As the debate over what soldiers think about what happens in JNU and anti-nationalism, winds down, there’s a video doing the rounds that seeks to imply the Prime Minister thinks more highly of traders than soldiers.
The video, recorded in 2014, has the Prime Minister talking to traders, in which he praises them. A lot. More than even soldiers.
“As much courage in the army has, a trader has more courage than that,” he told traders while addressing a traders association in Delhi in February 2014.
And the video of the statement is now got a new lease of life with his critics highlighting it:
And the comments section of the video has become a battleground for Modi’s supporters and critics.
However, if you watch the full version of the video, Modi explains this statement. The then Prime Ministerial aspirant said that a person without risk taking ability couldn’t become a trader.
“He’ll do labour, he can’t do trade…Even if he is a small trader, he has high risk taking ability,” he said.
This is the unique quality of this community, Modi had said, adding that people should rise to defeat circumstances. It was also a speech in which he urged the trader community to embrace new methods of trade like e-commerce.
Watch the full video of the speech here (listen to the clip from 1:01 onwards):
This once again highlights how things can be taken out of proportion on social media and why it is good idea to check before you preach.