As the row with the opposition escalates over the screening of a BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question' analyzing his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Prime Minister has warned people against forces that are trying to break the nation by sowing seeds of division in the Indian society.
"Several attempts are being made to break the country. Several issues are being raked up to create divisions among the children of Mother India," he said while addressing the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in New Delhi.
Modi, however, asserted that such designs, aimed at breaking India, will never succeed.
"Despite such efforts, there will never be differences among the people of India. The mantra of unity is the ultimate antidote. The mantra of unity is a pledge as well as India's strength. This is the only way India will achieve grandeur," the prime minister added.
The Indian leader's comments come days after his government faced criticism for banning a controversial BBC series on the Gujarat riots that took place when he was state chief.
Narendra Modi interacts with students during 'Pariksha Pe Charcha'
© Photo : Twitter/@PMOIndia
Despite the ban, student organizations in premier institutions, including the Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi, Hyderabad University, and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai have tried to screen the film on their campuses although local administrators have forbidden them to do so.
Furthermore, the Congress and other opposition parties, including the left-wing outfits in Kerala have been screening it in states where the BJP is not in power.
Last week, India's Foreign Ministry called the BBC series on Modi a "propaganda piece", adding that it reflected a "colonial mindset".
"We think this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative. The bias, the lack of objectivity, and frankly a continuing colonial mindset, is blatantly visible," Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said at a press conference in Delhi.