Mathura, September11 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi said here on Wednesday that it was unfortunate that some people feel that the country would get back to the 16th century no sooner than they hear words ‘Om’ and ‘cow’.

Speaking at the launch of the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ Programme 2019, National Animal Disease Control Programme, and National Artificial Insemination Programme at Mathura, Modi exclaimed, “ ... Such a knowledge! ... Those who are bent upon destroying the nation have left no stone unturned ...”.

PRIME Minister Mr. Narendra Modi’s sense of disgust came to fore in those few words. Those few words also highlighted how some sections of Indian people -- always driven by political vested interests -- have tried to malign even innocent and truly non-partisan developmental programmes by attributing to those some dirty names that actually are senseless. Mr. Narendra Modi has often blasted such tendencies of some elements trying to spoil good thought and good action. He has often hit at the elements that never miss a chance to say about him and his Government all sorts of wrong things that actually bring a bad name to the country totally unnecessarily.

Chowkidar Chor Hai by Congress leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi was one such attempt. His latest statements about Kashmir, too, were in the same category, giving Pakistan good enough fodder to use against India at the recent United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) convention at Geneva. The opposition of some people to Vande Mataram, Surya Namaskar, or to Yog, or Bhagvad Geeta also can be listed in that category. These are examples of how some elements are all the time willing to go extra distance to distort public discourse by raising non-issues that actually are totally innocent.

Most unfortunately, all such distortions have been products of a politically-driven, perverse thought-process aimed deliberately at deflecting the national discourse to a wrong direction.

But the fortunate aspect of all such efforts is that all of these have come unstuck over time. Another welcome aspect is that the electorate in general has opposed any such distortions, leading to the fall of many a nationally-known leader from popular grace. Over time, the common Indian people have engaged themselves in a slow, not easily recognisable but unmistakable process of rejecting this distorted narrative. In election after election in the past twenty-odd years, voters have demonstrated the tendency to reject the distortions by not casting their franchise for the agents of unholy, unhealthy disruption in an otherwise smooth flow of social thought.

The Prime Minister is fully aware of this social change coming over the larger Indian society. In fact, he has been at the forefront of change in this regard for the past twenty-odd years. Slowly, the Indian electorate has responded wisely to the call to sanity and dignity. Initially, the change was imperceptible. But for the past some years, it has become clearly visible from any and every possible angle.

That the so-called left-of-the-centre camp did not notice this change coming over, is quite another story. The reason was not far to seek: Most elements that ruled the roost for several decades did not realise in their drunkenness of power that the people had begun seeing and sensing their bluff. They did not ever sense the first subtle and then open change in the voters’ attitude.

That slow but sure change proved one fact -- you can fool some people for all the time, all the people for some time, but not all the people for all the time. True, this change has become visible now, but for the naysayers, it is too late in the day.

They also did not notice that in the past some years, a wave was sweeping across India’s cultural and social landscape in favour of thought based on ancient Indian wisdom. Our Prime Minister talks of Vedanta openly from every possible internal and international platform, quotes from the Upanishads, shares stories from India’s ancient scriptures, and nobody misunderstands him as a fundamentalist or obscurantist, to say the least. The Prime Minister -- and many others in that league -- talks openly about how Bhagvad Geeta is as relevant today as it was five thousand years ago when Lord Krishna shared the wisdom with Arjun. And as Mr. Modi does it, the world applauds, rises and offers him standing ovations on platforms across the world.

Yes, there may still be some elements that fear that talking about ‘Om’ or ‘cow’ may take the country back to the 16th century, and the Prime Minister refers to those elements -- in sheer disgust. No matter his expression of disgust, the Prime Minister appears convinced in some more time, all those who oppose ancient wisdom will covert to correct thought.

Of course, let us not build castles in the air at this stage that ancient Indian wisdom will become the order of the day in these chaotic modern times tomorrow morning. But then, in a pluralistic, democratic society, such kinks and knots and warts do come up to impede the flow of healthy thought-process, and have to be countered with patience and persistence.

It is obvious that the Prime Minister is aware of this process as well. That is why he is all the time trying to build a healthy argument to convince the people that taking lessons from history, learning from the past to live in the present and build a great future is a process no civilisation can afford to ignore. The question is not just about ‘Om’ or ‘cow’; it is about an ignorant tendency to see a red herring every time those and similar words are used.