Yogi Govt transformed UP: Rajnath Singh
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said Uttar Pradesh, once known for poor roads, insecurity and riots, has undergone a transformation under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and is now recognised for its ‘One District, One Product’ initiative.
Singh was here to attend the Khatik Garjana Sammelan organised by the All India Khatik Samaj in the Khandari area. Addressing the gathering, Singh said there was a time when the state was marked by bumpy roads and an atmosphere of insecurity, with riots taking place frequently.
“Earlier, there was ‘one district, one mafia’, but Adityanath has changed this picture. Today, Uttar Pradesh is known for ‘One District, One Product’,” he said.
The defence minister said development was taking place across all sectors in the state. Singh was felicitated by members of the Khatik community, who presented him with a silver crown. He, however, asked them to donate the crown to a poor girl.
Calling for social unity and harmony, Singh said the Khatik community had always been at the forefront of protecting the country and religion.
“Khatik woh hai jo khauf ko hara de (A Khatik is the one who defeats fear),” he said in his speech.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday asserted that no one can harm India as long as the flag of Sanatan Dharma continues to fly high, emphasising that the country’s spiritual traditions preserved social unity and cultural consciousness even when foreign invaders attacked its sacred sites.
Speaking at a Shiv Mahapuran Katha held in Rae Bareli, Adityanath said, “We did not limit ‘Dharma’ merely to modes of worship; we embraced it as the vital life force of society, linking it to our duties and regarding it as the motivating power of the nation.”
He explained that this was the reason that, even though political weaknesses forced the country to confront foreign invaders during the medieval period, a time when they trampled upon India’s sacred sites, the wisdom from the Vyas Peeths (traditional seats of spiritual discourse) continued to foster social unity while advancing India’s cultural and spiritual upliftment. Citing the example of Goswami Tulsidas (composer of Ramcharitmanas), Adityanath said the composer received an offer from Akbar’s court to be inducted into the ‘Navratnas’.
“When the proposal was put before him, he asked, ‘Who is this Akbar?’ People told him that he is the emperor of India. Tulsidas declared, ‘I have only one king - Ram. Barring Ram, I do not consider any Akbar, a foreigner, as my king’. In that era, he challenged Akbar by asserting that Ram alone was his king.”
Adityanath asserted that as long as the sacred ‘kathaa’ continues to resonate across India, the Sanatan Dharma flag will never bow. “And as long as that banner flies high, no one will be able to cause the slightest harm to India,” he said.
