India giving befitting reply to expansionist forces: PM Modi

India has given a befitting response to expansionist forces, infiltrators and those trying to break the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday in Varanasi where he attended Dev Deepawali celebrations and inaugurated infrastructure projects.

For the PM’s visit, 84 ghats on both sides of the Ganga were lit with 1.1 million earthen lamps and ornamental lights to mark the beginning of celebrations for Kartik Purnima.

Modi, who is also the local MP, delivered two speeches through the day, took a boat ride, lit an earthen lamp and ended the day by watching a laser show. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath accompanied him. “Be it attempts of infiltration from across border, the audacity of expansionist forces or conspiracies for attempting to break the nation, India is giving a befitting reply to all,” the PM said at Raj Ghat. Paying tribute to martyrs, he added, “I bow to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives.”

He said that the country lit the lamps of transformation to end the “darkness of poverty, injustice and discrimination” and hailed the return of an old sacred idol from Canada to India.

“Today is another special occasion for Kashi. The idol of Mata Annapurna that was stolen from Kashi more than 100 years ago is now coming back....For us, heritage means the country’s heritage, while for some people, inheritance means their family, their family name, idols and photos of their family,” he said.

Modi hailed Guru Nanak and said the founder of Sikhism was the biggest symbol of reform. “We have seen when changes begin in the interest of the nation and society, voices of unintentional opposition arise. But when the significance of those reforms comes to the fore, everything goes well. This is the lesson we get from the life of Guru Nanak Devji,” he said.

Earlier in the day, while inaugurating a six-lane section of National Highway 19, PM said UP could now be referred to as Express Pradesh because the pace of infrastructure projects had picked up since Yogi Aditynath became the CM in 2017.