Bharat does not t into the modern political denition of a State, says Governor R.N. Ravi
A 70-year-old woman, V. Pappammal, of S. Gopalapuram near Tirumangalam, who sustained burns on April 29, died on Wednesday.
Her daughter, Gnana Sagunthala, 45, is under treatment at the Government Rajaji Hospital.
The police said that when Ms. Sagunthala was cooking on a gas stove, she sustained burns on Wednesday.
Futile attempt
Her mother rushed to Ms. Sagunthala’s rescue and both had sustained burns.
They were given rst aid at the government hospital in Tirumangalam and were later admitted in the Government Rajaji Hospital, the police said.
Bharat is a cultural and civilisational evolution. It has not been created or built by any king or ruler and does not t into the modern political denition of a State with European understanding, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi said here on Wednesday.
Participating in the Gujarat State Foundation Day celebrations at Raj Bhavan, he said: “A modern political State is dened with four characteristics: geography, people living in that geography, presence of a government, and its sovereignty. Bharat is much more than that. It has been built over thousands of years by our rishis and saints.”
Governor R.N. Ravi at the Gujarat State Foundation Day event on Wednesday.
According to him, places such as Somnath, Dwaraka, Rameswaram, Puri, Badrinath, and Kashi do not belong to a particular State, but to the whole of Bharat.
“People from various parts of the country travelled across various kingdoms to reach other spiritual towns because they knew that it was once in a
lifetime visit. They travelled with the condence that the institution enroute and at the destination would take care of them. They saw the whole country as one family,” he said.
“During the period of foreign invasion and colonisation, and unfortunately even after Independence, we started forgetting those and did not take much eort to revive that connection. Over time, after Independence, when we started creating more and more States, we started developing a Statecentric identity by looking inward. This has to break. We have to regain the sense of a family. Bharat has to be understood, appreciated, and celebrated,” he said.
“Gujarat is a powerful engine of the nation’s growth. In terms of industrial output, Gujarat is number one in the country. It accounts for over 18% of our industrial output. Tamil Nadu is the most industrialised State in the country, but its industrial output is less than 10%. Gujarat shows and leads the way,” Mr. Ravi said.
Members
of
various
Gujarati associations participated in the event.
Artists from the South Zone Cultural Centre performed the traditional Gujarati dance ‘Dhal Talwar Raas’ of the Maher community and students performed the Garba dance.
Maharashtra Day
Later in the evening, Mr. Ravi participated as chief guest in Chhatrapati Shivaji Jayanti and Maharashtra Day celebrations held at Sanskrit College in Mylapore. Mr. Ravi hailed Chhatrapati Shivaji and said, “He was not a conqueror. He was a liberator. If Shivaji was not there we would have lost our culture and identity.”
The Governor also recalled the contributions of various leaders from Maharashtra to society.