New
Delhi, Sept 11: On the backdrop of row with the West Bengal government
over the telecast of his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today addressed
the youngsters on the theme 'Young India, New India' to mark 125th year of
Swami Vivekananda's Chicago Address and pitched for creativity,
entrepreneurship and promoting skills. Mr Modi also asked the youth to take up
'cleanliness' drive as a mission and wanted to now whether with the habits of
littering the roads, "Do we have the right to say Vande Mataram". “As
I entered, I heard people chanting loudly ‘Vande Mataram, Vande Mataram!’… The
value of patriotism fills my heart. But do we have the right to say Vande
Mataram?” Mr Modi asked students and other youngsters. Speaking at a function
in the capital to mark the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago
address and centenary celebrations of Deendayal Upadhyaya, Mr Modi wondered how
those who chant Vande Mataram go and litter the roads. “Whether we clean the roads
or not, we do not have the right to litter our motherland,” he said amid
repeated chanting of slogans 'Bharat Mata Ko Jai' and 'Modi, Modi' on the
occasion. He reminded the youths that the world would evaluate the country
based on "what and where it is today" and not what it was 5,000 years
ago. He said, "Swami Vivekananda did not believe in sermonising. His ideas
and idealism paved the way for an institutional framework and the launch of
Ramakrishna Mission". "He did not launch Vivekananda Mission, but it
was Ramakrishna Mission," PM Modi said adding "samajhdar ke liye
ishara hi kaafi hae (a clever person should understand what he is trying to
say)". Interestingly, PM Modi's speech and the remarks came close on the
heels of charge of West Bengal government that the centre has been trying to
bring in 'saffronisation' of Indian education. Mr Modi's speech for the
occasion today and the live telecast of the same had run into controversy. The
UGC had asked over 40,000 institutions and universities to organise live
telecast of the Prime Minister's speech. The West Bengal government had
directed all educational institutes under its jurisdiction to ignore the
central directives. Stating that Swami Vivekananda always supported innovation,
PM Modi said, "The correspondence between Swami Vivekananda and Jamsetji
Tata will show the concern SwamiJI had towards India's self-reliance". He
said this spirit is linked to his government's endeavours for 'Make in India'
strategies to boost manufacturing and entrepreneurship. PM Modi reached out to
those involved in sanitation and cleanliness profession and said, "I want
to specially mention all those people who are working tirelessly to keep India
clean". He said elections in colleges and varsities should also henceforth
focus on 'cleanliness drive' -- that "our campus is cleanest of all".
Making a veiled attack on various controversies associated with student
politics, Prime Minister said "student politics had started on something
else and today came to a different paradigm". Stating that, "The 9/11
of 1893 (Vivekananda's Chicago address) was about love, harmony and brotherhood
unlike the one of 2001 which was about destruction and hatred," Mr Modi
said, the devastating terror strike might not have happened if the relevance of
Swami Vivekananda's address had not been forgotten. UNI
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