Modi talks about terrorism, skips reference to surgical strikes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday disappointed not only his supporters, but his political rivals as well. The PM spoke for about 20 minutes at the Aishbagh Ramlila celebrations in Lucknow, but not once did he mention either the Uri terror attack of September 18, in which 19 Indian soldiers were killed, or Indian Army’s surgical strikes on September 29 on the Line of Control to avenge Uri deaths.

Much of Modi’s speech, which he began as well as ended with loud cries of “Jai Shri Ram”, was devoted to the need for the world to unite to fight the menace of terrorism. Unlike his speech at Kozhikode in Kerala days after the Uri terror attack, Modi did not mention Pakistan by name.

But, the references on terrorism were aimed at Pakistan. “Terrorism does not have any boundaries. It is bound to destroy all... A need has arisen to root out those who spread terrorism. Those who help terrorists and provide shelter to them can no longer be spared,” he said.

The PM even said that at times circumstances make war inevitable, but India was a land that walked the non-violent path of Buddha as well.

“We are a people who balance the teachings of Gita that Lord Krishna delivered on the battlefield and that of Gautam Buddha,” he said. All of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s three principal rivals in Uttar Pradesh — Congress led by its vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav — have in the past few days accused the PM and his government of trying to encash political mileage out of the surgical strikes.

The theme of this year’s Dussehra at Aishbagh was ‘destruction of terrorism’. In the run-up to the event on Tuesday, there were several references to the surgical strikes by characters enacting Ramlila, but none during the PM’s speech. Vijaya Dashami signifies the victory of good over evil with the burning of the effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Meghnad. In his speech, the PM appealed to people on the need to end ‘Ravanas’ or social evils of injustice, corruption, illiteracy, fanaticism and lack of cleanliness.

He devoted a significant part of his speech to urge people to stop female infanticide. He said it is not easy to emulate Lord Rama, but one can walk the path of Jatayu who sacrificed his life to protect Sita. Modi said it was the need of the times to accord women of all castes and religions equal status.

On October 7, the Modi government had told the Supreme Court that gender equality and dignity of women are non-negotiable constitutional values and that religious practices cannot be an impediment to the rights of women. It said the practice of triple talaq, polygamy and nikah-halala — a practice according to which divorced women, in case they want to go back to their husbands, have to consummate a second marriage — cannot get protection under fundamental right to religion.

In what could be interpreted as potshots on his political rivals in Uttar Pradesh, the PM also asked people to end the evils of nepotism, dynastic succession, inequality and communalism.

Traditionally, serving prime ministers have attended the Dussehra celebrations in Delhi, but Modi decided to break from the past. It was interpreted by his political rivals as the PM’s effort to galvanise BJP cadres as well as reach out to the people at large for the forthcoming elections to the UP Assembly.

As India prepares to host the BRICS Summit where countries like Russia and China are likely to ask the grouping of emerging economies to take a stand on the civil war in Syria, the PM’s speech referred to the impact of terrorism in that country.

At the Delhi event at Ramlila Maidan, President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice-President Hamid Ansari, former PM Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were present.