Narendra Modi tells youths that Indians can't litter and then say 'Vande Mataram'; West Bengal skips telecast

Even as West Bengal refused to telecast his speech in the state’s universities viewing it as a ‘saffronisation’ attempt, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday made a strong pitch for Clean India mission, and said that it was the sanitation workers than deserved to say Vande Mantaram.

“Before 2001, the world didn’t know the significance of 9/11. It wasn’t the world’s fault; it was our fault, that we had forgotten it,” Modi said. He was talking about Swami Vivekandanda, whose lecture in Chicago completed 125 years on Monday.

Lauding the intellectual leader’s spirit of never bowing down to pressure, the prime minister said, “By saying ‘brothers and sisters of America’ in his address, Vivekananda introduced India to the world.”

Modi was addressing a student leaders’ convention on the theme of ‘Young lndia, New India - A Resurgent Nation: from Sankalp to Sidhhi’ in New Delhi on the occasion of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s centenary celebration and 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s address at the Chicago World Parliament of Religions.

Modi urged the youth to follow Vivekananda, a strong believer in jan seva prabhu seva (public service is equal to serving god). “In my country, I want to ask the youth, do we respect women? Do we see them with respect? The ones who do, I would appreciate them hundred times. But those who don’t see human inside a woman, they don’t deserve to clap on Vivekananda’s ‘brothers and sisters of America’,” he said.

He added, “Both Rabindranath Tagore and Vivekandanda were Bengal’s children. On my international visits, I feel proud to say Tagore wrote national anthems for Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India. Do we take pride in this?”

Pointing out that there were 800 million Indians who were younger than 30 years of age, Modi mentioned that Vivekananda was about that age during his Chicago speech. “About 120 years ago, this man gave birth to Ram Krishna Mission. Baat chhoti hoti hai magar akalmand ko ishara kafi hota hai (The issue is small but a hint is enough for the wise). The way mission was born, there is no dilusion or diversion. How strong would the foundation be, clear the vision and action plan would be, that even after 120 years, the mission is going on the same way,” he said.

“When it was Vivekananda’s 9/11 speech’s centenary, I was there in Chicago. Has anybody thought in this world that a lecture would have anniversary? They were just a few moments but are still alive today and have the ability to stay alive for long, " he said.

Modi also urged Indians to play an active role in Swachh Bharat mission. “Do we deserve to say Vande Mataram? I know I will offend many people, but think 50 times whether we deserve to say it. Do we eat paan and spit on our mother land, and then say Vande Mataram? If there is anybody who deserves to say it with pride, it is the one who cleans; those are India’s true children. And that’s why we should think that whether we clean or not, we don’t have the right to litter.”

The prime minister mentioned how water bodies like ganga continued to get polluted because of mutual ignorance. “Ganga might wash your impurities, but are we stopped from polluting its water? We think we are healthy because of good hospitals, good doctors, but that’s is not the case. We are healthy because of a sanitation worker,” he said.

“I remember saying once pehle shauchayala phir devalaya (first toilet, then temple), and receiving flak for it. But today, I know there are women who won’t marry into homes without toilet,” he added.

He urged the citizens to change their mindset when it came to India. “If we go to a clean place, we feel that it’s not like India. How often does that happen to us?” he said.

Pitching for a youth-driven India, Modi said, “There is no life without creativity. The human beneath us to always stay inspired. But he should do things in the benefits of the nation,” he added.

#WATCH: Do we have the right to chant 'Vande Mataram' if we litter our country? asks Prime Minister Narendra Modi pic.twitter.com/dydAlxwPuU

— ANI (@ANI) September 11, 2017

University Grants Commission (UGC) had asked all the vice chancellors of universities and heads of higher educational institutions to “provide opportunity and facility to the teachers and students to view” Modi’s address, which did not go down well with West Bengal.

“This is a clear attempt to saffronise education. They are taking decisions on their own without consulting us,” West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee said.

The state refused to telecast Modi’s speech across universities in state.

“We did not get any directive so we will not give any instructions to universities and the idea that state-run varsities will follow through the Centre’s directive without consulting us, is wrong,” Chatterjee had said.

With inputs from IANS