![]() ![]() It is a battle of ideas,” Aditya Mukherjee, professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Al Jazeera. All they want is to malign India’s left-leaning social democrat founding father Nehru. “The eulogies being paid to Patel are merely a cover. ‘Battle of ideas’Īnalysts say it suits Modi and the BJP to take refuge in Patel’s colossal shade, invoking his efforts in integrating erstwhile princely states into the Indian republic. Our government is guided by this ideology,” Sinha told Al Jazeera. While others like Nehru advocated a European idea of nationalism, Patel valorised the Indian tradition of civilisational nation state. “Patel had a home-grown concept of nationalism. Rakesh Sinha, lawmaker and member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the BJP’s ideological mentor, says the Hindu supremacist organisation is “the true successor” of Patel’s legacy. Had he been the first prime minister, the country’s fate and face would have been completely different,” Modi has said repeatedly in the past few years.įacing a series of state elections in the coming months before a national election due by May, the ruling BJP believes there is much to be gained from appropriating Patel’s legacy. “Every Indian regrets Sardar Patel did not become the first prime minister. They believe Patel would have made a better leader. Modi and his BJP party are at loggerheads with the secular ethos that largely shaped a post-colonial India governed by Nehru and the Congress for more than half a century. Thousands of Gujarat’s tribals in villages near the site protested against the million-dollar statue ![]() While the majority of Indians are Hindus, Muslims and people of other faiths account for some 240 million, or a fifth, of the populace. Historians like AG Noorani say Nehru and Patel held divergent views on how the young Indian republic is to be shaped, despite being members of the same Congress party, with the latter perceived by some as “ more pro-Hindu“. Patel worked alongside Nehru to build the nation after the Indian subcontinent was divided into India and Pakistan, one of the bloodiest events in South Asia that resulted in nearly a million deaths and displaced 15 million people. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, also known as the “Iron Man of India”, persuaded feuding states to merge and become part of the Indian union after independence from the British rule in 1947. The project includes appropriating the legacy of freedom fighters and leaders from the liberal opposition Congress, who do not belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family.Īnother controversial statue, that of 17th century Maratha warrior, Shivaji Bhosle, is currently being built in Mumbai.īoth the statues dwarf the Statue of Liberty in height and together cost almost $1bn. The systematic destruction of India's institutions is nothing short of treason. Ironic that a statue of Sardar Patel is being inaugurated, but every institution he helped build is being smashed. There will be a viewing gallery some 153 metres up, near the chest of the towering statue, which, critics say, is part of a larger right-wing project of revising India’s history to suit the Hindu nationalist agenda. “Patriotism is the foundation on which our culture is built,” the Hindu nationalist leader said.Īround 3,500 workers and 250 engineers worked to build the gigantic statue made of concrete, steel and bronze panels, located on the island called ‘Sadhu Bet’, around 200km from Gujarat’s capital city, Ahmedabad. It is an historic and inspiring occasion for all Indians.” Speaking at the inauguration, Modi, who had commissioned the statue in 2010 when he was Gujarat state’s chief minister, said, “Events like today are very very important in a country’s history and such events are difficult to erase. Patel’s legacy has been frequently used by Modi to undermine his chief political rivals, the Gandhi-Nehru family, which gave India three prime ministers. Patel was deputy to Jawaharlal Nehru, India‘s first prime minister, also the great grandfather of current Congress party president, Rahul Gandhi. ![]() ![]() The $430m Statue of Unity, built on an island in Narmada river, was inaugurated by Modi on Wednesday in the western Indian state of Gujarat, home to both Patel and Modi. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unveiled a 182-metre statue, the world’s tallest, to honour Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of the country’s founding fathers and its first home minister. ![]()
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