Bharat is a cultural and civilisational evolution. It has not been created or built by any king or ruler and does not fit into the modern political definition of a State with European understanding, Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi said here on Wednesday.
Participating in the Gujarat State Foundation Day celebrations at Raj Bhavan, he said: “A modern political State is defined with four characteristics: geography, people living in that geography, presence of a government, and its sovereignty. Bharat is much more than that. It has been built over thousands of years by our Rishis, Saints, and Munis.”
According to him, places such as Somnath, Dwaraka, Rameswaram, Puri, Badrinath, and Kashi do not belong to a particular State, but to the whole of Bharat. “People from various parts of the country travelled across various kingdoms to reach other spiritual towns because they knew that it was once in a lifetime visit. They travelled with the confidence that the institution enroute and at the destination would take care of them. They felt the whole country as one family,” he said.
“During the period of foreign invasion and colonisation, and unfortunately even after Independence, we started forgetting those and did not take much effort to revive that connection. Over time, after Independence, when we started creating more and more States, we started developing a State-centric identity by looking inward. This has to break. We have to regain the sense of a family. Bharat has to be understood, appreciated, and celebrated,” he said.
“Gujarat is a powerful engine of the nation’s growth. In terms of industrial output, Gujarat is number one in the country. It accounts for over 18% of our industrial output. Tamil Nadu is the most industrialised State in the country, but its industrial output is less than 10%. Gujarat shows and leads the way,” Mr. Ravi said.
Members of various Gujarati associations participated in the event. The artists from the South Zone Cultural Centre performed the traditional Gujarati dance ‘Dhal Talwar Raas’ of the Maher community and students performed the Garba dance.
Later in the evening, Mr. Ravi participated as chief guest in Chhatrapati Shivaji Jayanti and Maharashtra Day celebrations held at Sanskrit College in Mylapore. Mr. Ravi hailed Chhatrapati Shivaji and said, “He was not a conqueror. He was a liberator. If Shivaji was not there we would have lost our culture and identity.”
The Governor also recalled various leaders from Maharashtra and their contributions.
