Rejecting Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that United Progressive Alliance's minority welfare policies were driven by vote-bank politics, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said equity is no appeasement but a sign of humanism.

"A commitment to equity is not appeasement. It is a mark of one's commitment to humanism," he remarked in his address commemorating the 110th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in New Delhi.

The prime minister's comments came amidst a fierce attack that BJP mounted on the UPA for its range of plans aimed at the uplift of minorities, especially Muslims, in the light of the Sachar committee report on the economic and social condition of the community.

Dr Singh recalled that Bose too believed that all minority communities should be allowed their due space in governmental affairs.

"As the president of the Indian National Congress in 1938, he (Bose) articulated a vision that is of abiding relevance. Netaji's view that all minorities communities be allowed their due space in cultural and as well as governmental affairs testified to his humanism and commitment to egalitarian values," the prime minister said.

Dr Singh also recounted that both Bose and Mahatma Gandhi remained deeply committed to Hindu-Muslim unity and amity.

"They were both deeply spiritual men, but equally secular. They understood that India's great contribution to humankind is the idea of sarva dharma sambhava," he remarked. 

Dr Singh recalled that Bose had advocated taking special measures for minorities and other disadvantaged sections of society.

The prime minister also spoke about fighting against 'forces of communalism' as he hailed Bose as one of the tallest leaders of the country's freedom movement.

"The vision of Netaji has immense relevance for the 21^st century and for our fight against the forces of communalism, terrorism and extremism," Dr Singh said.

He cited a quote by Mahatma Gandhi in which the Father of the Nation praised Bose for his abilities to 'infuse 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.'

The prime minister maintained that both Gandhi and Bose shared a common vision of a free India despite differences between them over methods to achieve the objective.

"He (Bose) wanted to build modern India as much on the firm base of industrialisation and science and technology as on our ancient culture and civilisation," Dr Singh recalled.

Bose, the prime minister said, united Indians of all faiths, all communities and languages and gave shape to the idea of a modern and resurgent India.