All religions equal for India, Rajnath Singh says at NCC Republic Day camp; calls Pakistan and US 'theocratic' countries

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said Indian values consider all religions equal and is secular, unlike Pakistan which became a theocratic state. [caption id=“attachment_7940861” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rajnath Singh at the NCC Republic Day Camp. ANI[/caption] Singh was at a NCC Republic Day camp in Delhi, where he said, “We (India) said we would not discriminate among religions. Why did we do that? Our neighbouring country has declared that their state has a religion. They have declared themselves a theocratic state. We didn’t declare so.” “Even America is a theocratic country. India is not a theocratic country. Why? Because our saints and seers did not just consider the people living within our borders as part of the family, but called everyone living in the world as one family,” the minister said. Singh underlined that India had never declared its religion would be Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist and people of all religions could live here. “They gave the slogan of ‘Vasudev Kutumbakam’ – the whole world is one family. This message has gone to the whole world from here,” he added. Speaking at the camp, Rajnath said that the children of Jammu and Kashmir are nationalists, but they are sometimes motivated in the wrong direction. His comments come days after Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said girls and boys, as young as 10 and 12 years, were being radicalised in Kashmir, adding that it was a matter of concern. “The kids of Jammu and Kashmir are nationalists. They shouldn’t be seen in any other way,” Singh said when asked about his opinion on kids in the state who are being motivated to join the National Cadet Corps. “Youngsters are youngsters only. Sometimes, the way they should be motivated, people do not motivate them. In fact, they are motivated in the wrong direction. That is why the kids should not be blamed for this. The ones who are wrongly motivating them should be blamed. The ones who are motivating them in wrong direction are the culprits,” the defence minister added.