New Delhi, Dec. 6 -- Noting that India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world today and is being described as a global growth engine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that use of the term 'Hindu rate of growth' for India's low growth rate from 1950s to 1980s reflected mentality of slavery and an attempt to portray an entire society as unproductive.

Addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, PM Modi took a dig at opposition parties and lambasted "so-called intellectuals who search for communalism in everything" and asked if they did not see communalism in the expression "Hindu rate of growth" which then found a place in books and research papers.

"Such was the impact of this colonial mentality that eve...