In democracy there is no place for discrimination on basis of caste, creed, religion or gender: PM Modi at White House

“I am surprised that you said people say India is a democracy. It is indeed a democracy. As President Biden said for both India and America, democracy is in our DNA. The spirit of democracy is within us; it runs in our veins. We live democracy. Our ancestors have put it in words in the form of a Constitution. Our government functions as a democracy on the basis of that Constitution,” Modi said in reply to a question.

He was asked by a reporter about the charge of many human rights groups that his government has discriminated against religious minorities and tried to silence its critics. The journalist questioned him on the steps his government has taken to protect Muslims and other minorities and to uphold free speech.

“I have always said that a democracy can deliver and when I say this, I mean in a democracy there is no place for discrimination on basis of caste, creed, religion or gender. There is absolutely no place for discrimination. If there are no human values, no humanity, no human rights then it is not a democracy. When we say we are a democracy, there is no space for discrimination (in it),” Modi said.

“We believe in moving ahead with trust. Those entitled to government benefits have access to it without any discrimination on caste, religion, region, age. We are moving ahead with sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas, sabka prayas,” the PM said.

President Biden was also asked this question about the rights of minorities in India and whether it had come up for discussion between him and Prime Minister Modi. “Prime Minister Modi and I had a good discussion about democratic values and that is the nature of our relationship that we are straight forward with each other… It is in America’s DNA and I believe in India’s DNA… The whole world has a stake in our success and in maintaining our democracies…,” Biden said.