“Parties exist because of democracy, and democracy exists because of the country. Most of the parties in our country, especially all the non-Congress parties have also followed this idea and the ideal of cooperation and coordination for the country.”
Speaking of social justice and taking pot-shots at his political opponents in the same breath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that ideologies can be different but the country should come first and society should come first.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that social justice means equal opportunity for every section of the society and the country will only move forward when women, the disabled, backward communities, Dalit and tribal people of the country will move forward. He said education is important for this to happen.
“Social justice means that every section of society should get equal opportunities, and no one should be deprived of the basic necessities of life,” the Prime Minister said.
Saying that 25 July was a democratic day for the country, the Prime Minister said that India’s new President hails from the tribal community.
The Prime Minister was addressing a programme marking the tenth death anniversary of Harmohan Singh Yadav, who he said, had fought for democratic values and saved many lives during the anti-Sikh riots.
Attacking opposition
Attacking the opposition in his address, the Prime Minister said that a tendency has begun recently to put ideological or political mileage above the society and country’s benefit. He further added that it is the responsibility of every political party that opposing any party or person should not turn into opposing the nation.
“In recent times, there has been a trend to put ideological or political interests above the interest of the society and the country,” he said.
The people of the country do not like this, he said. “It is the responsibility of every political party that the opposition of a party or an individual should not turn into opposition to the country. Ideologies and political ambition have their place, and they should have. But, country, society and nation come first”
Recalling the words of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Prime Minister underlined the primacy of the nation above party politics. He said “parties exist because of democracy, and democracy exists because of the country. Most of the parties in our country, especially all the non-Congress parties have also followed this idea and the ideal of cooperation and coordination for the country”.
He gave examples of the 1971 war, the Pokharan atomic test and the fight against the Emergency to illustrate the feeling of political parties to put up a united front for the country. “When the country’s democracy was crushed during the Emergency, all the major parties, we all came together and fought to save the Constitution.
