Sardar Patel, the very name makes every Indian very proud. He is very rightly called “iron man of India”. Unveiling statue of that great man on his 143rd birth anniversary is a fitting tribute to the great soul as he could bring 656 princely states together, to strengthen liberated India. While inaugurating, our honourable PM boastfully claimed that if Sardar united the nation by merging many states geographically, his government could unite the country economically by bringing in GST. I fail to understand, how both acts are comparable, I'm not convinced. Regarding GST, let us understand that it was taxpayers money, people are entitled to question. When BSP's Mayawati built parks and memorials, for Ambedkar and Kanshiram, she was accused of squandering public money. As long as politicians and parties use inane issues to divide people however big and tall the statue, it won’t promote unity. It was unfortunate while unveiling the statue of 182 metres, was being compared with other statues. Patel being too big a leader, and his value or height can never be measured with anyone else. The BJP may be enthusiastic to add Sardar Patel to its pantheon of leaders, but so would C.Rajagopalachary or many other freedom fighters and it is our bound by our duty to remember each one them as we owe them a great debt of gratitude.
Let us not forget the fact 31st October, is also the anniversary of the tragic assassination of Mrs. Gandhi who was not only tallest of the world leaders in her day, but deeply admired one within the country though she had her critics. Mrs. Gandhi was cut down on account of Pakistan fanned terrorism in Punjab, she had also helped bring about the birth of Bangladesh, cutting Pakistan to size. In independent India no other leader can lay a greater claim to preserving the country’s unity and integrity, yet we have forgotten to recognize the fact, and the reasons are, narrow, partisan politics, but let us not forget that the common man retains memories.
Every Indian knows the great contribution of Sardar and needs no statutory edifice to remind us of his invaluable life like Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Bose(Netaji), sit in the hearts of all Indians and do they require “Sarkari puja”? The political energy that has gone into the statue of unity would thus to be an exercise in superfluity. If we just see, Mahatma Gandhi, also a Gujarati, and who is still remembered, admired deeply, by the whole world, but RSS from which the current dispensation springs sees it differently which tells its own story.
The statue was as much a bold assertion of Gujarati nationalism as it gave our PM, a political lineage to distinguish him from the parent RSS which sat out of freedom struggle. Let us also remember, that no statues have been built for Guruji MS Golwalkar, Deendayal Upadhyaya, VD Savarkar, Or even for that matter, Subhash Chandra Bose who still has a far bigger imprint on our minds.
A true tribute to Patel, therefore, would be to adopt his policies, in letter and spirit, rather than constructing a huge statue. One wonders whether the statue will make the nation more united when the fact is, our present-day leaders are all set to divide the society in the name of caste, religion, and language for political gains.
Let us not forget the fact 31st October, is also the anniversary of the tragic assassination of Mrs. Gandhi who was not only tallest of the world leaders in her day, but deeply admired one within the country though she had her critics. Mrs. Gandhi was cut down on account of Pakistan fanned terrorism in Punjab, she had also helped bring about the birth of Bangladesh, cutting Pakistan to size. In independent India no other leader can lay a greater claim to preserving the country’s unity and integrity, yet we have forgotten to recognize the fact, and the reasons are, narrow, partisan politics, but let us not forget that the common man retains memories.
Every Indian knows the great contribution of Sardar and needs no statutory edifice to remind us of his invaluable life like Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru, Bose(Netaji), sit in the hearts of all Indians and do they require “Sarkari puja”? The political energy that has gone into the statue of unity would thus to be an exercise in superfluity. If we just see, Mahatma Gandhi, also a Gujarati, and who is still remembered, admired deeply, by the whole world, but RSS from which the current dispensation springs sees it differently which tells its own story.
The statue was as much a bold assertion of Gujarati nationalism as it gave our PM, a political lineage to distinguish him from the parent RSS which sat out of freedom struggle. Let us also remember, that no statues have been built for Guruji MS Golwalkar, Deendayal Upadhyaya, VD Savarkar, Or even for that matter, Subhash Chandra Bose who still has a far bigger imprint on our minds.
A true tribute to Patel, therefore, would be to adopt his policies, in letter and spirit, rather than constructing a huge statue. One wonders whether the statue will make the nation more united when the fact is, our present-day leaders are all set to divide the society in the name of caste, religion, and language for political gains.
