‘Coming to you feels like family’: PM Modi at Dawoodi Bohra community event
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday recalled the decades-old bond he shared with the Dawoodi Bohra community, saying that he was visiting the campus of the Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy “not as the PM” but as a “family member”.
PM Modi made the remarks after inaugurating the fourth campus of Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah Arabic Academy, premier educational institute of the Dawoodi Bohra community, in Marol.
“Coming to you all feels like coming to a family. I saw your video today. I have a complaint. You repeatedly said prime minister or chief minister. I am your family member, am neither a prime minister here nor a chief minister. I consider myself fortunate that I have something that few have. I have been connected to this family for 4 generations. All 4 generations have visited my home,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister also hailed the community and said that they always proved itself true to the test of change and development over time.
“On the parameters of change with time and development, Dawoodi Bohra community has always proven itself. Today, the expansion of important educational institutions like Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah is a living example of the same,” he said. Along with PM Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were also present at the event.
He also said that the Centre has brought major change in education by creating opportunities to learn in mother tongue.
“The British introduced English as medium of instruction for education and we continue to bear the burden. This has led to many lag behind in education, especially those from underprivileged background. Now we are making available coveted engineering and medical education too in multiple local languages,” PM Modi said.
“In past eight years, record-breaking number of universities have opened up in India. We are working to start one medical college per district. Every week we see one University and two colleges taking shape. This speed shows how India is creating encouraging environment for its young generation,’ he added.
Before inaugurating the new campus, PM Modi flagged off two Vande Bharat Express trains – Mumbai-Shirdi and Mumbai to Solapur – in Mumbai.
