Pakistan glorifies terrorists, celebrates when innocents killed: Modi on I-Day

New Delhi: Lashing out at Pakistan for glorifying terrorists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday declared that the country will not bow before terrorism and he said that people of Baluchistan and PoK have thanked him for raising issue of atrocities against them.

In a 90-minute address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 70th Independence Day, Modi made no reference to the situation in Kashmir valley, which has been rocked by violence after the killing of Hizbul Commander Burhan Wani, but accused Pakistan of glorifying terrorists and celebrating killings in India.

This was an obvious reference to Wani who has been hailed as a martyr by Pakistan, which was not directly named by him.

Attired in his trademark half sleeves kurta and sporting a Rajasthani turban, Modi devoted bulk of his address to presenting in effect a report card of his government's work particularly in boosting economic growth, ease of doing business and welfare schemes for the poor and farmers.

The Prime Minister, who has spoken out against atrocities on Dalits in the recent days, said a strong country cannot be built without a strong society which is based on social justice.

Read: Social evils need to be dealt sternly, with sensitivity: Modi on Dalit attacks

He asserted that a "tough and sensitive" approach is required to tackle the age-old social evils including castism or untouchability.

Referring to terrorism, he asked the youth of the country to shun the path of violence and join the mainstream, saying they have not achieved anything by taking the path of terror and extremism.

The Prime Minister asked the international community to judge the behaviour of India and Pakistan in the context of terror attacks in each other's country. "When children were killed in terror attack on a school in Peshawar (about two years back), there were tears in our Parliament. Indian children were traumatised. This is the example of our humanity. But look at the other side where terrorism is glorified," Modi said.

Clearly referring to the eulogising of Burhan Wani in Pakistan, he questioned what kind of policy is the one which celebrates a terrorist.

Read: On I-Day, Narendra Modi asks youths to give up arms, join mainstream

Modi, who during his speech at an all-party meeting on Kashmir on Friday last had slammed Pakistan for carrying out atrocities against people of Baluchistan and PoK, said people hailing from those areas have thanked him a lot since then and he is grateful to them.

Modi saluted Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Pandit Nehru and all those who sacrificed their lives to attain 'Swaraj'. Coining a new term ‘Su-Rajya’, Modi said that the aim of his government was to turn Swaraj (Self-Rule) into Su-Rajya (Good rule).

“Su-Rajya, the meaning of this is a qualitative and positive change in the lives of the citizens of India. That's why I don't just want to speak of Neeti (policy), but also about Niyat (Intent). I can give you a long list of what we have done but if I tell you everything, I'll have to speak from here for a week,” he said.

“Today our resolve is to turn the Swaraj (Self-Rule) into Su-Rajya (Good rule). This is the commitment that we have to go ahead with. From the Parliament to panchayats, gram pradhans to the Prime Minister, everyone has to fulfill their responsibility. Only then will the dream of surajya come true,” he added.

Read: Our resolve is to turn 'Swaraj' into 'Surajya': Modi on 70th Independence Day

Talking about economic and social sectors, he said he tries to adopt the strategy of "reform, perform and transform" while avoiding populism and asserted that march from self- governance to good-governance is a resolve of entire nation which will need sacrifices.

LED bulb that was priced at Rs 350 each, is now sold at Rs 50 each. We have distributed 13 crore such bulbs and want to distribute 77 crore more LED bulbs,” he said.

Read: LED bulbs can help save Rs 1.25 lakh crore in energy cost, says Modi

Stressing on the importance of sanitation, Modi said his government has built 2 crore toilets and claimed that more than 70,000 villages are now open-defecation free.

“Earlier there used to be a lackadaisical approach to government work, but today there is a new energy in government. We have connected 70 crore Indians to Aadhaar and social security schemes. We take renewable and clean energy very seriously. Before our government, we used to lay 30,000-35,000 km in transmission lines in a year. Today our government lays 50,000 km in transmission lines per year,” Modi said.

Read: Middle class families scared of income tax authorities, will change that: Modi

Continuing to list various achievements of his government, Modi said his government had eliminated the middleman in many areas of life and things that would take days are now done within hours. “In the past, when someone wanted to start a company, set up a factory it used to take months. Today we are ready to register them within 24 hours. Earlier the income tax refund used to take forever, but today it takes not more than three weeks. Even getting a passport used to take months, today it takes just a couple of weeks,” he said.

Hitting out at the UPA government, he said the previous dispensation was shrouded in allegations while his government was surrounded by expectations.

Read: ‘Inflation soared under UPA, now at 6 per cent’: Modi takes swipe at Cong

The Prime Minister also gave details of various initiatives undertaken by his government to promote ease of doing business, tackle corruption, provide good healthcare to poor people and benefits to farmers.

During his address, the Prime Minister also made two announcements - an increase of 20 per cent in the pension of freedom fighters and that medical costs of up to Rs 1 lakh for BPL families will be borne by the government.

Though he did not make a direct reference to violence against Dalits, Modi asserted that survival of the society was impossible if there was no social unity and asked the countrymen to work for social equality and justice.

Asserting that social harmony was the key to the nation's progress, he said, "What lord Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, saint Ramanajucharya, B R Ambedkar, all our holy scriptures saints and teachers have stressed is social unity. When society breaks, the empire disintegrates. When a society is divided into touchables and untouchables; upper and lower (castes), then such a society cannot last," he said.

He also advocated a "tough and sensitive" approach to deal with age-old social ills.

After the Independence Day celebrations, Modi left for Gujarat to pay tribute to Swaminarayan sect's spiritual head Pramukh Swami, whose mortal remains have been kept at a temple in Sarangpur near Ahmedabad.

Ministers, politicians and devotees on Sunday made a beeline to the Sarangpur-based Swaminarayan temple, where they paid their respect to the 95-year-old saint.

The mortal remains of the head of Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sansthan (BAPS) Swaminarayan Sanstha have been kept at the temple till August 17 to enable devotees and citizens to have a final glimpse of the departed soul.