The TIME magazine (9th May) has published an article “Narendra Modi – The great divider“ with a tagline that said“ Can the World’s Largest Democracy Endure Another Five Years of a Modi Government?” Taking serious objection to this vicious article BJP Telangana initiated a countrywide protest condemning the TIME Magazine COVER STORY Conspiracy.
The Press Meet in connection with this protest was addressed by Ms Karuna Gopal – BJP leader and Member of BJP National Manifesto Sub Committee.
In her address Ms Karuna Gopal said “This article written by Aatish Tasseer, An UK resident born to a Pakistani Muslim is completely biased against India and its Prime Minister Modi. The author maligned the Prime Minister by saying he is a communal bigot and a divider of India. This character assassination was done presenting information in a lopsided fashion. The contents are vicious and present a false picture on how the nation is being shaped under Modi. This negative article is meant to create communal tensions. As India is in the middle of elections where 900 million voters are set to elect the next government, the timing of this articleI believe is to influence the electoral outcome of 2019 general elections”
Ms Karuna added “let me debunk each of the claims made by the author with facts. The author says Modi is India’s GREAT DIVIDER but I would say Modi is actually India’s GREAT INTEGRATOR. A GREAT HARMONIZER and the GREAT UNIFIER.
Let me take just simple examples to prove this. I will give just one example. Modi Integrated North East into India. What was NE before Modi? The 8 states were neglected, people in those states never felt they were a part of India. Assam was considered one of the 5 most prosperous states at the time of Independence. Wherewas Assam till Modi came to power? PM Modi initiated the ACT EAST POLICY. He focused on Infrastructure development housing and health. He transformed them thru transportation (airports, railway lines and bridges) Telecom and Tourism. In Manipur Dolaithabi barrage that was started by congress in 1987 with an outlay of 19 crore was not finished till now. Modi completed that with an investment of 500 crores. Meghalaya was allocated 90,000 crores, Arunachal Pradesh 44,000 crores. When 18,000 villages across the country were electrified, 5000 of those villages were in North East – Hilly areas, extremism prone areas where shipping of material was difficult. But he managed to electrify those remote villages!
Modi calls the 8 NE states as ‘Ashta Lakshmis’ the 8 goddesses of prosperity and is clear about making them Economic Engines of Growth.The projects that were initiated and never completed by UPA were completed by Modi! Isn’t this Integrating?
Modi as a Unifier – let me give this example. Take any scheme of Modi. Jandhan Yojana (34.03 Crore accounts opened) Mudra loans (6 lakh crore disbursed to 12 crore people) Ujjwala scheme (6.26 Cr women have got LPG connections) Housing for All (Over 1.53 crore houses built since 2014) Ayushman Bharat (Over 1.04 Crore beneficiary e-cards generated & 10 lakh beneficiaries received free treatment worth ₹1,300 crore), Swachhbharat (9.7 crore toilets) etc.
None of these schemes differentiated between Muslims, Hindus and other Minorities. Lakhs of Muslims, Christians, Dalits have benefitted from these schemes. Can anyone dare say that only Hindus were given houses, loans and toilets? No beneficiary was discriminated against because of their religion or caste!
Ms Karuna Continued saying, out of 9.7 crore toilets constructed don’t you think a few lakhs were for Muslims and Christians? In northeast several Christians benefitted from PMAY (housing for all), in Maharashtra the largest beneficiary group of Ayushman Bharat are Muslims … what is Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment plan? It’s for Muslims! Triple Talaq is for Muslim women! Women in kitchens using LPG cylinders provided by Modi belong to all groups – poor Brahmins, poor Muslims and poor Christians and other minorities. Is not this Integrating?
In the last 70 years of congress rule ‘Garibi Hatao’ was a slogan and Muslims were used as a vote bank. Have you seen any development? “
She added “Thanks to Modi’s vision safety and security, we are able to sleep peacefully. No riots or terror attacks in the last 5 yrs. It’s because of his foreign policy and action against terrorism, Indians have united in a sense of comfort – all Indians are enveloped in this blanket of safety. Is not this Harmonizing? All the International awards showered on Modi especially by Muslim countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia and Christian Countries like USA, France is a testimony to his religious tolerance. It’s under Modi the country’s GDP is growing. When countries applaud his approach and ways who are these third grade authors and USA publication to insult the Prime Minister of the largest democracy?
We wish to condemn this TIME MAGAZINE BY TEARING IT AND TORCHING. I have received support from thousands of citizens across the country to expose their bias and take them to court. My next step is a PIL against the magazine in supreme court of India “
Ms Karuna concluded that “we want to show to the world how PM Modi is being in fact perceived today – As India’s greatest INTEGRATOR, HARMONIZER and UNIFIER”
