PM Singh appeals against religious divisions

The onslaught on Christians, series of bomb blasts, arrests of Hindu fundamentalists and several other controversial issues have led to "peace call" by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who on Friday urged Indians to reject centuries of ethnic and religious divisions.

Warning it could to lead to politicians cause division and hurt in the country, he said, "Competitive politics must not be allowed to divide our people on the basis of religion, caste or region."

"Stop identifying yourself in terms of how the past has shaped you," he said.

"Who looks at our nuclear scientists or space engineers in terms of their narrow social identities or their religious beliefs?" Singh asked the audience.

"Who asks them what their caste is or religion is? Who asks what their language is or region is? We only ask what their achievement is. It is their work that defines them."

The remarks of Singh came as the Congress party has been shocked by the involvement of Hindu fundamentalists in a series of bomb blasts that began last year.

This however has angered the Bharatiya Janata Party who went frenzy over the term "Hindu terrorism" and said, it is against violence and never encourages its members to take up arms against the people.

Singh enumerated education, health care and poverty eradication as the challenges before India urging people to avoid "extremist ideologies, political or economic."

He warned the world was watching India's efforts to rid itself of "chronic poverty, ignorance and disease within the framework of a democratic polity".

India's success in improving the lives of its billion-plus population "as a liberal and plural democracy, a free society and a free economy, will provide hope for millions around the world", he said.

"The idea of India, based on the rejection of extremes, respect for diversity and pluralism and the acceptance of the middle path, offers new pathways to progress for humanity in distress," he added.

Recently, Prime Minister Singh and his government came under attack for its failure to protect minorities, after news of Orissa violence became an international headline. The PM however has condemned the violence and called it a "national shame".