Stop creating narrative to divide country into north, south: PM Modi to Congress
The Hindu
Prime Minister Narendra Modi says these new narratives are being made for political gains.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the Congress and its government in Karnataka to stop creating a narrative to divide the country into north and south saying it jeopardises the country's future.
Replying to the debate to the Motion of Thanks in the Rajya Sabha, he lamented that the Karnataka government was building such a narrative through advertisements.
Mr. Modi was referring to the protest dharna by the Congress led by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over alleged "injustice" meted out by the Centre on devolution of tax share to the state.
"Today I want to share my pain on a specific matter...The way language is being spoken these days to break the country, these new narratives are being made for political gains. An entire state is speaking this language, nothing can be worse for the country than this...what language have we started saying," he said.
Mr. Modi said such narratives were not good for the country and could jeopardise its future.
He lamented that a vaccine is made in one part of the country and someone says that it can't be given to other parts. "What is this thinking? And it is very painful that such language is emerging from a national party, it is very sad," he noted.
"This nation is not just a piece of land for us. It is like the human body, if there is pain somewhere, the hand doesn't say that the thorn is in the foot and it doesn't concern me...if there is pain anywhere in this country, pain should be felt by everyone.