Injustice done to Netaji, Sardar Patel: Shah
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that many leaders of India’s independence movement like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel didn’t get their due and attempts have been made over the years to downplay their contributions.
“The bright pole star in the history of the freedom movement, Netaji did not receive as much importance as he should have. For years, attempts were made to downplay many wellknown leaders of the independence movement and their contributions. But now the time has come that everyone should find their proper place in history. Those who contributed and sacrificed their lives, should find their proud place in history, and that is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to name this island after Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose,” Amit Shah said in Port Blair during the inauguration of several development projects.
He added that “similar injustice” has been done to Sardar Patel. “The Indian republic today would not have been possible if Sardar Patel had not made more than 550 princely states a part of India in less than a year and a half. The British did what they had to do by freeing everyone, but Sardar Patel completed the task of bringing all the princely states within the Indian union and creating a strong India.”
“Sardar Saheb also did not receive the same respect as he should have received after independence. But history repeats itself, no matter how much injustice is done to anyone, good work is never hidden and today in Kevadia, the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Saheb has been installed by (PM) Narendra Modi, which people from all over the world come to see,” Shah said.
The home minister is on a three-day visit to Andaman and Nicobar Islands. On Saturday, he inaugurated 14 projects worth Rs 299 crore and laid foundation stones of 12 projects worth Rs 643 crore. He said the government has decided to name a bridge that was inaugurated on Saturday as Azad Hind Fauj Bridge. “Every person passing through this bridge would go from one end to the other paying homage to Netaji’s 35,000km journey, his courage and his valour,” he said.
Ross Island, one of the islands in the archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar, was renamed Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Island by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2018.
Shah said PM Modi made Subhash Chandra Bose island, where Netaji hoisted the flag of independence for the first time, as a huge tourist destination by placing a large tricolour and also turned it into a centre for the awakening of patriotism. “In the coming days, we are going to develop this island too and will build a grand memorial for Subhash Babu,” Shah said.
The government is currently celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav across the country through which it wants to inculcate the feeling of patriotism among the youth.