Pakistan glorifies terrorists, celebrates when innocents killed: Modi on I-Day

To the youth who have picked up the gun, Modi urged them to shun violence and return to their parents.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the nation on its 70th Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort in New Delhi and saluted Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Pandit Nehru and all those who sacrificed their lives to attain 'Swaraj'.

Coining a new term ‘Su-Rajya’, Modi said that the aim of his government was to turn Swaraj (Self-Rule) into Su-Rajya (Good rule).

“Su-Rajya, the meaning of this is a qualitative and positive change in the lives of the citizens of India. That's why I don't just want to speak of Neeti (policy), but also about Niyat (Intent). I can give you a long list of what we have done but if I tell you everything, I'll have to speak from here for a week,” he said.

“Today our resolve is to turn the Swaraj (Self-Rule) into Su-Rajya (Good rule). This is the commitment that we have to go ahead with. From the Parliament to panchayats, gram pradhans to the Prime Minister, everyone has to fulfill their responsibility. Only then will the dream of surajya come true,” he added.

He also attacked the previous UPA government over various issues and lauded his govt for curbing inflation. “Under the previous government, inflation had crossed 10 per cent. Under our efforts, we have not let it go above 6 per cent. LED bulb that was priced at Rs 350 each, is now sold at Rs 50 each. We have distributed 13 crore such bulbs and want to distribute 77 crore more LED bulbs,” he said.

Stressing on the important of sanitation, Modi said his government has built 2 crore toilets and claimed that more than 70,000 villages are now open-defecation free.

“Earlier there used to be a lackadaisical approach to government work, but today there is a new energy in government. We have connected 70 crore Indians to Aadhaar and social security schemes. We take renewable and clean energy very seriously. Before our government, we used to lay 30,000-35,000 km in transmission lines in a year. Today our government lays 50,000 km in transmission lines per year,” Modi said.

Continuing to list the various achievements of his government, Modi said his government had eliminated the middleman in many areas of life and things that would take days are now done within hours. “In the past, when someone wanted to start a company, set up a factory it used to take months. Today we are ready to register them within 24 hours. Earlier the income tax refund used to take forever, but today it takes not more than three weeks. Even getting a passport used to take months, today it takes just a couple of weeks,” he said.

