'Forces with colonial mindset disrupting India's growth story'

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India's growth story is being disrupted by forces with a colonial mindset, including in the name of freedom of expression.

Addressing a Constitution Day event organised by the Supreme Court, he said a colonial mindset still exists, years after the end of colonialism, and these forces are putting obstacles in the path of growth of the developing nations.

Modi said today, there is no country in the world that exists as a colony of another, but that does not mean that the colonial mindset is a thing of the past too.

"We are seeing that this mindset is giving rise to many distortions. The most obvious example of this is seen in the obstacles faced by us in the development journey of developing countries," he added.

The Prime Minister said efforts are being made to close out the same means, the same path for the developing countries, by which the developed world has reached where it is today.

"We are the only country that is in the process of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement ahead of time and yet, in the name of environment, various pressures are being created on India. All this is the result of a colonial mindset. "But the unfortunate thing is that in our country too, due to such a mindset, obstacles are being put in the path of development, sometimes in the name of freedom of expression and sometimes with the help of something else," he said.

Modi said this colonial mindset is a huge obstacle in further strengthening the determination that was created during the freedom movement.

"We have to remove it. And for this, our biggest strength, our biggest inspiration is our Constitution," he said.

Modi said both the government and the judiciary are born out of the Constitution and hence, they are twins.

The government and the judiciary have come into existence only because of the Constitution, he said, adding that the two complement each other even while being different.

The Prime Minister also underlined the importance of the concept of separation of powers and said there is a need to show collective resolve within the spirit of the Constitution as the common man deserves more than what he has currently.

"On the strong foundation of separation of powers, we have to pave the path of collective responsibility, create a roadmap, determine goals and take the country to its destination," he said.

Modi said "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas" is a powerful manifestation of the Constitution's spirit.

He said a government dedicated to the Constitution does not discriminate when it comes to development and "we have shown that".

"Today, the poorest of the poor are getting the same access to quality infrastructure, which was once limited to resourceful people. Today, the country has as much focus on the development of Ladakh, Andaman and the northeast as it is on metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai," he said.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister tore into the Congress and some other opposition parties saying India is heading towards a kind of crisis in the form of dynastic parties, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, that are run and controlled by the same family for generations to pose the" biggest threat" to a healthy democracy and a concern to people committed to the Constitution.

Without naming anyone, Modi described family-based parties as "party for the family, party by the family" and added, "I don't think I need to say anything more".

He said that more than one person from a family joining a party on the basis of merit and people's blessings does not make a party dynastic, "but a party run by one family generation after generation and the family controlling the entire system of the party is the biggest threat to a healthy democracy".

The Prime Minister said the spirit of the Constitution and every section of it is hurt when political parties lose their democratic character.

"How can the parties which have lost their democratic character protect democracy?" he asked.

As the Prime Minister targeted the opposition parties over their boycott of the event to commemorate the Constitution day at the Central Hall of Parliament, President Ram Nath Kovind said all MPs, whether representing the ruling party or the opposition, are defenders of the dignity of Parliament and competition should not be confused with rivalry. A total of 14 opposition parties including the Congress, the TMC and the DMK gave the event a miss.

Besides the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the other parties who skipped the event were Samajwadi Party (SP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM).