New Delhi, August 15
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked citizens to shed all traces of colonial mindset, take pride in roots, stay united and follow duties even as he called for collective national efforts to make India a developed nation by 2047.
Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of the 76th Independence Day, the Prime Minister rolled out five pledges for the country to follow going into the next 25 years of freedom, the pledge of developed, of shunning the mindset of servitude, of taking pride in roots; of unity and of a sense of duty among citizens.
The PM hailed the occasion as a major milestone in the journey of aspirational India and launched his most scathing attack ever on corruption and nepotism, seeking people’s cooperation to clean up the society.
He described graft, dynastic politics and nepotism as top challenges facing India and said the government was at a decisive stage in the fight against corruption.
The remarks, that came in the midst of active Enforcement Directorate action against a host of politicians, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul in the National Herald matter, were qualified with even more stringent statements where the PM said corruption was eating into India’s vitals like termite and asked for social hatred for perpetrators of graft.
“The country will have to fight corruption. We are trying hard so that those who looted the country are made to pay back. Until society develops a sense of hatred towards corruption and the corrupt, until people learn to start looking down on the corrupt, this mindset is not going to end,” said the Prime Minister, flagging nepotism not just in political circles but across all segments of work life.
Laying the roadmap for the future, the Prime Minister said the way ahead for India was through “Jai jawan, jai kisan, jai vigyan and jai anusandhan”.
