Govt to fete nation's martyrs: PM

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the launch of the "Meri Mati Mera Desh" campaign in the run-up to Independence Day to honour the martyred bravehearts of the country, with special inscriptions to be installed in panchayats in their memory. In his monthly radio address "Mann Ki Baat", the Prime Minister said that "Amrit Kalash Yatra" will be organised under the campaign and 7,500 pots carrying soil from different corners of the country will be brought to the national capital along with saplings.

"The Meri Mati Mera Desh campaign will be launched to honour our martyred brave men and women. Under this, many programmes will be organised across the country in the memory of our immortal martyrs. In the memory of these luminaries, special inscriptions will also be installed in lakhs of village panchayats throughout the country," the Prime Minister said.

Mr Modi said that under this campaign, the Amrit Kalash Yatra will also be organised across the country. "This yatra will also carry with it saplings from different parts of the country. 'Amrit Vatika' will be built near the National War Memorial by fusing the soil and saplings that will arrive in 7,500 urns. This Amrit Vatika will also become a grand symbol of 'Ek Bharat Shresth Bharat'," he said.

Noting that the whole country came together for the "Har Ghar Tiranga" campaign last year, the Prime Minister urged people to continue with the tradition of hoisting the tricolour at their houses this time too.

"With these efforts, we will realise our duties... We will realise the innumerable sacrifices made for the freedom of the country; we will realise the value of freedom. Hence, every countryman must join in these efforts," the Prime Minister said.

In his monthly radio address, Mr Modi mentioned that over 4,000 Muslim women performed Haj this year without "mehram".

"This journey of theirs is special in many ways. These are the women who have performed Haj without any male companion or mehram and the number is not 50 or 100, but more than 4,000. This is a huge transformation," he said, adding that he has received a large number of letters this time from the Muslim women who have recently returned from the Haj pilgrimage.

"Earlier, Muslim women were not allowed to perform Haj without mehram. Through Mann Ki Baat, I also express my heartfelt gratitude to the government of Saudi Arabia. Women coordinators were specially appointed for women going on Haj without mehram."

The Prime Minister also spoke about the rising numbers of pilgrims to different holy places and said this is the result of "our collective cultural awakening". "Now more than 10-crore tourists are reaching Kashi every year. The number of devotees visiting pilgrimage sites in Ayodhya, Mathura and Ujjain is also increasing rapidly. Due to this, lakhs of poor people are getting employment," he said.

Noting that the US recently returned hundreds of rare and ancient artefacts to India, he said that it sparked a lot of debate on social media and the youth displayed a sense of pride about their heritage.

"These artefacts returned to India are 250 to 2,500 years old and are related to different regions of the country. These have been made using terracotta, stone, metal and wood," Mr Modi said.

He shared details of some of the items and noted that many artefacts were returned to the country following his earlier visits to the US in 2016 and 2021 as well. "These efforts will increase awareness to stop the theft of our cultural heritage and will further deepen the attachment of our countrymen to our rich heritage," the Prime Minister said.

Referring to the floods, landslides and other natural calamities hitting different parts of the country during the monsoon season, he said people suffered in many places.

"Amid natural calamities, the people of the country also again brought to the fore the power of collective effort," the Prime Minister said.

Mr Modi further pointed out that it was encouraging to see people make novel efforts for water conservation at many places and cited the record plantation of 30-crore saplings in a day in Uttar Pradesh, calling it an example of public participation and awareness.

The Prime Minister also talked about "Amrit Sarovars" in his monthly address. "More than 60,000 Amrit Sarovars built during the Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav are increasingly radiating their glow. Presently, the work of building more than 50,000 Amrit Sarovars is going on," he said.

Lauding efforts against the use of drugs, he said the increasing participation of youth in such campaigns is encouraging. "If we want to save the future generations of the country, we have to keep them away from drugs," he said, noting that the "Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan" was launched on August 15, 2020, with this idea.

"More than 11-crore people have connected with this campaign. India has created a unique record of destroying 10-lakh kg of drugs worth over '12,000 crores," he added.