Abhinandan meaning now changed, such is India’s power, says PM Modi

At a separate event, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley took on those who enquired which Balakot the IAF had hit, after the strikes deep into Pakistan had been revealed.

Hours after Pakistan released Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the word ‘Abhinandan’ used to mean congratulations, but its meaning will change now. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met Abhinandan and his family at a hospital in Delhi.

Addressing the inaugural session of Construction Technology India Event-2019 on Saturday, the PM said, “Take it for a fact, the world watches carefully what India does… The country has the strength to change the meaning of words in the dictionary. Abhinandan once used to mean congratulations in English and now the meaning of Abhinandan will change. This is the strength in this country,” he said, amid applause by the audience. The country has to move ahead with “valour”, the PM added.

The official twitter handle of the Defence Ministry spokesperson tweeted, “@DefenceMinIndia meets the #AirWarrior #AbhinandanVarthaman at his hospital room in Delhi to convey the sentiment of the Nation. Appreciates his impeccable combat skills as well as calmness in adversity. Interacts with the family and the hospital staff too.”

The Defence Ministry spokesperson also tweeted the photographs of Sitharaman meeting Abhinandan and his family. At a separate event, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley took on those who enquired which Balakot the IAF had hit, after the strikes deep into Pakistan had been revealed.

Jaitley was speaking at the release of a book titled ‘Mann Ki Baat — A Social Revolution on Radio’, based on the 50 episodes of Modi interacting with people on All India Radio.

Commenting on social media, the minister said it could be both used and misused. “When our Air Force reached Balakot in KPK, then before collecting any information, some people started saying Balakot is along the LoC. And some people — whom I call compulsive contrarians — they found a new Balakot and did not check that this particular Balakot is not across the LoC but in our own Poonch. Why would our force attack our places? So, these are aberrations in social media.”

Jaitley recalled that former PM late Atal Bihari Vajpayee always carried a small transistor to get news. “Because news of that (transistor) is not like today’s one-time agenda setting news,” Jaitley said.

Private TV channels that had started in the mid-90s are competing to set the agenda, he added. “The conventional role of media was to report and express opinion on the editorial page. But, (now) we will not report the agenda of the country but we will set it. After this journey started, we have to search with remote where we will get the news.”

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