Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday hit out at critics who argue that the mention of words 'Om' and 'cow' takes India centuries back, saying they are hell-bent on damaging the country.
The Opposition slammed Modi for the remark, asking him to talk about the economy instead and get alarmed when people are killed in the name of the cow.
Modi took a jibe at unnamed critics as he launched a nationwide programme in Mathura to save livestock from the foot and mouth disease, delivering 600 million vaccine shots to farm animals over the next several years.
Beginning with Radhey, Radhey, a customary greeting in the Brajbhoomi' around Mathura, Modi promoted cleanliness, spoke against single-use plastic and invoked the 9/11 attack on America this day 18 years ago to indirectly condemn Pakistan for nurturing terrorism.
"There is a country called Rwanda in Africa. I had gone there. In Rwanda, there is a unique programme, where the government gives cows to villages with the condition that the first female calf born to the cow is taken back and given to those who do not have a cow," he said.
"This way a chain operates. And their endeavour is that in Rwanda every household should have a cow, milk production and animal rearing, which forms the base of the economy. I have myself seen how a network to earn livelihood through a cow has been established there," Modi said.
"But it is unfortunate that in our country the moment the word 'Om' falls on the ears of some people, they get alarmed ('baal khadhe ho jaate hai')," he said, without naming anyone.
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"They also get alarmed by the word 'cow'. They feel as if that the country has gone back to the 16th or the 17th century, he said.
Mocking this gyan (wisdom) of the critics, he said such people are hell-bent on damaging the country.
He wondered whether anyone can imagine an economy without animal husbandry.
"In the life of rural India, animal husbandry is very valuable. Can a family in a village survive without it? But I don't know why some people get an electric shock on hearing the word," Modi said. In Delhi, the Congress said the remarks were any attempt to "divert and digress" from the state of the economy. CPI general secretary D Raja agreed.
"He is saying this at a time when in the name of cow and God, mob lynchings are happening unabated across the country, Raja told PTI.
AIMIM chief Assaduddin Owaisi said people do not just hear 'Om' and 'cow' in India but also the call for prayer from mosques, voices from gurdwaras and bells from churches.
Nationalist Congress Party MP Majeed Memon said Modi is the prime minister of a secular country and he should not refer to religious matters too often.
"He is not a dharma guru, Memon said.
Earlier, Modi said environment and livestock were always at the core of India's economic thought and philosophy.
And hence, be it Swachh Bharat or Jal Jeevan Mission or promoting agriculture and animal husbandry, we always try to maintain a balance between nature and economy."
"There is need for strong action," he said. "India is fully competent to face the challenge. We have shown this and will also show it in future."
"Through that speech, the entire world thoroughly understood the culture and tradition of India. But it is unfortunate that on that very September 11, the 9/11 terrorist attack took place in the US, and it shook the entire world."
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