RESURRECT IDEALS NOT MERE IDOLS

As the chartered crossed the Patel Chowk round-about, I found the place bustling with activities today. The statue of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel had already undergone a fresh coat of paint and lay covered by a plastic sheet. The pedestal had also been painted afresh and was shining in the early hours of the day. The grass had been trimmed and the trees pruned. The worn out railings had been painted and posters and flex boards removed. A clean-up drive was in full swing for the birth anniversary celebrations of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel which falls on 31^st October. The nation also observes Smt. Indira Gandhi’s martyrdom on this date. I got down at the Krishi Bhavan and I could not help take a look at the similar huge statue of Late Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, the Agriculture Minister of India during food crisis, which stands in the lawns of Krishi Bhavan. It lay in a dilapidated condition totally disfigured with poops of birds. No one bothers to keep it clean, not even the outsourced housekeeping staff. I have never seen any event taking place before this statue either on his birth anniversary (18^th February) or the day of his death (24^th October), unlike Sardar Patel’s statue which gets a yearly facelift on 31^st October. It is indeed a pathetic state of affairs. We are very poor custodian of our legacy and our partisan outlook (and this is irrespective of the party in power) is even more loathsome. For one, if we have raised a statue of our freedom fighters or martyrs, even if he belonged to a different school of political thought, it is our duty to preserve those memorial irrespective of the school of thought they belonged to. This is unity in diversity and this also helps to nurture democratic values. Previously Sardar Patel was left out in cold; today the martyrdom of Smt. Gandhi does not evoke any response. This is shortsightedness.  Secondly, we must not only resurrect the idols of these freedom fighters, but should also resurrect the ideals upheld by them. As we “Run for Unity” this October 31^st, we need to remember the following words of wisdom of the Sardar: “Manpower without Unity is not a strength unless it is harmonized and united properly, then it becomes a spiritual power”. This spirituality only can lead to “Sabka saath Sabka vikas” in letter and spirit.