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Shah said all Indians should make small personal resolutions like never flouting traffic rules or not wasting food in the 75th year of India’s Independence as these tiny steps can lead to big changes.
Addressing a meeting of BJP workers and intellectuals of Andaman and Nicobar Islands at Port Blair, Shah asserted the Congress did not do anything for the people of the archipelago during its rule of several decades.
He also paid tributes to freedom fighters V D Savarkar and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, saying Andaman and Nicobar islands were inextricably associated with their struggle for Independence.
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”Resolutions may be personal. If a 10-year-old boy resolves not to break traffic rules and adheres to that, it will be a great contribution (to the country). If a girl aged 3-4 years takes an oath never to leave a grain of rice on her plate after she had eaten, it can bring about a big change in the country,” he said.
Shah, who is on a three-day visit to Andaman and Nicobar Islands since Friday, also urged people to take a pledge to switch off lights, fans and ACs before leaving a room.
”There are bigger tasks… but small tasks can be done by us all. If 130 crore people take one step towards a single direction, the country will take 130 crore steps forward,” he said.
Shah said people do not need to die for the country like Bhagat Singh did as India is an independent nation now, but they need to live for it.
”If we live for the country, if we connect our activities with the country’s interest, all small problems at our homes, in our localities, villages and states will be resolved,” he said and referred to an episode in the epic Ramayana where even a squirrel carried pebbles to help build the ”Ram Setu” to Lanka, where the demon king Ravana had incarcerated Sita.
”We can create an atmosphere in the country which can make it great. An atmosphere that will inspire the youth, an atmosphere that can resolve the problems of the country,” he said.
Several zamindars and sons of rich men of Bengal were confined in the Cellular Jail of Port Blair for taking part in the fight for Independence, Shah said.
”I don’t know whether they saw an independent India, many didn’t. Had they not fought for Independence, we would not have breathed this air of freedom,” he said.
Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav’ in the 75th year of Independence so the future generations come to know of the struggle that was waged to free the country from colonial rule and the heroes of that fight.
”There were a number of unknown freedom fighters who did not find a mention in history books. These unsung heroes lived in little-known villages….we want the world to know about them,” Shah said.
He referred to the struggles of V D Savarkar, ”who suffered physical and mental torture” in the cellular prison in the Andamans but ”did not bend before the British”.
”He (Savarkar) could see far into the future. He had an answer to every cunning move of the British government. If one studies his writings properly, they can understand how broad his vision was about the security-related issues that the country would face years later,” Shah said.
Shah recalled how Subhas Chandra Bose had unfurled the national flag on the archipelago and spoke about his struggles.
Listing out the government projects being implemented by the Modi government, Shah attacked the Congress, alleging it ruled the country for many decades but failed to even provide basic facilities such as septic toilets and electricity connection to every home in the Andamans.
Congress leaders could not even think of laying submarine cables from Chennai to Andaman and Nicobar, while the Modi government did it and there is no connectivity problem in the archipelago, he said.
Congress governments did not honor anybody except ”Gandhi and Nehru”, he alleged. ”It is the BJP government which celebrates Netaji’s birth anniversary as ‘Parakram Divas’ (the day of valor)”, Shah said.
The Modi government erected a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the tallest in the world, in recognition of his contributions to the unification of India, he said. Referring to BJP’s forerunner Jana Sangh, Shah said, its election manifestos always promised abolition of Article 370 and 35A granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir, building Ram temple in Ayodhya, and stopping the practice of instant triple talaq.
”After forming the government for a second time, Modiji fulfilled all these promises within six months,” he asserted.