NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi took aim at what he called supporters of “terrorism” in his
Independence Day speech on Monday, ratcheting up criticism of Pakistan
while avoiding direct mention of month-long protests in Indian-held
Kashmir.
Modi also pitched a vision of national unity
and progress in his third annual address from the ramparts of the Red
Fort in Delhi that, at 94 minutes, was the longest delivered by the
65-year-old leader.
Yet it was a broadside against
Pakistan that left the strongest impression in a speech that otherwise
skirted foreign affairs and focused on his government's own
achievements.
“What kind of life is this, inspired by
terrorism? What kind of government setup is it that is inspired by
terrorism?” asked Modi, who delivered the open-air address amid a
security lockdown in the Indian capital.
“The world will know about it and that's sufficient for me.”
The Indian PM went aggressively further in a diatribe against Pakistan.
"People of Balochistan, Gilgit and PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) have thanked me a lot in past few days, I am grateful to them," said Modi in his Monday address.
Modi also said that Indians "also cried" when children in Peshawar were killed in the APS attack in December 2014.
"This is our nature, but look at the other side. They glorify terrorists."
As
Modi spoke, two gunmen attacked a police station in Indian-held
Kashmir, wounding six reservists. The army also claimed it had foiled an
attempt to infiltrate two 'militants' from Pakistan into north Kashmir,
killing both.
Kashmir has witnessed violent protests
since a July 8 encounter in which the security forces eliminated a
commander of militant group Hizbul Mujahideen. At least 54 people have
been killed and thousands hurt in clashes with the security forces.
Modi met national party leaders on Friday to seek ways to end the worst unrest in Kashmir since 2010.
Report card
In keeping with earlier speeches, Modi delivered a report
card on efforts to improve the lot of ordinary Indians, reeling off
achievements in rural electrification, financial inclusion and health
provision.
He strongly backed the fight against
inflation, endorsing a 4 per cent target, within a range of 2 percentage
points either way, agreed with Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram
Rajan.
He barely mentioned his government's latest ─ and
arguably most significant ─ reform achievement: the passage of a key
amendment that clears the way for the introduction of a Goods and
Services Tax (GST) next year.
He said only that the GST
would “give strength” to the economy, while thanking opposition parties
that, after a drawn-out battle, had come on board to pass the amendment
unanimously through both houses of parliament.
The GST
would unite India's $2 trillion economy and 1.3 billion people into a
single market for the first time and, its backers say, boost economic
growth and job creation that Modi needs to win a second term at the 2019
general election.
The tradition of delivering the
annual address from the steps of the 17th-century Red Fort from where
Mughal kings ruled Delhi for two centuries dates back to Jawaharlal
Nehru's historic “tryst with destiny” speech of 1947.
Modi,
despite a barnstorming campaign that carried him to the biggest
electoral landslide in three decades in 2014, has so far failed to touch
the rhetorical heights achieved by India's first prime minister.
But,
sporting a red, pink and yellow turban, he did indulge in some
trademark wordplay to say that India was moving from “swaraj”, or self
rule in Hindi, to “suraj”, or good governance.
"One society, one dream, one resolution, one destiny ─ we proceed in this direction," he said.
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