People with 'colonial mindset' blocking India's development in name of 'freedom of expression': PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said people with the "colonial mindset" create obstacles in the path of India's development in the name of "freedom of expression".

Addressing the Constitution Day celebrations organised by the Supreme Court at Vigyan Bhawan, the Prime Minister said: "Today there is no nation in the world that exists as a colony of another nation. But this does not mean that the colonial mindset has ended. This mindset is giving rise to many distortions. We can see a clear example of this in the hurdles cropping up in the development journey of developing nations. Efforts are made to close the means and path for the development of developing nations."

"But it is unfortunate that in our country too, due to such a mentality, obstacles are put in the path of development. Be it in the name of freedom of expression or something else. We are the only country in the process of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement ahead of time. And yet, in the name of the environment, various pressures are created on India. All this is the result of colonial mentality," stated the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Modi said that India's Constitution is the biggest strength and inspiration to counter the colonial mindset. He said that government and the judiciary complement each other as both of them originated from the Constitution.

"Both the government and the judiciary are originated from the Constitution. Hence, both are twins. These two have come into existence only because of the Constitution. So, from a broader perspective, the two complement each other even though they are different," he added.

The Prime Minister said the government has shown that it does not discriminate in development.

"Sabka saath-sabka vikas, sabka vishwas-sabka prayas', this is the most powerful manifestation of the spirit of the Constitution. We have demonstrated that the government dedicated to the Constitution does not discriminate in development," he said.

"Today the poorest of the poor are getting the same access to quality infrastructure, which was once limited to the resourceful people. Today there is as much focus on the development of Ladakh, Andaman, and northeast as it is on metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai," he added.

He said that the Constitution was framed keeping in view dreams of those who dedicated their lives to the country and also the country's traditions of thousands of years.

The country is celebrating Constitution Day on 26 November to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly in 1949.

The observation of Constitution Day started in 2015, based on the vision of the Prime Minister to give due recognition to the significance of this historic date.

(ANI)