NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday upped the ante against those who are allegedly opposing the ‘Swadeshi campaign’ launched by the Centre.While addressing a gathering, Yogi said that some people divide society along caste, regional, and linguistic lines and even continue to break society apart and even oppose initiatives like the Swadeshi campaign.”It is said that when Islam first attacked India, at that time, and even after that, by the year 1100, the Hindu population in India was 60 crore. And when the country gained independence in 1947, the Hindu population was only 30 crore. Tell me, should our population have increased or decreased in these 800-900 years? That means not only did the population decrease, but our agricultural production was also reduced. This population, which declined, was not only killed by invaders but also died of hunger, disease, and all sorts of torture,” Yogi said.”This is how foreign slavery happens. This country was subjected to the same thing. This country was oppressed and exploited… What did India not have? It had everything. But some divided people on the basis of caste, region, language, on the basis of many things. And even today, they operate with the same foreign mentality. They’re dividing society, creating divisions. They’ll point fingers at this Swadeshi campaign in every way. But the Prime Minister’s message is that we should promote whatever is made with the labour of Indian workers and the talent of our youth,” he added.This comes as UP government is set to roll out an extensive campaign to create a positive public mood about the recent changes in GST slabs and to promote Swadeshi products ahead of the festive season.As part of the campaign, public representatives have been asked to make short videos of customers “expressing gratitude to the Prime Minister for making goods more affordable.Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation, stressed on the need for India to be “Atmanirbhar” and urged urged people to buy ‘Made in India’ products.“MSMEs have a big role to play in making India Atmanirbhar. I have huge expectations from MSMEs,” he said.“India’s growth will pick up from this swadeshi mantra. A lot of our day-to-day items are not made in India. We should buy ‘Made in India’ items that have been made with the hard work and toil of our people. Take pride in buying Swadeshi products,” he said.Calling for world-class products, PM Modi said that the products made in India should be able to pass all stringent global tests.He urged all state governments to take forward the ‘Swadhesi abhiyan’ by giving a boost to manufacturing and creating a conducive environment for investment.
