Prime Minister Narendra Modi feeds a cow during his visit to Pashu Vigyan Evam Arogya Mela in Mathura on Wednesday as UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath looks on.
Modi says such critics are hell-bent on damaging country, invokes 9/11 attack to condemn Pak for nurturing terror
The PM hit out at critics who argue that the mention of words ‘Om’ and ‘cow’ takes India centuries back, saying they are hell-bent on damaging the country.
‘It is unfortunate that in our country the moment the word ‘Om’ falls on the ears of some people, they get alarmed. They also get alarmed by the word ‘cow’. They feel as if that the country has gone back to the 16th or the 17th century,’ Mr Modi said.
Mathura (UP), Sept. 11: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday hit out at critics who argue that the mention of words ‘Om’ and ‘cow’ takes India centuries back, saying they are hell-bent on damaging the country.
Mr Modi took the jibe at as he launched a nationwide programme here to save livestock from the foot and mouth disease, delivering 600 million vaccine shots to farm animals over the next several years.
Beginning with “Radhey, Radhey,” a customary greeting in the ‘Brajbhoomi’ around Mathura, Mr Modi promoted cleanliness, spoke against single-use plastic and invoked the 9/11 attack on America this day 18 years ago to indirectly condemn Pakistan for nurturing terrorism.
“There is a country called Rwanda in Africa. I had gone there. In Rwanda, there is a unique programme, where the government gives cows to villages with the condition that the first female calf born to the cow is taken back and given to those who do not have a cow,” he said.
“This way a chain operates. And their endeavour is that in Rwanda every household should have a cow, milk production and animal rearing, which forms the base of the economy. I have myself seen how a network to earn livelihood through a cow has been established there,” Mr Modi said.
“But it is unfortunate that in our country the moment the word ‘Om’ falls on the ears of some people, they get alarmed (‘baal khadhe ho jaate
hai’),” he said.
“They also get alarmed by the word ‘cow’. They feel as if that the country has gone back to the 16th or the 17th century,” he said.
Mocking this “gyan” (wisdom) of the critics, he said such people are hellbent on damaging the country.
The Prime Minister wondered whether anyone can imagine an economy without animal husbandry. “In the life of rural India, animal husbandry is very valuable. Can a family in a village survive without it? But I don’t know why some people get an electric shock on hearing the word,” Mr Modi said.
He said environment and livestock were always at the core of India’s economic thought and philosophy.
“And hence, be it Swachh Bharat or Jal Jeevan Mission or promoting agriculture and animal husbandry, we always try to maintain a balance between nature and economy.”
In his 40-minute speech, the prime minister also brought up the terror attack on America this day in 2001.
“Today terrorism has become an ideology which has transgressed every border. It is a global problem and has become a global threat whose strong roots are getting nourished in our neighbourhood,” Mr Modi said in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
He said the entire world needs to take a pledge against this ideology, against those who are taking it forward and those giving shelter and training to terrorists.
“There is need for strong action,” he said.
Mr Modi added, “India is fully competent to face the challenge. We have shown this and will also show it in future.”