Wars fought on borders and within country too, says PM Narendra Modi

Hailing the valour of the armed forces during the Kargil war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked people to speak and act keeping in mind the morale of soldiers and asserted that wars are fought not just on borders but on many fronts within the country too.

In his Mann ki Baat radio address, which coincided with the 21st anni-versary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, Modi hit out at Pakistan for the conflict and said Islamabad responded to India’s hand of friendship by stabbing it in the back.

People must remember that their conduct and remarks should boost the morale and respect of soldiers, Modi said, urging everyone to do everything to further national unity. “People bound by a thread of unity with the mantra that the nation is above everything else bolster the strength of our soldiers more than a thousand times,” he said.

Modi also spoke of the dangers of social media. At times, without paying heed to the essence, people encourage certain things on social media “that are detrimental to the country”, he said. “There are times when we forward things out of sheer curiosity. Despite knowing that it is wrong, we keep doing it. These days, wars are fought not just on borders, they are fought on many fronts within the country too. And every citizen has to decide his or her role in that. We, too, should determine our roles, fully keeping in mind the soldiers fighting on the borders under the harshest of conditions,” he said.

Modi recalled the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Independence Day speech after the Kargil war and said it is relevant even today. Vajpayee, he said, had reminded the nation of Gandhi's mantra — in the face of any dilemma, to decide what to do or what not to do, one must think of the poorest and the most helpless person; one must assess whether one’s deed will result in benefitting that person or not.”