Warning Pakistan sternly against exporting terror to India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that the country would never forget the Uri terror attack. “I am asking the terrorists to listen carefully. This nation will never forget Uri,” stressed the Prime Minister even as he took a swipe at the neighbouring country for exporting terror while India was exporting IT software.
Addressing a massive BJP rally organized as part of the three-day National Council meeting of the party in Kozhikode, Kerala - his first such address since the Uri incident - Modi told Pakistan, “The supreme sacrifice made by 18 Indian soldiers will not go in vain… We have been successful in exposing and isolating you. We will intensify the effort so that you will be isolated completely.”
Describing Pakistan as the sole source of terrorism in the region, Modi said, “Terrorism is the enemy of the entire humanity. Our neighbor is exporting terror into our land while the entire world is united against terrorism. I must state here that India will never bow before terrorism.”
Telling Pakistan in unambiguous terms that its evil designs would not work with India, Modi said, “These terrorists exported by our neighbor had tried to make incursions into our land 17 times in the past few months. But our brave soldiers thwarted the bid all 17 times. They succeeded in killing these terrorists, over 110 of them, near the line of Control.
“Just imagine this. When the neighbouring country succeeded in one of its bids, 18 of our brave soldiers had to become martyrs. So what would have been the magnitude if they had succeeded in all the 17 attemptsIJ But that would not happen. Our soldiers succeeded in ensuring the country’s security during all those attempts by fighting bravely,” Modi said.
Addressing the people of Pakistan directly and making it extremely clear that he did not want to address those who were “singing the Kashmir song written by terrorists”, Modi warned Islamabad that a day would come when the Pakistanis would revolt against their rulers over the issue of terrorism.
Modi chided the Pakistani rulers for being irresponsible about their own country’s progress while indulging in activities that promoted terrorism.
“I want to tell Pakistan’s people something. Our countries had become Independent simultaneously. India is now exporting IT software to other countries. But your rulers are exporting terror.
“The people of Pakistan should ask their rulers that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is in their hands. Have they been able to look after that landIJ Bangladesh was once in their hands. Had they been able to take care of itIJ like that they have many regions under their control. Are they looking after all those areasIJ” Modi said.
“While entire Asia is perspiring to make 21st Century the continent’s century, one country alone is working against it. It wants to make it a century of bloodshed, of terror, of unrest… Whenever there is an incident of terror anywhere in Asia, everyone holds one country responsible for that. That country is sowing terror all over Asia,” added Modi.
Stating that India was prepared to accept the challenge of those who had said they were ready to wage war for a thousand years, the Prime Minister said, “let us go to war… but against poverty (illiteracy, unemployment, etc). And let us see who emerges as the winner,” adding that the dream he had for India was not of war and unrest but of peace and prosperity.
Modi, who started his speech by recalling the sacrifices the Jan Sangh and BJP workers in Kerala had made for ensuring the growth of the party in the State, concluded it by emphasizing the importance of the Garib Kalyan (Welfare of the Poor) initiative to be pursued in the next one year which would be celebrated as the birth centenary of ideologue and former Jan Sangh president Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya.
The Prime Minister, who arrived in Kozhikode for the BJP conference on Saturday evening, will attend the National Council meeting throughout the day on Sunday. He will inaugurate the Deendayal Upadhyaya birth centenary celebrations on Sunday evening.