Government will ensure complete freedom of faith: Modi (Roundup)


Posted on 18th Feb 2015 10:51 am by mohit kumar

New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Coming out unequivocally for the first time against recent attacks on churches and controversial utterances by right-wing fringe elements, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday said his government will ensure complete freedom of faith and will not allow any religious group to incite hatred against others "overtly or covertly".

Addressing Christian leaders at a function here, the prime minister reached out to them, saying he strongly condemned violence against any religion.

"My government will ensure that there is complete freedom of faith and that everyone has the undeniable right to retain or adopt the religion of his or her choice without coercion or undue influence. My government will not allow any religious group, belonging to the majority or the minority, to incite hatred against others, overtly or covertly," the prime minister said.

"Mine will be a government that gives equal respect to all religions," the prime minister said, breaking his long silence on the subject.

"We cannot accept violence against any religion on any pretext and I strongly condemn such violence. My government will act strongly in this regard," he added.

Modi has been facing flak for not speaking out strongly against saffron fringe elements of his Bharatiya Janata Party-led government who have kicked up a controversy by peddling the Hindutva agenda and by their comments on "ghar wapsi", or return to the Hindu faith.

Addressing a function to mark the 'National Celebration of the Elevation to Sainthood of Kuriakose Elias Chavara and Mother Euphrasia', Modi said his government stands by "every word" of the Universal Declaration and of freedom of religion or belief.

"India is the land of Buddha and Gandhi. Equal respect for all religions must be in the DNA of every Indian. We cannot accept violence against any religion on any pretext and I strongly condemn such violence. My government will act strongly in this regard," Modi said.

He also appealed to all religious groups "to act with restraint, mutual respect, and tolerance in the true spirit of this ancient nation which is manifest in our Constitution and is in line with the Hague Declaration".

Christian leaders immediately welcomed Modi's remarks and hoped they would translate into action.

Fr. Savarimuthu Sankar, Catholic Archdiocese Church, told IANS: "The general feeling is that everyone is happy that finally he has spoken. Although it's late because we wanted him to speak before Christmas last year. We hope his words are translated into action."

In the most recent attack, the Holy Child Auxilium school in south Delhi was ransacked by unidentified people Feb 13. It was the sixth incident of attack on churches and a school in Delhi over a period of two months.

Modi had summoned Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi asking him to speed up investigation in the incidents of vandalism and bring the guilty to book.

Following the attacks, Christian leaders claimed that their community was being subjected to intentional attacks and attempts were being made to instil fear among them.

The BJP also faced its first electoral debacle after its winning spree in the general elections last year when it fared miserably in the Feb 7 Delhi assembly elections, despite Modi being one of the main campaigners.

Modi said that to realize his vision of a modern India and to ensure development, unity is an essential ingredient. "Unity strengthens us. Division weakens us. I sincerely request all Indians, and all of you present here to support me in this huge task," he said.

Lauding the two saints for dedicating their lives to the service of God and fellow beings, Modi described the lives and deeds of Saint Chavara and Saint Euphresia as "inspiration" to humanity.

0 Like 0 Dislike
Previous news Next news
Other news

PM Modi: PM Modi started the 'Mera Bharat, Mera Parivar' campaign, and shared video on social media

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started the Mera Bharat, Mera Parivar campaign. The Prime M

India breaks Pakistan's world record, and won 12th consecutive series against West Indies

The Indian team defeated West Indies by 119 runs in the last match of the three-match ODI series

Ind Vs Eng: 'His company is bad', the grief of losing father and brother; Akash Deep's story is full of struggles, luck shone after making test debut

It is said that if your intentions are good and your courage is high, then one-day success will k

The world's first bitcoin city will be built in El Salvador, know the special things related to it

Central America-based country El Salvador is planning to build the world's first bitcoin city, wh

Rain halts play in Windies-Zimbabwe clash

Canberra, Feb 24 (IANS) Rain halted play in the World Cup clash between the West Indies and Zimb

America stuck in Trump's insistence: Trump did not accept the public's decision even in 64 days, understand this whole controversy from 5 points

Vice President Mike Pence described what happened in the US on Wednesday as 'the dark day of the

IIT JAM 2022: IIT JAM 2022 second admission list released, check direct download link here

IIT Roorkee has released the second list of Joint Admission Test for Masters (JAM) 2022. Candidat

Revenge for insulting Prophet Mohammad... plan to attack India's top leaders, IS terrorist caught in Russia

Russia has arrested a suicide bomber associated with the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS

Pakistan Turkey Relief Fund: Pakistan is helping Turkey, 50% salary of Balochistan officials cut

In Turkey and Syria, there was an earthquake of 7.8 magnitudes in the past. The tremors of this e

Ayodhya Ram Mandir: Ramlala's Aarti will be performed six times a day, passes will be issued; Ashtyam service will be held all eight hours of the day

After the consecration of Ramlala, there is going to be a change in his worship and aarti. The en

Sign up to write
Sign up now if you have flare of writing..
Login   |   Register
Follow Us
Indyaspeak @ Facebook Indyaspeak @ Twitter Indyaspeak @ Pinterest RSS



Play Free Quiz and Win Cash