Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said previous governments did not have the ”political will” to save the country’s heritage and a country which does not cherish its heritage loses its future also.
Modi launched the Rs 1,200 crore Gandhi Ashram Memorial masterplan at Sabarmati in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city and also inaugurated the redeveloped Kochrab ashram at a function on the anniversary of the famous Dandi Yatra, or salt march, taken out by Mahatma Gandhi on March 12, 1930.
”A country which does not cherish its heritage lose its future also. Bapu’s Sabarmati Ashram is a heritage not only for the country, but for the entire mankind,” PM Modi said.
”The Sabarmati Ashram has become a pilgrimage not only for our freedom movement but also for Viksit Bharat (developed India). Today, Bapu’s vision is giving a clear direction to our country for a bright future,” he said.
The governments formed after independence ”had neither the mentality nor the political will to save such heritage of the country,” he said. ”One (reason for which) was the habit of looking at India from a foreign perspective, and the other the compulsion to appease, due to which India’s great heritage kept getting destroyed. Encroachment, uncleanliness, disorder all these hijacked our heritage,” Modi said.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram has always been a life centre of unmatched energy, he said.
The ashram, once spread over 120 acre land, was over a period of time reduced to 5 acre, and from 63 buildings to 36 now. Of these existing 36 buildings, tourists can visit only three, he said.
”It is the responsibility of all 140 crore Indians to preserve the Sabarmati Ashram which people from all over the world come to see, admire and experience,” the prime minister said.
Modi said it is the government’s effort to restore old buildings in their original form and try that there arises no need to construct a new building, so the country could feel the traditional mode of construction is maintained.
”In the future, generations coming here will be able to understand how the Sant of Sabarmati had stirred the soul and mind of the country with the power of charkha, made the mind conscious and worked to give impetus to freedom,” he said.
By sacrificing his life for the country which was suffering from centuries of slavery, Bapu filled it with a new hope and faith, he said.
Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of gram swaraj and self-reliant India, Modi said, adding that his government’s ‘Vocal for Local’ and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives are inspired by him.
He said nine lakh farmers in Gujarat have taken up natural farming, saving three lakh tonne urea, which was Mahatma Gandhi’s dream.
Promotion of khadi and strengthening of villages where women play a big role in the economy are all steps in this direction, Modi said.
Today, more than 1 crore women working in self-help groups have become ”lakhpati didi”. ”It is my dream to make three crore lakhpati didis in the third term (of his government),” he said.
”Our efforts have given strength to the poor to fight poverty. Due to the government’s policies over the last 10 years, 25 crore people have come out of poverty, and I am certain that Bapu would be blessing us for this from wherever he is today,” he said.
In the ‘Amrit Kaal’, when India is creating new records and reaching new heights from land to space and moving ahead with a pledge to become developed, this ”taposthali (worship place) of Mahatma Gandhi is a big inspiration for us,” he said.
Bapu’s ideal of truth and non-violence, resolve to worship the nation, dream of seeing service of God in the service of the poor and the deprived are alive even today through the Sabarmati Ashram, he added.
Modi said his government showed the willpower to develop Kashi Dham in Varanasi, which has attracted more than two crore devotees in the last two years.
He said 200-acre land was freed for the Ram temple expansion project (in Ayodhya) and in just 50 days of the consecration of Lord Ram’s idol, more than one crore devotees have visited the place. Lord Krishna’s Dwarka in Gujarat has also seen development work, he noted.
The Somnath temple’s renovation by Sardar Patel was a historic event, and Gujarat has witnessed restoration and enrichment of many such world heritage sites, including the port city of Lothal which is thousands of years old, Modi said.
The government also ran a campaign to develop heritage places associated with the freedom struggle and national inspiration, like Rajpath was developed as the Kartavya Path. The sites in Andaman and Nicobar, places associated with Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Statue of Unity at Ekta Nagar and Dandi Ashram as some such examples, he said.
”The development and expansion of the Sabarmati Ashram is a big step in that direction,” the prime minister said.
He also expressed admiration for families residing within the ashram premises for their role in making its expansion possible, because of which the government could get 55 acre land freed for its redevelopment.
