PM Modi at Somnath temple in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district on Sunday

AHMEDABAD/RAJKOT: India must remain vigilant against "merchants of appeasement" who are still active and hatching conspiracies to divide the country, PM Modi said Sunday while projecting Gujarat's ancient Somnath temple as a model of resistance to what he termed "religious terrorism". PM Modi carried the broader theme of resilience to the Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference in Rajkot, where he assured investors that the country offers "extraordinary certainty" amid global turbulence. At a rally in Somnath, where the shrine was rebuilt over centuries of pillage by invaders, the PM accused unnamed historians and politicians of obfuscating what had happened. "Those with a mindset of religious extremism tried to disguise religious terrorism as merely motivated by wealth.

They even wrote books to conceal the cruel history of hatred, atrocities and terrorism," he said.PM Modi: In face of great global uncertainty, India stands outPM Modi said the temple’s history was inseparable from the valour of protectors like Raval Kanhardev, Veer Hamirji and Vegda Bhil, who never received due recognition for thwarting a succession of attempts to destroy the shrine. “There are no parallels anywhere in the world to Somnath’s retaliation against religious terrorism.”

Harking back to how Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel faced hurdles after pledging to renovate Somnath and objections by some quarters to former President Rajendra Prasad’s 1951 temple visit, the PM said the “same forces” continue to pursue that agenda. “Only their methods have changed. In place of swords, they are now using vile means against India,” he said. In Rajkot, 200km from Somnath, PM Modi cited recent assessments by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and rating agencies S&P and Fitch as evidence of rising global confidence in India’s economy.

S&P upgraded India’s rating outlook after 18 years, he said, while IMF has described the country as the engine of global growth. “In the face of great global uncertainty, India today stands out,” PM Modi said. “There’s political stability, continuity in policy, and the rapid expansion of the neo-middle class with rising purchasing power.” The PM pointed to sectoral shifts, saying that from importing nine of every 10 mobile phones in 2014, India now ranks second globally in manufacturing handsets.

The country has also become the largest consumer of mobile data and hosts the world’s largest real-time digital payments platform through UPI, he said. It has the third-largest startup ecosystem, ranks among the top three in solar power generation and has emerged as the third-largest aviation market, PM Modi said. “This Reform Express won’t halt,” PM Modi said before reprising his Red Fort punchline, “Yehi samay hai, sahi samay hai (This time is the right time).

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