New Delhi, October 31 (IANS). Re-sharing the old statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Modi Archive remembers the indomitable saga of the Iron Man of India. PM Modi, on different occasions, spoke at length on the personality of Sardar Patel, his contributions and the decisive role he played in the unity of India.
On October 31, 2012, on the birth anniversary of Sardar Saheb, Prime Minister Modi had said, “On the birth anniversary of Sardar Saheb, the whole country salutes him. He has been a symbol of unity and integrity of India. Whenever a crisis looms on the unity of the country, only one voice rises from the heart of every Indian that if Sardar Saheb had been there today… this is the biggest tribute to him.”
On November 28, 2016, the Prime Minister had explained this formula of unity in a very simple way, saying, “In our country, a train runs from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, which leaves the lap of the Himalayas and reaches the shores of the ocean. Many states come in this journey, but we neither need any state’s permit, nor visa, nor have to pay tax. All this became possible because of Sardar Patel, who laid the foundation of this united India.”
On November 1, 2019, Prime Minister Modi had said that Sardar Patel showed how important a strong will power is for change in the lives of common people. He recalled that while serving in the Ahmedabad Municipality, Patel had completely transformed the city with limited resources. This was the vision that formed the outline of the civil services of independent India.
Highlighting the organizational ability of Sardar Patel, the Prime Minister had said that Sardar Patel had the amazing power to unite people. He used to maintain coordination even with those people with whom there were ideological differences. He was a ‘man of details’, who understood every detail.”
He had said that Sardar Patel’s contribution was not limited only to the integration of the country. He also played a decisive role in keeping small islands like Lakshadweep an integral part of India. In 1947, when the neighboring country tried to hoist the flag on Lakshadweep, Sardar Saheb took immediate action and hoisted the tricolor there and secured India’s sovereignty.
On October 30, 2013, PM Modi had said that in 1919, Sardar Patel was the councilor of Ahmedabad Municipality and at the same time he had passed the proposal for women’s reservation, which shows his progressive outlook even in that era. He also said that the concept of urban planning was first developed by Sardar Patel.
PM Modi had said that Sardar Patel had a big role in taking every farmer movement to every village. It is the result of his organizational skills that cooperative institutions like Amul came into existence. He reminded that in 1942, Sardar Patel had given the idea of Cooperative Milk Union, which later became the foundation of India’s ‘White Revolution’.
PM Modi also remembered the human aspect of Sardar Patel’s personality. He said, “Sardar Patel’s sense of humor was amazing. Gandhiji used to say that Sardar’s words made us laugh so much that we felt sick in the stomach. This teaches us that no matter how difficult the circumstances are, we should keep our sense of humor alive.”
Giving a historical reference, he said that on January 27, 1947, Time magazine had published the picture of Sardar Patel on its cover page. The map of India shown in that issue was not like today’s map, at that time there were more than 550 princely states in the country. The British wanted to leave India, but were plotting to divide it into pieces. In that difficult period, Sardar Patel united these princely states with his courage and policy skills.
Paying tribute to Sardar Patel on October 31, 2019, PM Modi had said, “Sardar Patel had once said that if the issue of Kashmir had been with him, it would not have taken so long to resolve it. He had warned that the only solution is the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir. Today, on his birthday, I dedicate the decision to remove Article 370 to Sardar Saheb.”
— IANS
VKU/DKP
