Modi Urges Indians To Identify And Defeat Their Nation’s Enemies

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used a Vijayadashami address in the capital on Tuesday to call on Indians to identify and defeat what he described as the enemies of the nation, and to urge every political party and institution to stand together in the national interest

Image Source: @narendramodi on X

Those who attacked the honour and dignity of the country, who divided society and who harboured hatred towards Indian culture were enemies of the nation, Modi said, according to an English rendering of his remarks issued by his office. He asked his audience to renew a pledge of Nation First and said India should unite against such forces.

He cited a Vedic invocation calling for shared thoughts and shared councils, and said all institutions of the nation and all political parties should stand together where the national interest was concerned.

The address made no reference to the protests that have run since early October over the Election Commission’s nationwide revision of electoral rolls, to the demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner, or to the detentions and court proceedings that have followed. Four days earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Lucknow that some sought a change of government on the Bangladeshi model and were making young people instruments of anarchic politics. 

Most of the speech was given to the figure of Rama, whose victory over the demon king Ravana the festival marks across northern, central and western India. Modi said Rama had never abandoned the path of truth through exile or kingship, had embraced the forest chieftain Nishadraj and honoured the ascetic Shabari, and had set standards of compassion and harmony.

He described Ram Rajya, Rama’s reign at Ayodhya, as a continuing benchmark for government: a system without discrimination, with justice and equal opportunity for all, in which the purpose of power was service rather than rule. Citing the sixteenth-century poet Tulsidas, he said the people should be regarded as divine and that the welfare of the poor placed above all else, under what he called a Citizen First approach.

Vijaya Dashami celebrates the victory of good over evil. It reminds us of the enduring strength of truth and righteousness. https://t.co/jJSlQdNhu2

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 20, 2026

Modi drew a second lesson on self-reliance. India should not wait for others in a crisis, he said, but recognise its own strength, trust its own resources and turn resolve into capability, pointing to Rama’s mobilising of popular support to cross the sea to Lanka. He linked this to the government’s stated goals of a developed and self-reliant India.

On heritage, he said more than 650 ancient idols had been returned to India over the past twelve years after centuries in which the country’s treasures were taken abroad, and that several Indian sites had recently been added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list. He said Diwali had been included last year on UNESCO’s list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

He closed by invoking the themes of the consecration ceremony at the Ayodhya temple, which he summarised as a movement from Rama to the nation and from divinity to national duty.