Union home minister Amit Shah (ANI photo)
NEW DELHI: Home minister Amit Shah on Friday said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, with his tireless efforts and iron will, stitched together 562 fragmented, princely Indian states into one united nation post-Independence, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed his unfinished task by fully integrating of J&K with India by reading down Article 370.Flagging off the ‘Run for Unity’ here on the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, which coincides with the 150th birthday anniversary of Sardar Patel, Shah highlighted his immense contribution to the nation, right from the freedom movement to shaping the present map of Independent India.Shah recalled Sardar’s leadership role in the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928, organised to protest injustice done to farmers. It had at the time grown into a nationwide farmers’ movement, compelling the British to accept their demands. The feat earned him the title ‘Sardar’, from Mahatma Gandhi.In his address at the ‘Run for Unity’ event — attended by Delhi LG V K Saxena, Union ministers and Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta — the home minister said Sardar Patel was busy monitoring a naval warship in Aug 15, 1947, while everyone else hoisted the national flag. He mentioned that at that time, the question of who would control Lakshadweep was a major issue and Sardar, by promptly sending the Navy there and ensuring that the tricolour was hoisted, ensured that Lakshadweep became an integral part of India. Attacking the opposition-led governments in the past for not giving Sardar Patel the respect he truly deserved, Shah said it took 41 years for him to be awarded the Bharat Ratna. “When Narendra Modi became the chief minister of Gujarat, he resolved to build a grand memorial for Sardar Patel at Kevadia Colony. It was there that the Statue of Unity was conceived,” he said, talking of the 182-ft statue of the Iron Man of India.Shah shared that the Prime Minister has now decided that Ekta Diwas shall be celebrated as a special event across the country. He said the ministry of home affairs has okayed the Unity parade to be organised in the same, grand manner every year. The parade would feature special programs from across the nation—from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Dwarka to Kamakhya.Shah emphasised that the young people who take the pledge to preserve the unity and integrity of the nation will be the builders of India’s future.
