New Delhi | Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who presently sitting in meditation at Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday highlighted Swami Vivekananda's quote where he said he "pitied" those who dream of "exclusive survival" of their own religion.
In a post on X, Yechury asked if Modi is aware of the concluding words of Swami Vivekananda at the final session of World's Parliament of Religions.
Vivekananda, a Hindu monk, philosopher and disciple of mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa, made his iconic speech at Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago between September 11-27, 1893.
"Is Modi aware of these concluding words of Swami Vivekananda at the final session of the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago on 27 September 1893?" Yechury said, and shared a quotation from his famous speech.
"If anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: ‘Help and not Fight', ‘Assimilation and not Destruction', ‘Harmony and Peace and not Dissension',” he quoted Vivekananda's speech.
The CPI(M), and other opposition parties have slammed the remarks made by Modi and other BJP leaders during campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, for which the last phase of voting will take place on Saturday.
The Left party has filed a number of complaints against Modi and other BJP leaders for violation of the Model Code of Conduct, including those related to his speech in Banswara in Rajasthan.
While addressing a rally in Banswara on April 21, Modi had suggested that if the Congress comes to power, it would "redistribute" wealth to Muslims.
Modi began his 45-hour long meditation at the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial here on Thursday evening.
After arriving from nearby Thiruvananthapuram by a helicopter, Modi worshipped at the Bhagavathi Amman temple and reached the rock memorial by a ferry service and started meditation that is scheduled to go on till June 1.
