The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, New Delhi

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged Indians on Friday to reject centuries of ethnic and religious divisions, warning they would be manipulated by politicians to fracture the country.

His comments follow a rise in communal and ethnic tensions among India's masses in the form of politically motivated violence, sectarian riots and bomb attacks. "Competitive politics must not be allowed to divide our people on the basis of religion, caste or region," Singh told a gathering of prominent Indians in New Delhi.

"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."

Singh's remarks come as Indian police were investigating whether Hindu militants along with a senior army officer have been involved in a series of terror strikes in the country that began last year.

The probe has been rejected by India's main Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party as "politically motivated".

In September, India was slammed for anti-Christian attacks in the country's east, where more than 30 Christians have been killed by militant Hindus.

The country has also seen several attacks on migrant workers from poorer states in the western state of Maharashtra while a spate of unsolved bombings across India has claimed around 200 lives this year alone.

In his speech, Singh listed education, health care and basic amenities coupled with poverty eradication as the challenges before India today as he urged people to shun "extremist ideologies, political or economic".

In a message directed at the political leadership, Singh said people were seeking "well-being and sustainable livelihoods but they also seek fundamental freedomst

"People seek freedom from tyranny in all its manifestations. They wish to be governed by the rule of law," he said.

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".