Nation must break free from British-era legacy of 'slave mentality': PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the formal completion of the Ram temple by hoisting the Dharma Dhwaj in Ayodhya, invoking cultural unity, calling for freedom from colonial legacies and later honou

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on Tuesday morning hoisted the saffron Dharma Dhwaj atop the Ram temple, which marked the formal completion of the edifice, and urged people to reverse in the next 10 years the seeds that British historian Thomas Babington Macaulay sowed 190 years back of separating Indians from their roots.

 

Addressing the gathering in Ayodhya, the PM alluded to “Macaulay’s Minutes”, and said that 2035 will mark its 200 years. “We gained Independence but not freedom from inferiority,” the PM said, adding that the country must break free from the British-era legacy of “slave mentality”. 

 

Modi, who had conducted the consecration of the idol at the Ram temple on January 22, 2024, months before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, said the “wounds and pain” of centuries are healing as a 500-year-old resolve was finally being fulfilled with the formal completion of the Ram temple. According to an official statement, the saffron flag, measuring 22 feet x 11 feet, is made of parachute-grade cloth with a thick nylon hoisting rope, and is mounted atop a 161-foot spire.

 

To underscore the unity of Hindus across castes, the PM highlighted that seven temples had been built here, including the temple of Mata Shabari, the temple of Nishadraj, Maharshi Valmiki, and others. He said that these temples, along with strengthening “our faith”, also empowered the values of friendship, duty, and social harmony.

 

In the evening, the PM attended events to mark the 350th martyrdom day of the ninth Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur, in Haryana’s Kurukshetra and later at Red Fort in Delhi, where a terror attack took place a fortnight back and 15 people were killed and several injured.

 

At the event in Kurukshetra, the PM recalled Guru Tegh Bahadur’s sacrifice to protect Kashmiri Hindus against attempts by “Mughal invaders” to convert them. He said that during Operation Sindoor the world saw that “new India” neither feared anyone nor bowed down to terrorism. “We want peace but we do not compromise on our security, Operation Sindoor is the biggest example of it,” he said. In Kurukshetra, the PM also unveiled the newly constructed “Panchjanya” memorial, dedicated to the sacred conch of Lord Krishna.

 

In Ayodhya, the PM performed the flag hoisting in the presence of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. “Today, the entire nation and the world are immersed in Ram. Centuries-old wounds are healing, centuries-long pain is finding closure, as the resolve that burned for 500 years finally reached fulfilment,” said Modi, who had laid the foundation stone for the complex on August 5, 2020, in the presence of Bhagwat. The PM urged citizens to “awaken the Ram within” as India worked towards becoming a developed nation by 2047.