integrity of the nation is safe. Therefore, to achieve the goal of a developed India, we have to foil every conspiracy that disrupts the unity of the country, we must defeat it with the power of unity. Therefore, today the country is constantly working on all fronts of national unity. India’s unity ritual has four pillars. The first pillar of unity is cultural unity.”

“It is India’s culture that has kept India immortal as a nation for thousands of years, regardless of political conditions. Our twelve Jyotirlingas, seven Puris, four Dhams, more than 50 Shaktipeeths, our pilgrimage tradition, these are the life energy that has made India a conscious nation. Today, we are taking this tradition forward with events like Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam and Kashi Tamil Sangamam. Through International Yoga Day, we are also giving a new identity to yoga. “India’s great science of Yoga, today our yoga is becoming a tool to connect people,” he added.

Kharge said in the press conference that he was in favor of banning the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the country. Replying to a question, Kharge said, “This is my personal opinion and I openly say that there should be a ban (on RSS). Because what is happening in the country today is a result of the activities of the BJP and RSS.” he said. “You can’t taste the poison to know if it’s good or bad, you can only die,” he said. Kharge made extensive reference to Sardar Patel’s letters to Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Guru Golwalkar, listing the reasons for banning the RSS.

(Except for the title, this news has not been edited by the DNA team and is published from ANI news agency).