Amritsar, Aug 28 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that despite many challenges India is evacuating people from Afghanistan, asserting that if any Indian is in trouble anywhere in the world, the country stands up to help him with all its might.
The prime minister, who was speaking after dedicating to the nation the renovated complex of Jallianwala Bagh memorial in Amritsar through video-link, said that not just people, India has been able to bring back holy scriptures — ‘swaroop’ of Guru Granth Sahib — from Afghanistan.
Citing Gurbani, Modi said that happiness emanates from serving others and understanding their pain.
“So today, if any Indian is in trouble anywhere in the world, then India stands up to help him with all its might. Be it the Corona period or the current crisis of Afghanistan, the world has experienced it continuously. Hundreds of people from Afghanistan are being brought to India under Operation Devi Shakti,” the prime minister said.
India’s complex mission to evacuate its citizens and Afghan partners from Kabul after its takeover by the Taliban has been named ‘Operation Devi Shakti’.
“There are many challenges. The circumstances are difficult but we also have ‘Guru Kripa’ ( blessings of gurus),” he said.
The country has done its utmost to assist those in need in recent years, he said, adding that laws have been made taking inspiration from the teachings of Gurus. “In the past years, the country to discharge this responsibility has worked hard. Keeping the lessons in humanity given by Gurus in the forefront, the country has made new laws for the people who have suffered,” he said, in an apparent reference to the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019.
According to the CAA, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and face religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.
The Prime Minister said that current global conditions underline the importance of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ and underscore the need for ‘Aatmnirbharta and Aatmvishwas’.