Previous govts compromised national security for politics: PM Modi

Gandhinagar: Underlining the dangers posed by illegal immigration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked the nation to reaffirm its resolve to remove every infiltrator residing in India. "For decades, illegal infiltrators kept on coming into the country and seizing resources meant for citizens, disrupting demographic balance, and jeopardising national unity, but the old governments kept their eyes shut on this huge problem," Modi said, adding that national security was deliberately compromised for vote-bank politics.

Addressing the national celebrations on the occasion of Sardar Patel's 150th birth anniversary at the Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar, he said, "Now the country has for the first time decided to fight a decisive battle against the threat." Now, when the issue is being raised seriously, some individuals are prioritizing personal interests over national welfare, Modi alleged, adding that these people are engaged in political battles to grant rights to infiltrators. Mounting a scathing attack on Congress, he said that it is ironic that after Independence, those who were entrusted with responsibility by the nation, tried to kill the very spirit of 'We, the People.'"

"We all know what happened to Sardar Patel and his legacy under Congress governments," Modi said, adding leaders like Mabedkar and Subhash Chandra Bose, Dr Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan too suffered the same fate."This year marks 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Attacks and conspiracies have been directed against the Sangh too," Modi said.

Modi said that while the young generation may not know that Sardar Patel wanted to integrate the whole of Kashmir into India as well, just the way other princely states were integrated. But Nehru did not allow his wish to be fulfilled. Kashmir was divided - given a separate constitution and a separate flag. Modi said that it was because of Congress's mistake that Kashmir burned the nation for decades.