Here are the highlights: We did not get an opportunity to die for the country but we have the opportunity to live for the country. The respect that India has, is because of the 125 crore Indians. I want to thank them for their love and well wishes. People of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir have thanked me a lot in past few days, I am grateful to them. We did not get an opportunity to die for the country but we have the opportunity to live for the country. People of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir have thanked me a lot in past few days, I am grateful to them. Many innocents were killed in the Peshawar terrorist attack, but there were tears in everyone's eyes in the Parliament here. That is the nature of India. But on the other hand, look at those who glorify terrorists. What kind of people glorify terrorists What kind of people celebrate when people are killed SAARC countries have a common problem - poverty. I call upon all to come together and fight poverty, not each other. There cannot be a bigger independence than freedom from poverty. Unity in diversity is our strength. Violence does not have any place in our society. India will never tolerate terrorism and will never bow in front of it. To the youth who have picked up the gun, I urge them to shun violence and return to their parents. SAARC countries have a common problem - poverty. I call upon all to come together and fight poverty, not each other. There cannot be a bigger independence than freedom from poverty. Unity in diversity is our strength. Violence does not have any place in our society. India will never tolerate terrorism and will never bow in front of it. To the youths who have picked up the gun, I urge them to return to their parents, shun violence. Unity in diversity is our strength. Violence does not have any place in our society. We don’t believe in procrastination, we believe in solving problems. The OROP (One Rank, One Pension) was hanging for a long time and we took it head on. We have to fight against social evils and rise above social evils. All citizens have to contribute, else India can't progress. A strong society can only be built on social justice. Today the farmer can sell his produce in online markets anywhere. GST will unify our taxes, make them uniform. The electricity that used to be Rs 10 per unit has come down to little over Rs 1 in many places like Telangana. We have also worked on ‘one nation, one grid and one price’. We have taken many steps for the welfare of women and girls. More than 3.5 crore families have taken benefit of the MUDRA scheme. We have instated a 26-week maternity leave for all pregnant women. All global agencies have recognised India's progress and reforms. We have improved our rankings in ease of doing business rapidly and have left many countries behind in GDP growth. The GST bill that was just passed will go a long way in India's reform and all political parties deserve credit for it. Our government is giving importance to 'last man delivery' by taking decisions; our policies are clear. Reform, perform, transform is the mantra of the government. We value substance over symbolism, integrated development over isolated development, empowerment over entitlement. There used to be allegations on coal block auctions but now it is completely transparent and the nation has benefited immensely. Air India, that used to be much maligned, has an operating profit today. While every telecom company in the world flourished, BSNL was in losses. Today, BSNL too has turned an operating profit. I have done my best to keep corruption away from my government. We have brought transparency to the transformation and have prioritised the image of the nation over the image of the government. 90 shut irrigation schemes will be revived; 77,000 solar pumps distributed to bring down input cost of farmers. Food godowns with 15 lakh ton capacity have been built; The emphasis is on food processing and aim is to help double farmers' income by 2022. There was time when farmers faced many problems, even police lathicharge, over the shortage of manure. We have managed to eliminate that shortage. If farmers get adequate water, they can turn 'soil' into 'gold'. We have given impetus to 'per drop, more crop' initiative. Due to drought situation in the last 2 years, government has faced challenges in terms of price rise. Our farmers have come forward to solve the Dal crisis. We have announced bonuses and schemes for the same. They have sown 1.5 times the usual quantity of Dal and we have taken up schemes of water conservation, irrigation. We are celebrating the 350th anniversary of Guru Govind Singh. How can we forget the bravery and sacrifice of the Sikh gurus. He used to say that the hands that have never served, the hands that have not been used for hard work, I cannot consider them sacred. Under the previous government, inflation had crossed 10 per cent. Under our efforts, we have not let it go above 6 per cent. LED bulb that was priced at Rs 350 each, is now sold at Rs 50 each. We have distributed 13 crore such bulbs and want to distribute 77 crore more LED bulbs. I urge you all to use LED bulbs, save energy and take part in helping our nation. Renewable energy is a focus area for our government. In 2014, more than 18,000 villages did not have electricity. When we came to power, we decided they must get electricity within 1000 days. Not even half the time has passed and 10,000 villages have already got electricity. In my first speech I had asked how can there be such a huge problem of sanitation in our country. In such little time, we have built 2 crore toilets, more than 70,000 villages are open-defecation free. In the last 60 years, 14 crore people got cooking gas connections. Under our government, 4 crore people have got the connections in just 60 weeks. Earlier there used to be a lackadaisical approach to government work, but today there is a new energy in government. We have connected 70 crore Indians to Aadhaar and social security schemes. We take renewable and clean energy very seriously. Before our government, we used to lay 30,000-35,000 km in transmission lines in a year. Today our government lays 50,000 km in transmission lines per year. The work of village roads started under Atal Behari Vajpayee ji and we have taken that forward. Earlier, we used to make 70-75 kms of roads in a day and today we make over 100 kms in a day. We have found 9,000 lower ranks in which there will not be any interviews, no need of references and middlemen. These appointments are being done on the basis of merit and the citizen is happy not just with the announcement of projects and unveiling of plans but they have seen the work being done on the ground. This is the face of an accountable government; transparency and good governance are very important to Su-Rajya. In the past, when someone wanted to start a company, set up a factory it used to take months. Today we are ready to register them within 24 hours. Earlier the income tax refund used to take forever, but today it takes not more than three weeks. Even getting a passport used to take months, today it takes just a couple of weeks. People used to face a lot of difficulty in booking train tickets, the website used to take forever to load. Today we can book 15,000 tickets in a second. I want to change the lives of the common people and I am committed to it. There was a time when you had to wait a long time to go to a good hospital. Today we have been able to change all that through online registrations and appointments. This has been implemented in 40 big government hospitals. Su-Rajya, the meaning of this is a qualitative and positive change in the lives of the citizens of India. That's why I don't just want to speak of Neeti (policy), but also about Niyat (Intent). Today when I am talking to you from ramparts of the Red Fort, it is only natural I give you an account of what government is doing. More than Karya, I want to talk about Karya Sanskriti of the government. I can give you a long list of what we have done but if I tell you everything, I'll have to speak from here for a week. There may be many challenges today, but so are our capabilities. If we have millions of problems, we also have 1.25 billion minds to solve them as well. Today our resolve is to turn the Swaraj (Self-Rule) into Su-Rajya (Good rule). This is the commitment that we have to go ahead with. From the Parliament to panchayats, gram pradhans to the Prime Minister, everyone has to fulfill their responsibility. Only then will the dream of surajya come true. India's age is not 70 years but the independence we got after years of servitude, that journey is of 70 years. Our country is a historic civilisation, our culture is timeless and our independence did not come easy; all Indians were part of the struggle. We remember Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Pandit Nehru, countless people who sacrificed their lives so that we attain Swaraj. May this energy guide the nation to scale newer heights of progress in the years to come. It is because of our great freedom fighters who laid their live that we are independent. Today on this special day, I convey my greetings to 125 crore Indians & the Indian community living overseas May this energy guide the nation to scale newer heights of progress in the years to come, says Narendra Modi.

Modi is expected to leave for Gujarat later in the day to pay tribute to Swaminarayan sect's spiritual head Pramukh Swami, whose mortal remains have been kept at a temple in Sarangpur near Ahmedabad.

Ministers, politicians and devotees on Sunday made a beeline to the Sarangpur-based Swaminarayan temple, where they paid their respect to the 95-year-old saint.

The mortal remains of the head of Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sansthan (BAPS) Swaminarayan Sanstha have been kept at the temple till August 17 to enable devotees and citizens to have a final glimpse of the departed soul.

Modi is scheduled to arrive in Sarangpur, located in adjoining Botad district, in afternoon, said Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat Nitin Patel, who along with Chief Minister Vijay Rupani paid their tributes on Sunday.

(This story originally appeared on Deccan Chronicle)