Dr Manmohan Singh pays homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 75th birth anniversary. Rajiv's birthday is also celebrated as Sadbhavna Diwas.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said "unpleasant trends" of growing intolerance, communal polarisation, and incidents of violent crimes propelled by hatred of certain groups will damage our polity. Remembering former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 75th birth anniversary, he said these trends are repugnant to promotion of peace, national integration and communal harmony, which are cherished objectives enshrined in our Constitution.
"All of us need to reflect on how we can contribute to arresting these trends," Dr Singh said.
Recalling Rajiv Gandhi's words, Singh said, "Nothing is more important than the unity and integrity of our nation. India is indivisible. Secularism is the bedrock of our nationhood. It implies more than tolerance. It involves an active effort for harmony."
"No religion preaches hatred and intolerance. Vested interests, both external and internal, are inciting and exploiting communal passions and violence to divide India," he said.
Singh said another cause for solemn reflection today is some "disturbing trends" that our country has been witnessing over past few years.
"These unpleasant trends of growing intolerance, communal polarisation, growing incidents of violent crimes propelled by hatred of certain groups and of mobs taking the law in their own hands can only damage our polity," the former prime minister said.
He was speaking at an event by the Rajiv Youth Foundation and presented the 'Rajiv Gandhi Janma Pancha Sapthathi Puraskar' to prominent personalities and organisations who have made valuable contributions to the society for the last one decade.
Congress Party also tweeted full text of Dr Manmohan Singh's speech on Rajiv Gandhi's birthday.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to former premier Rajiv Gandhi.
"Tributes to our former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi on his birth anniversary," Modi tweeted.
The Congress observes the day as 'Sadbhavna Divas'. Gandhi was born on this day in 1944 in Mumbai.
(PTI Inputs)
