Day not far when people of Pakistan will battle their rulers: Modi

Making a direct appeal to the people of Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he wanted to talk to them, and added the day is not far off when the Pakistani people will wage a battle against their rulers and against terrorism.

In his first public speech since the Uri terror attack in which 18 soldiers were killed, Modi hit out at the "rulers" of Pakistan for "exporting terror" to the world and said he wanted to talk directly to the people of the neighbouring country.

Modi spoke firmly in his speech at the public rally here during the BJP national council meeting and made it clear that the sacrifice of lives of soldiers during the Uri incident will not go waste.

In a dig at the speech of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the United Nations General Assembly, Modi said "the world has no hope from leaders" who read speeches written by patrons of terrorism - referring to Rawalpindi - the Pakistan army headquarters which is widely believed to have written the script.

"But today I want to speak to people of Pakistan. I want to remind them that before 1947 your forefathers too used to consider this country as your motherland, worship it. Keeping that in mind I want to ask a few things."

"The people of Pakistan should ask their rulers... PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) is with you, you can't even manage that. Earlier, East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, was with you, you could not manage that. You are unable to manage PoK, Sindh, Gilgit- Baltistan and Balochistan, and you are talking of Kashmir... They are misleading you on Kashmir," he said.

He said people of Pakistan should ask their rulers that both countries had become independent at the same time, "so how is it that India exports software, but your leaders export terrorists".

Modi said he wanted to ask the people of Pakistan that their leaders had talked of waging a 1,000 year war with India." "Today there is such a government is Delhi. I am ready to accept your challenge," he said.

"I want to tell the people of Pakistan - India is ready to fight a war you. Let's fight who is able to finish poverty first. Youth of Pakistan, let us fight to see if India is first able to end unemployment, or Pakistan. Let us see who wins the battle to end illiteracy," Modi said.

Modi said there was problem of infant and maternal mortality in both India and Pakistan. "Let us see who wins (the battle against it"," he said.

"Rulers of Pakistan listen, the sacrifice of 18 soldiers will not go waste. India has been successful in isolating you. We will accelerate (these efforts) and will force you to be left alone in the world.

"That day is not far when people of Pakistan will take to streets to wage a battle against the rulers of Pakistan and against terrorism," Modi said.

--IANS

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