The Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, on Thursday said India must be “history-conscious” and position herself globally to be recognised as a major power and this could be achieved by restoring the nation’s self-esteem and national pride.
Addressing a major gathering in Hindi to mark the 138th birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India, after laying the foundation stone of the 182-metre “Statue of Unity” — the world’s tallest one — on a small rocky island off the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River, he said China did so by recreating Shanghai as a global city and Japan by launching a bullet train.
These ambitious projects made the world look with awe at these re-emerging countries as they restored their national pride and self-esteem.
The Statue, to be constructed in the memory of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the architect of modern, united India, would be a step in that direction.
“It would force the world to look at India with admiration.”
The Gujarat Government has floated the Sardar Valabhbhai Patel Rashtriya Ekta Trust (SVPRET) for the purpose.
Describing it as a “historic event”, Modi said many Indians have been unable to shed the shadows of slavery and could not rid themselves of inferiority complex even after nearly seven decades of Independence.
The Atal Behari Vajyapee Government took an initiative to liberate them in this regard by rescheduling the Budget presentation time in Parliament from 5 p.m. to 11 a.m. The previous government had adhered to the British Raj practice of 5 p.m. as this coincided with the London time of the Budget presentation in that country.
Narendra Modi said after Chanakya, only Patel could really unite India. “But the way we admire Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Sardar Bhagat Singh and others as great patriots rather than members of a political party, no party should appropriate Sardar Patel as a member of a party. Patel was a great leader of the whole nation. Even Narendra Modi cannot evaluate Patel as merely member of a political party. We cannot divide our heritage like which we all share.”
The Chief Minister appealed to all to remove “untouchability” in politics the way Mahatma Gandhi did in society. He also welcomed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent observation that Sardar Patel was a secular leader. “Patel’s secularism did not come in the way of his support for the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple”, he remarked.
Earlier, BJP leader L.K. Advani, who was also present, recalled the efforts made by Patel in Independent India for unification of over 560 princely states with the Indian Union and praised Modi for conceiving a befitting Statue in the memory of the first Deputy Prime Minister.
The BJP will launch a nationwide campaign between December 15, 2013 and January 26, 2014 to collect iron pieces of used agricultural implements from farmers across seven lakh villages. After melting, this steel will be used in creating the mammoth statue as part of the overall project costing nearly Rs 2,500 crore. The first phase of the main statue is expected to be completed in 42 months after award of the project, global bids for which have been invited by November 30.