Govt, judiciary must work together 'like family': Modi

NEW DELHI: On the occasion of Constitution Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi waded into the controversy over judicial activism and said the government and judiciary must set their differences aside and work towards serving the people.

The Prime Minister said that at this juncture, India's constitutional bodies are faced with a crucial question: "As members of the same family, are we working together to strengthen one another, in support of each other?"

He said that every decision taken by the country's judiciary, legislature and the executive arm affects millions of people and all institutions need to work in tandem for the welfare of the populace.

"Unfortunately we have not been able to remove our internal weaknesses, so many years after independence. We need to think about it at all levels," he said at the valedictory function of Constitution Day celebrations here.

The Prime Minister's introspective remarks came a day after Chief Justice Dipak Misra and minister of state for law and justice P P Chaudhary exchanged barbs over the judiciary's alleged encroachment upon the realm of policymaking.

Playing peacemaker, PM Modi said that both the judiciary and the executive need to work together to achieve the vision of New India by 2022.

"India is a young nation. To strengthen it, all the constitutional bodies will have to come together and work towards it," he said.

The Prime Minister in his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat on Sunday recalled the sacrifices of brave citizens in the Mumbai terror strikes nine years ago, and said terrorism posed a global threat "almost like a daily routine", and stressed it had to be fought unitedly.

Modi said even a few years ago when India talked about the threats of terrorism, not many in the world were ready to take it seriously.

"Now that terrorism is knocking at their doors, every government in the world, those who believe in humanity, governments with faith in democracy, are seeing this as one of the biggest challenges," he said.

Terrorism, the prime minister said, threatened humanity across the world.

"Terrorism has taken an ugly shape and has become a global threat almost as a daily routine... Terrorism has challenged humanity. It is bent upon destroying humanitarian forces. So not only India but all humanitarian forces will have to keep fighting unitedly to defeat the menace of terrorism," he said in his address.

India, Modi stressed, was the land of Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavir, Guru Nanak and Mahatma Gandhi and gave the message of love and non-violence to the world.

Modi said while November 26 was observed as Constitution Day, the nation could not forget that on this day nine years ago, terrorists launched attacks across Mumbai.

"The country remembers and bows to those brave citizens, policemen, security men and each one who lost their lives then. This country can never forget their sacrifice," he said.