Contending that terrorism should not be associated with any particular religion, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Muslims in India are nationalists who have always opposed terrorist elements.
He was speaking in a function Mahamana Bharat Ratna Samman organised by Malviya Mission at Visheshwariya auditorium here on Sunday. He said terrorism should not be associated with any particular religion adding that Muslims in India are nationalists who have always opposed terrorist elements
. He lauded India's Muslims for not allowing fundamentalist groups like ISIS to influence them. Responding to questions, he said terrorism should not be associated with a particular religion. “Several countries in the world are facing the menace of terrorism and they should fight unitedly against it,” he said.
To a question regarding Naxalism, Singh said, "though I don't believe in the figures, the figure shows that there has been a decline of 20 per cent to 25 per cent in the last one year in naxalite attacks." When asked about opposition parties’ allegation over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign tours, Singh said all his predecessors had traveled abroad but the "warm welcome" that was accorded to Modi showed that the country's goodwill was rising.
"It is unfortunate to question PM's foreign visits. All PMs including Manmohan Singh have undertaken foreign visits. The warm welcome being accorded to Modi in the countries he is visiting shows that the country was gaining prestige and the countries in the world are now taking India seriously," Singh said on the sidelines of a program organized by Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya Mission.
Earlier, addressing the function organised to remember contribution of Bharat Ratna, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Union home minister said knowledge without sanskar was of no use. ‘Even the terrorist had great knowledge of particular subject but they did not do good to the society. He highlighted the Malviya contribution in setting up Kashi Hindu Vishwavidhyalay and said Malviya had a dedication to set up the institute for the welfare of the country. Singh said Bharat Ratn was honoured by honouring Malviya with the award while quoting one of the speaker’s statement made earlier to him during the program. Singh admitted that Mahamana should have been conferred on Bharat
Ratna, long back, for his contribution and said Mahamana made an important contribution in linking traditional knowledge with modern science. He also discussed about personality and contribution of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Addressing the gathering, governor Ram Naik lauded the faculties of Kashi Hindu University founded by Mahamana. “I never came to know of a hospital, one like BHU, which had 1000 beds to cater to the need of patients,’ he said.
In lighter vein, Naik said awarding Mahamana with Bharat Ratna got delayed due to some reason but BHU was the only university which had four dignitaries who got the prestigious award. He further said Bhagwan Das, Dr Sarvpalli Radha Krishnan and Professor CN Rao also got the award besides Mahamana for their contribution. He laid stress on the need of all round development.
Meanwhile, a delegation of lucknow University Teachers Association led by association president Manoj Pandey and general secretary Dr Anshu met the home minister at his residence and apprise him of their demand related to promotion and constitution of salary commission.