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Breaking his silence in Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday denounced communalism and asserted that his government stood for unity wherein all religions prosper within the framework of the Constitution.
"My government's only religion is 'India first', my government's only religious book is 'Indian Constitution', our only devotion is 'Bharat Bhakti' and our only prayer is 'welfare of all'," he said in Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on the president's address.
He declared that as the prime minister, it was his responsibility “not to allow anaap shanap (ridiculous)” comments in the name of religion. "Nobody has the right to discriminate on the basis of religion... "No one has the right to take law into his hands," the PM said.
His statement assumes significance as the government has been under attack over certain communal remarks made by some Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh parivar leaders. "Communalism for political reasons has destroyed the country. Hearts have been broken," Modi said, asking why questions are being "posed to us".
Insisting that "we want all religions to prosper", the PM said it is possible only in India under its Constitution which has been prepared with the thinking of thousands of years of the country's history. "This nation is full of diversity. We are for unity in diversity, not disunity. All religions should flourish. It is the uniqueness of India because of its Constitution," he said.
"We want to take the nation forward within the framework of the Constitution," Modi said, adding he saw only the "tricolour" and "no other colour".
Recalling his election rally in Patna in October 2013 which was rocked by serial bomb blasts, Modi said he had then "asked who should Hindus fight with -- with Muslims or poverty? I had asked Muslims, do you want to fight with Hindus or poverty. We have fought enough. Now let us unite and fight against poverty."
Referring to his slogan of 'sabka saath, sabka vikas', he said he sought the cooperation of the opposition also for the benefit of the country.
The prime minister, who has come under attack from opposition for remaining silent on controversial communal and divisive remarks made by some Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh parivar leaders, said the nation has to work collectively for its progress.
During his over 70-minute speech, he dwelt upon MNREGA, black money, corruption and coal block allocations besides the steps like empowerment of states to strengthen federalism, cleanliness drive and Jan Dhan as part of good governance. He asked opposition to support his initiatives aimed at development and prosperity of the country, shedding the political affiliations. "Let us find solutions to problems which are old and we have inherited," he said.
Responding to criticism that he was mostly talking about small things, Modi said he believes that "small things are the root cause of big problems." He took a dig at the opposition over rumours that MNREGA scheme was being stopped. “You may say that I do not have wisdom in some areas... But at least I do have some political wisdom...How can I shut down this scheme? ... MNREGA is a living example of your failures," he said, taking a dig at the Congress.
Asserting that MNREGA will continue with "honour and dignity", he said he "will keep beating the drums that you formulated for the poor (the scheme) to force them to continue to dig holes in the ground even after 60 years of independence. You have done good thing by leaving your footprints which people should know."
Modi said he does not wish to claim that whatever has been done was done only in the last nine months, since his government came to power. He said he was ready to give credit to previous governments where due.
"We do not believe that the country was born in 1947, it has been there for thousands of years. Ideologies come and go. The governments come and go. Nations are built from their philosophies. India's basic ideology is the welfare of all," he said.
Image: PM Narendra Modi delivers a speech in Lok Sabha