Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that certain forces, both within and outside of India, are attempting to destabilise the country and spread anarchy to tarnish its global image. He called upon the countrymen to identify and combat these “urban Naxals”.
The PM’s statement comes amid India’s escalating tensions with Canada. Earlier this month, India recalled its High Commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and five of his colleagues after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government tagged them as "persons of interest" in the investigation into the killing of the Khalistani Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Additionally, Canada recently accused Home Minister Amit Shah of being behind the plot against Khalistanis there.
“Some forces in and outside India are trying to destabilise the country and spread anarchy to create a negative image of the nation in the world. They are trying to divide the country on caste lines and are against a developed India,” said the PM addressing a gathering near the iconic Statue of Unity at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat's Narmada district after paying floral tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on the birth anniversary of India's first Home Minister.
Since 2014, Sardar Patel's birth anniversary has been celebrated on October 31 as ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas', or National Unity Day.
He urged the people of the country to identify this nexus of “urban Naxals” which he said is trying to break the country.
“As Naxalism is ending in jungles, a new model of urban Naxals is raising its head. Today, urban Naxals target even those who say that you will remain safe if you remain united. We have to identify urban Naxals and unmask them,” he said.
Though there were people who were skeptical of India's unification, Sardar Patel made it possible, said Modi, adding that the country will celebrate Patel's 150th birth anniversary for the next two years.
“Our nation is moving towards implementation of ‘one nation, one secular civil code’ which will strengthen our country. We are trying to roll out the ‘one nation, one election' initiative, which will strengthen our democracy,” he said.
“For the first time in 70 years, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir has taken oath on the Constitution,” he said, adding that due to the government's efforts in the past 10 years, Naxalism is on the decline in India.
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