In his first public function after recovering from cardiac bypass surgery, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday met a group of Muslim girls and used the occasion to assert that no one had the license to "criticise or run down" other religions.

Though Singh's first official engagement was his meeting with a head of a State of an African country last week, his interaction with the children on Tuesday was his first public engagement.

Greeting the children on the occasion of Milad-un-Nabi, he said "our Constitution gives full freedom to the people to practice any religion of their choice, but it does not give anyone the license to criticize or run down other religions."

Addressing the students studying in Urdu medium schools in the capital on the occasion of Prophet Mohammed's birth anniversary, he said the country cannot prosper until women progress and girls were given equal opportunities to study in schools and colleges.

The Prime Minister said his government has done much to promote Urdu and promised to continue to do all that was necessary to promote the language.

He also expressed satisfaction over the good results of the Urdu medium schools, saying that Urdu language is a living example of "our Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb (composite culture)".