Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Past govts were ashamed of India’s spiritual legacy: PM
DEHRADUN: Offering prayers at the Hindu shrines of Kedernath and Badrinath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lashed out at previous Union governments and said that “slave mentality” made them ashamed of India’s spiritual legacy and leave the country’s pilgrimage hubs underdeveloped.
Speaking at Mana village near the India-China border in Uttarakhand, the PM also said that previous governments were apathetic to the needs of people from the hills and ensured that these people were the last to “see the benefits of development”.
“Development work was being assessed through the lens of slave mentality. These people would appreciate foreign centres of faith, but in India, they would look down on them. When it came to the cultural legacy of India, there was a feeling of inferiority and mistrust,” the PM said in a speech in Hindi.
Earlier, he laid the foundation stones for a raft of infrastructure and connectivity projects, including a ropeway between Kedarnath and Gaurikund.
Wearing a Chola Dora, a traditional Himachali dress woven for him by women from Chamba in Himachal Pradesh, Modi said on Friday that the “slave mindset” left the country’s centres of faith in a dilapidated condition.
“For thousands of years, our centres of faith have been facing vagaries of weather and so much damage. For decades, a pilgrimage would become the most difficult journey. But governments did not develop facilities for their own people. Isn’t this injustice? God has given me an opportunity to reply on behalf of 130 crore people,” Modi said.
Himachal Pradesh, which is also home to several centres of Hindu pilgrimage, goes to the polls on November 12.
Modi’s comments on Friday mirrored those he made on October 11 during the inauguration of the Mahakaal Lok corridor at the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, where he spoke about the revitalisation of India’s cultural heritage.
“Now, the whole country feels proud about our centres of faith. Devbhoomi Uttarakhand is also witness to this change, and this is helping the local economy. We are working on using drones to ferry the produce of people in hilly areas to markets in urban areas,” he said on Friday.
With elections in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh roughly three weeks away, the PM also said previous governments felt that people from the hills were industrious by nature and, therefore, didn’t need development.
“This was an injustice... We have started work from these remote villages and are trying to resolve their issues through development,” Modi said from the podium at Mana, known locally as the last village of India.
Lauding local produce by women-led self-help groups, Modi urged people to dedicate 5% of their travel expenses to buy indigenous produce. “This will create a lot of employment, and you can tell your children about these products”, he said.
On Friday morning, the PM laid the foundation stone of connectivity projects worth ₹3,426 crore in Uttarakhand, which included the ₹1,267 crore Kedarnath ropeway, the ₹1,163 crore Hemkund ropeway, the ₹422 crore Joshimath-Malari Road and the ₹574 crore Mana-Mana Pass Road link. The ropeway that connects Gaurikund to Kedarnath is expected to shorten travel time between the two sites of faith to 30 minutes, from the current 6-7 hours.
The Congress said it was very strange that PM Modi attacked past governments for not developing
WEARING A CHOLA DORA, HIMACHALI DRESS WOVEN FOR HIM BY WOMEN FROM CHAMBA IN HIMACHAL PRADESH, MODI SAID ON FRIDAY THAT THE “SLAVE MINDSET” LEFT THE COUNTRY’S CENTRES OF FAITH IN A DILAPIDATED CONDITION
shrines. “Modi ji has perhaps forgotten that the Kedarnath Badrinath Temple committee meant for the management of these two shrines was formed in the 1930s. Congress has done a lot for the development of the shrines in the country, but it doesn’t use religion to play divisive politics,” said Uttarakhand state Congress vice-president Mathura Dutt Joshi.