Modi repeated his convictions at Christian meet: Organiser

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at a Christian congregation this week was hailed by many but Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece Organiser says it's only a repetition of what he has been saying since he was the Gujarat chief minister.

Modi invoked Swami Vivekananda's Chicago address in his maiden appearance at the function organised by Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and immediately intellectuals and media with 'secular mindset' made political overtones out of it and declared it as the PM's message to Hindutva outfits, the weekly said in its editorial in the latest issue.

"Critics of Modi also tried to see it as an attempt of projecting himself as a 'secular' leader. If we carefully read the speech, PM Modi only reiterated the ethos of this civilisational nation for all segments of the society.

"He repeated his convictions about 'acceptance of all and appeasement of none', which he has been saying since he was the chief minister of Gujarat. This ethos is being cherished and practised in India from th Vedic period, irrespective of way of worship," it observed.

In fact, the publication said when the PM remarked that the Indian Constitution did not evolve in a vacuum and had its roots in the ancient cultural traditions of India, he was talking about Hindu way of life being the torch-bearer of religious harmony. "Many people with British spectacles should realise that we were practising freedom of religion much before the 'secular' word arrived on India's political scene," the Organiser said.