[caption id="attachment_77858" align="alignnone" width="279"]
Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during Dussehra celebrations at Aishbagh Ram Leela in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. [/caption]
Lucknow, October 11 : In an obvious reference to Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the time had come to uproot terror and those who patronise terrorists.
Addressing a massive Dussehra gathering at the Aishbagh Ram Leela ground here, Modi said terrorism in all forms was anti-humanity and Hindu Lord Rama represented all that was human.
It was the Prime Minister's first public speech after the September 29 surgical strikes by the Indian Army at terror launch pads in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
He made no direct reference to the surgical strikes or to Pakistan that killed an unspecified number of terrorists but made it more than clear which country he had in mind.
"Those who spread terrorism need to be annihilated and those who aid terrorism will not be spared either," Modi said in a speech laced with references to Hindu religion.
Modi said India was a country that respected both Lord Krishna who led the Pandavas in the war of Mahabharata and Mahatma Gandhi who propagated non-violence.
"We are the people who go from yuddha (war) to Buddha (peace). Sometimes war is necessary, but our path is not that of war, but that of Buddha.
"We create balance... I hope the path shown by Buddha will be our final path," he said.
The Prime Minister invoked Ramayana and asked people to keep a vigil against terror and fight it the way the vulture Jatayu fought Ravana in a desperate bid to try rescue the abducted Sita from the demon.
"We may not be able to become Ram, but we can all try and be Jatayu and give a befitting reply to the nefarious designs of terrorists," he said, beginning and ending his speech with loud cries of "Jai Shri Ram, Jai Jai Shri Ram".
"If a country of 1.25 crore keeps an eye on every terrorist activity, terrorists will never succeed," Modi said to loud cheers.
He said decades ago when India discussed terrorism, nobody paid heed.
The BJP veteran recalled how during a visit to the US years ago, American officials argued that terrorism was a law and order problem.
But all this changed after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the US and the 2008 Mumbai carnage that left 166 people dead.
"Terrorism knows no religion, no boundaries."
