While Gujarat is mourning the death of more than 100 people in the Morbi bridge collapse, Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his ‘duty’ and paid tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his birthday.
Promoting the message of unity standing in front of the Statue of Unity at Kevadia in Gujarat, Modi said that enemies were trying to break India's unity and the country should stand firm against such attempts.
Remembering those who lost their family members in the fatal incident at Morbi, he said, “I am in Kevadia, but my heart goes out to those who died in the Morbi Bridge collapse tragedy.”
Troupes from across country had come to Kevadia to perform traditional dances, but the programme was cancelled due to the present circumstances.
At least 134 people were killed after the suspension bridge on the Machchhu river in Gujarat's Morbi city collapsed on Sunday evening. The Prime Minister assured the government was standing shoulder to shoulder with the families of the victims.
The state government has been engaged in the rescue work and the central government is providing every possible assistance, he said.
Sardar Patel's birth anniversary is observed as the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas or National Unity Day. Modi said for India, its unity has never been a compulsion, but has been its uniqueness. “This unity of our country has been an eyesore for our enemies. Not just today, but from thousands of years and even during the period of our slavery, all foreign attackers did whatever they wanted to do to break this unity,” he said.
He referred to the problems of the internal division, “The poison which was spread in that long period, the country is facing problems due to it today also. We saw the country's partition and enemies taking advantage of it.”
Those forces are still prevalent, they want to make the people of the country fight in the name of caste, region and language, he said, adding that history is also presented in such a way that people cannot stand with each other.
“We should note that these forces are not just our known enemies from outside, but many a times those forces enter into our system in the form of slave mentality, those forces present themselves sometimes to us as a selfish motive, appeasement, nepotism, greed and corruption," he said.
Emphasising on the role of Patel in integrating India, he noted that it is difficult to imagine the situation if India's integration was not led by leaders like Sardar Patel. “What would have happened if more than 550 princely states were not amalgamated?” Modi asked.
“If our princely states would have not shown a deep sense of sacrifice and faith in Maa Bharati and decided not to join us, what would have happened? This impossible task was completed by Sardar Patel,” he added.
Modi said Sardar Patel's Jayanti and the Ekta Diwas are not merely dates on the calendar for us, they are a grand celebrations of India's cultural strength. On the occasion, the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas parade was held comprising contingents of different police forces.
Modi said, “I would like to reiterate the responsibility handed over by Sardar Saheb. The responsibility of the citizens is to strengthen the nation's unity and this will happen only if every citizen of the country is ready to carry out the duties with a sense of responsibility.”
He also reiterated his pet slogan "sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas and sabka prayas" and added that with this line, India will move forward on the path of development.
(With PTI Inputs)
