Commitment to equity is not appeasement: PM

New Delhi, Jan 23: Asserting that commitment to equity is not appeasement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had far back in 1938 advocated that all minority communities be allowed their due space in cultural as well as governmental affairs.

Netaji, who was the President of the Indian National Congress then, was in favour of guaranteeing rights to all citizens in the process of nation building. ''But at the same time he stressed on taking special measures for minorities and other disadvantaged sections of society,'' Dr Singh said in his address at the celebrations of the 110th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter.

These views testified to Netaji's humanism and commitment to egalitarian values. ''A commitment to equity is not appeasement. It is a mark of one's commitment to humanism,'' said the Prime Minister, who had kicked up a controversy by his remarks on minorities at a recent meeting of the National Development Council (NDC).

Dr Singh had, at the NDC meet to finalise the Eleventh Plan (2007-12), wanted the minorities and SC/ST communities to have a first go at the resources.

The Prime Minister said the vision of Netaji had also immense relevance for the 21st century and for ''our fight against the forces of communalism, terrorism and extremism.'' In celebrating Netaji's birth anniversary, the country was also celebrating the ideas and principles associated with him and the national movement for freedom. ''We recall his extraordinary courage as the Supreme Commander of the Indian National Army, but we also recall his constructive approach to nation building,'' Dr Singh said.

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, the Prime Minister said the greatest lesson that ''we can draw from Netaji's life is the way in which he infused the spirit of unity amongst his men so that they could rise above all religions and provincial barriers and shed together their blood for common cause.'' ''It is this spirit that is required today to take our country forward. To help us pursue a more inclusive and equitable path to social, economic progess,'' he said.

UNI