PM Narendra Modi Addresses World Sufi Forum: Highlights

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi today addressed the inauguration of the World Sufi Forum in Delhi.

Here are the highlights of his speech:

• Welcome to a land that is a timeless fountain of peace and an ancient source of traditions and faiths
• I welcome all of you to the land that believes in 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' 
• Welcome to the ancient city of Delhi. The city that has place for every faith from those with few followers to those with billions believers
• At a time when the dark shadow of violence is becoming longer, you (Sufi scholars) are the noor or the light of hope
• When young laughter is silenced by guns on the streets, you are the voice that heals
• In a world that struggles to assembly for peace and justice, this is an assembly of those whose light itself is a message of peace tolerance and love
• You represent the rich diversity of Islamic civilisation that stands on the solid bedrock of a great religion
• It is a civilisation that reached great heights in 15th century in science medicine literature art architecture and commerce
• For the Sufis, service to God meant service to humanity
• Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya said almighty holds dear to those who love for him for the sake of human beings and those who love human beings for the sake of almighty
• This is the message of oneness and humanity of all creations
• Sufism is the celebration of diversity and pluralism.
• Sufism blossomed in India's openness and pluralism. It engaged with her spiritual tradition and evolved its own Indian ethos
• Sufism's contribution to poetry in India is huge. Its impact on the development of Indian music is profound
• Lord is mixed in every heart
• These values are the needs of our times
• This is the reality of nature
• And it reminds us when we think of the 99 names of Allah, none stands for force and violence
• And that the first two names are compassionate and merciful - Allah is Rahman and Rahim
• Sufism becomes the face of Islam in India even as it remains deeply rooted in the holy Quran and holy Hadith
• All our people, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, believers, non-believers, are an integral part of India
• Just as it once came to India, today Sufism from India has spread across the world
• Let me paraphrase what I have said before: Terrorism divides and destroys us
• Terrorism uses diverse motivations and causes, none of which can be justified
• The fight against terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be
• Reach of terrorism is growing and toll is rising every year
• Since the beginning of century, tens of thousands have lost their loved ones
• Last year alone 2015, over 90 countries experienced terrorist attacks
• Parents in 100 countries live with daily pain of their children lost to the battlefield of Syria
• Impact cannot be fully captured in statistics alone
• It is changing the way we live,there are forces and groups that are instruments of state policy and design
• Indeed when terrorism and extremism have become the most destruction of our times, the message of Sufism has global relevance
• At the beginning of a new century, we are at yet another point of transformation on a scale rarely seen in human history