Govt draws plan to mark Patel birth anniversary; CAPFs to take part | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Govt draws plan to mark Patel birth anniversary; CAPFs to take part

Oct 27, 2022 05:03 AM IST

The Centre is planning a large-scale event involving all paramilitary forces, and across all districts in the country, to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31

The Union government is planning a large-scale event involving all paramilitary forces, and across all districts in the country, to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, also known as National Unity Day or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas since 2014. According to plans reviewed by HT, home minister Amit Shah has written to all states to ask them to organise 75,000 unity runs ( 100 unity runs in each of the country’s 750 districts), and events where people can take the pledge of unity.

Ahmedabad, India - October 31, 2018: A view of the statue of the ‘Iron Man of India’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, during its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, five years after work began on the world’s tallest statue, in Narmada district of Gujarat, India on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. (Photo by Siddharaj Solanki / HindustanTimes)
Ahmedabad, India - October 31, 2018: A view of the statue of the ‘Iron Man of India’ Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, during its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, five years after work began on the world’s tallest statue, in Narmada district of Gujarat, India on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. (Photo by Siddharaj Solanki / HindustanTimes)

The government’s efforts to mark Patel’s birth anniversary will also coincide with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to civil service trainees of the Lal Bahadur Shashtri Academy at Kevadia, Gujarat (where the Statue of Unity is located) on the same day. The Modi government has, over the years, sought to emphasise that the former home minister’s legacy was ignored by the various Congress governments that have ruled India , a point hotly contested by the Congress

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In the home minister’s letter dated October 17 and distributed via the information & broadcasting ministry, the pledge of unity reads: “I solemnly pledge to dedicate myself to preserve the unity, integrity and security of the nation and also strive hard to spread this message among my fellow countrymen. I take this pledge in the spirit of unification of my country which was made possible by the vision and actions of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. I also solemnly resolve to make my own contribution to ensure internal security of the country.” The Home Minister will be administering the oath to those attending the Kevadia event.

The head of a paramilitary force told HT on condition of anonymity that all units are part of the event next Monday. ”All central paramilitary forces (CAPFs) are part of this effort. Each is doing its bit in its area of operation,” he said. The main event is at the site of Patel’s statue at Kevadia, Gujarat, where a parade is planned with the central forces along with a ritual to express gratitude to Patel, the man responsible for convincing all the princely states at the time of independence to join the Union of India.

On the 75th​​ Independence Day , “we saw enthusiastic celebrations in our state prisons’’, wrote Shah in the letter, adding that “ keeping national unity in mind, similar events be organised again at the prisons” on October 31.

Shah’s letter has been followed up by reminders from home secretary Ajay Bhalla and culture secretary Govind Mohan. In his letter, Mohan explained why this year’s celebrations are extra special. “Unity as a theme forms part of the paanch pran (five pledges), as declared by the Prime Minister on Independence Day, 2022”. On 15 August this year, PM Modi listed the five pledges that he’d like every Indian to take: goal of a developed nation, gender equality, self-dependence, innovation, and the fight against corruption.

“The objective is clear. Sardar is an icon who is being aggressively projected for multiple reasons. Firstly. It is a way of displacing Nehru from the narrative involving the years before and after independence. Secondly, given Patel’s active role in the integration of India, it allows for a narrative on nationalism that is muscular and intensely nationalistic. Finally, in a run up to elections in allows the debate on the Idea of India to be developed from a particular perspective,’’ said political scientist Sandeep Shastri.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Sunetra Choudhury is the National Political Editor of the Hindustan Times. With over two decades of experience in print and television, she has authored Black Warrant (Roli,2019), Behind Bars: Prison Tales of India’s Most Famous (Roli,2017) and Braking News (Hachette, 2010). Sunetra is the recipient of the Red Ink award in journalism in 2016 and Mary Morgan Hewett award in 2018.

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