Kozhikode: Contending that the definition of secularism was distorted, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Muslims are not items of vote market nor are they substance of hate. “Treat them as your own, he urged. Tracing the journey of BJP from Jan Sangh days, he said it never compromised on ideology today invoked Jan Sangh ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay to say that Muslims should be treated as "your own" rather than seeing them as "items of vote market".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Muslims have to be empowered. He recalled what Deendayal Upadhyay used to say at a time when nationalism was looked at in a negative light and the question was how were the minorities treated. Mr Modi said don't think of the Muslims as vote banks or commodities, but to see them as "our own".
He maintained that his government's mission of 'sabka sath, sabka vikas' is not a political slogan but a commitment to ensure welfare of the last man in the society. In his speech, Modi spoke at length about secularism, balanced and inclusive growth and need for electoral reforms while paying tributes to Upadhyay on his 100th birth anniversary. “These days, the definition has been distored. Even nationalism is cursed,” he said.
While talking about life and contribution of Upadhyay, Modi quoted him as saying, "don't reward nor rebuke Muslims. Empower them. They are not items of vote market nor are they substance of hate. Treat them as your own." He insisted that for BJP nobody is a "pariah". At the conclusion of the two-day BJP conclave, the Prime Minister traced the party's journey from the days of Jan Sangh and asserted that "we never compromised with our ideology". He said if the BJP had compromised with the ideology, it could have attained power long back.
