Modi makes clarion call for a liberated India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made a clarion call to build within the next five years a new India, clean and free from poverty, corruption, terrorism, communalism and casteism.

Modi also called upon all the parliamentarians to take a pledge “Karenge Aur Kar Ke Rahenge” (we will do and will surely do) as he spoke during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the “Quit India Movement” of 1942.

Speaking just after the  prime minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi took a jibe at his government, saying that “politics of divisiveness and hate” now appeared to be “overshadowing” the “idea of an inclusive, pluralist, democratic, fair and equitable” India, which Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters had fought for and was enshrined in the Constitution.

Gandhi also took a subtle dig at the ruling BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for not taking part in the struggle for independence. “As we pay our homage to the martyrs who were in the front line of the struggle for independence, we must not forget that some people and organizations had opposed the Quit India movement,” she said, without naming any individual or entity, but apparently referring to the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha “These elements had no contribution to the struggle for independence of our nation”.

Her comment triggered a brief murmur of protests from the Treausry Bench, with BJP MP Kirron Kher saying loudly: “How sad! This is travesty of Parliament.”

Her party colleagues, however, quickly signalled her to remain quiet.

The discussion in the Lok Sabha commemorating the anniversary of the 1942 “Quit India Movement” ended with all the MPs adopting a resolution.

The resolution pledged to take along 125 crore people of the country to build a nation as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters before the 75th anniversary of the independence. The Rajya Sabha MPs too resolved on the same occasion to rededicate themselves for building a self reliant, inclusive, secular and democratic India.

Earlier, the prime minister told the Lok Sabha that though Mahatma Gandhi never deviated from the path of non-violence, but even he had to respond to the pressure of simmering public anger against British Raj and had to raise the slogan “Karenge Ya Marenge (We Will Do or Die)” while launching the Quit India movement in 1942.

He said that the pace of India’s struggle for independence from 1857 to 1942 was “incremental”, but it went “disruptive” after 1942, ultimately forcing the end of British rule over the country in 1947. “Five years was all it took to achieve the objective of independence, once the entire country shared this common resolve,” he said.

The nation could again achieve great success and scale new heights in the coming five years if it united to fight against corruption, illiteracy, lack of education, poverty and malnutrition, he added.

Initiating the discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that country’s internal security was under threat and everyone needed to speak in one voice.

He said that a constant tussle was going on between judiciary and executive and one should not cross the line. “There should be a Lakshman Rekha, which at times appears to be blurring,” he said.