“As a Defence Minister of the country, I want to assure you that today India has moved in the same direction which was envisioned 75 years ago by great personalities like Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya, Dr Syama Prasad Mukherjee and later Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while addressing an event to mark the completion of 75 years of Panchjanya magazine on January 15, 2022.
Addressing the gathering, Defence Minister further said, “It was Deendayalji’s dream to make this country self-sufficient in the area of food, defence sector and to make India a nuclear power. Today India has the opportunity, we have the potential, we have the resolution, that we will make India stand on the position of Vishwa Guru again.”
Articulating his view on how the nation will progress Sunil Ambekar, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, said, “When our nation moves forward, then we have to move forward in every sphere of life. People from every section of the society should participate in it. If there is discretion among the youth of the country, then the country will progress. The vision of RSS is that the whole country should walk together. Even during difficult times, all the Swayamsevaks faced it together. As a result of this, today the volunteers of the Sangh are present in every sector of the society.”
He further said, “When India’s national flag was burnt in Kashmir, it was the Sangh which first raised voice against it and gave the slogan “Jahan Hua Trirange ka Apman, Wahin Karenge Uska Samman”. Therefore, it is absolutely baseless to say that the Sangh only loves saffron, not the Tricolor.”
Acharya Swami Avdheshanand Giri said, “India is point of discussion all over the world today. The United Nations said that India should speak and we would listen. A few days ago, there was a discussion in Western universities that which culture is spreading rapidly all over the world without conversions? Then people said that it is the Hindu culture. The idea of India is a matter of research in Western countries.”
Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Civil Aviation & Steel, said, “A change in perception about India could be seen all over the world. Nobody in the world can ignore the importance of India now. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, he started engaging people across the globe. He worked to ensure that India’s voice is heard at global stage. Our population is 135 crore in India, but we cannot forget those 3.5 crore people from India diaspora, who have equally worked in raising India’s voice at global stage. Till eight years ago, India was 8th largest economy, but today we are the 5th largest economy.”
Anurag Thakur, Union Minister for I&B and Youth Affairs & Sports, said, “There are few international news organisations, which often publish fake propaganda against India. During Covid-19 period they predicted that millions of people will die in India. On the other hand, many international organisations praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for successfully handling Covid-19. Today India is among top 3 startups countries. Earlier, we used to import military hardware, today we are exporting defence equipment to other countries. And as per the latest data, India has exported military hardware worth Rs 30,000 crore.”
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while addressing the gathering, said, “In 2013, India was among the ‘Fragile Five’ economies of the world. However, since Modi Government came to power in 2014, India’s economy has undergone significant changes that have led to it now being the fastest growing economy in the world.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan criticised the practice of ‘fatwas’ and said it is being used as a political tool or weapon by politicians. He said that all fatwas of kufr (apostasy) were political. The Governor narrated incidents of f atwas issued against him during his time in Congress. “I was not part of the BJP. I used to make my speeches in Hindi. In those days, even for using a couple of Hindi words, you could get kufr fatwa,” he said.
