Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing during three years long Centenary Celebration of Sri Gaudiya Math and Mission in Kolkata on Sunday. (PTI Photo) Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing during three years long Centenary Celebration of Sri Gaudiya Math and Mission in Kolkata on Sunday. (PTI Photo)

PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi Saturday inaugurated the three-year-long centenary celebrations of Sri Gaudiya Math and Mission at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata before leaving for his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

Though no official meeting took place between the PM and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the latter came to the airport to see him off. During a brief exchange of greetings, Mamata asked Modi to “apolitically” look into the ongoing protests in Cooch Behar and deal with the matter as urgently as possible, a source close to the CM said.

Earlier, during the inauguration programme, Modi said it is the “spiritual consciousness and not communities” that has kept the country intact in spite of witnessing several attacks. “We are not people bound by communities. Communities come and go with time, but we are bound by an unbreakable bond of spirituality. This is what provides us strength,” he said.

The PM referred to the Bhakti movement, which he said acted as the foundation for the country’s freedom struggle as the movement brought out of people an inherent quality to stand up and fight against evil forces.

“If we see India’s freedom struggle, many great personalities who fought for the country’s freedom come to mind. No one can belittle their sacrifices. But we cannot forget that the Bhakti movement formed the foundation of the country’s freedom struggle,” Modi said. He recalled the contributions of Sri Chaitanya, Sri Shankar Dev and Thiruvalluvar in cleansing the society of evils.

“Bharat has faced several external attacks over centuries, but its spiritual basis could not be dented,” the PM said. Noting that issue of corruption existed even 400 years ago, Modi said people’s representatives should first care for the masses and not allow any kind of haughtiness to grow within them. Citing a bhajan, he said the language does not matter but it’s the emotion contained within it that inspires people.

“Bad things come up within the society at times and forces also come up from within to fight against such forces,” the PM said, while alluding to personalities like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar during the Bengal Renaissance period.

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