Rajpipla (Guj), Dec 4 (PTI) Bihar Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Thursday said the people of the country took a long time to understand the significance of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s accomplishment in uniting India after Independence.
It was Patel, as the country’s first home minister, who transformed the consciousness of cultural and spiritual unity created by Adi Shankaracharya nearly a millennium ago into “physical and political unity,” he added.
Khan was speaking at ‘Sardar Sabha’ at Rajpipla town in Gujarat’s Narmada district as part of the Unity March organised by Mera Yuva (MY) Bharat under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.
“It took us a long time to understand the significance of Sardar Patel’s work. And I still believe that it will take many more years to fully understand everything he did in his lifetime,” said Khan.
All over the world, visionaries have achieved recognition with great difficulty in their lifetimes, he said.
Referring to philosopher Adi Shankaracharya, Khan said the land was divided into fragments, both physically and politically, when a “young man emerged from a village in Kerala nearly 1,200 years ago.” “He must have had this thought in mind: equality and unity exist, but the consciousness of it is lacking. And he toured the country, establishing four mutts in four regions of the country. Remember, unity is not established by material things, it is established by ideas,” said Khan.
Shankaracharya created the consciousness of spiritual and cultural unity, he added.
“If Adi Shankara created the consciousness of cultural and spiritual unity, Sardar transformed it into physical and political unity and realized his dream. So, perhaps it will take us some time to understand him. We have now gained some understanding,” said Khan.
Bringing together nearly 560 princely states “without shedding a drop of blood” is not a simple task, he said, adding that it can not be achieved by using brute force. “Through dialogue, our country has become what it is today,” said Khan.
“No matter how much gratitude we express towards Sardar Saheb, it will not be enough. If Sardar Patel hadn’t done this, we would have been forced to obtain 20 visas to travel from one state to another. And the internal conflicts that existed before, and which led to India’s long-term slavery, would have continued,” he said.
Unity is essential to empower citizens as without power and capability, we cannot improve the lives of our people, he said. PTI COR PJT PD KRK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.