NEW DELHI // Six months before a national election, India’s two biggest parties are embroiled in a tussle. Nothing unusual there — except that this time it is over a politician who has been dead for 63 years.
Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are claiming to be the true inheritors of the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a statesman and freedom fighter. He is often called the “Iron Man of India” based on his success in integrating disparate territories and princely states into the new Indian union, using a combination of strategy and force.
The battle was taken to new heights — almost literally — five days ago, when the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a 182-metre statue of Patel that will be known as the Statue of Unity.
To be cast out of melted farm equipment, reflecting Patel’s agrarian roots, the statue will cost more than 23 billion rupees (Dh1.32bn) and is to be funded by the Gujarat government as well as private donations. The statue will be built by Turner Construction, which erected Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. Twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty, it will tower over an islet in the Narmada river in Gujarat, the home state of both Patel and Mr Modi.
Mr Modi, who has been the chief minister of Gujarat since 2001, has drawn often upon this link to proclaim himself Patel’s heir, contrasting his and Patel’s qualities as “strongmen” with the perceived weaknesses of other Congress leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister.
“Every Indian still regrets that [Patel] did not become the first prime minister,” Mr Modi said during a public function in Ahmedabad two weeks ago. “Had he been the first prime minister, the country’s destiny would have been different.”
At the same function, however, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rebutted Mr Modi’s appropriation of Patel, pointing out that the late leader was always a proud member of the Congress.
“Sardar Patel was secular to the core,” Mr Singh said, a veiled reference to Mr Modi’s reputation as a Hindu right-winger who allegedly abetted anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002. “He had a deep faith in the integrity of India.”
Patel died in 1950, three years after India became independent, in which time he served as the country’s first home minister.
He was one of the first Congress leaders to accept the partition of the subcontinent into India and the Muslim state of Pakistan. In this, he differed from colleagues like Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru, who were distressed by the partition and wished to keep India whole.
The BJP and other organisations of the Hindu right, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — not a political party but the BJP’s ideological mentor — mistakenly interpret Patel’s acceptance of partition as making him a supporter of Hindu chauvinism, said Shamsul Islam, a professor of political science at Delhi University.
“But in fact, Patel was no fan of the RSS,” Mr Islam said.
Rajmohan Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and one of Patel’s foremost biographers, said in a television interview earlier this last week that Patel would have been “pained and saddened” by the anti-Muslim violence that occurred under Mr Modi’s watch in 2002. “I think it is quite obvious that [Patel] would have been very disappointed … not only as an Indian statesman but also as coming from Gujarat, that this should not have happened in Gujarat and the government of the time was not able to prevent it,” Mr Gandhi said.
He also pointed out that Patel, although appreciative of the RSS’s work helping refugees during the violence of partition in 1947, soon changed his mind and became a fierce critic of the Hindu right.
In 1948, as home minister, Patel temporarily banned the RSS, of which Mr Modi was once a member.
Mr Patel said the government was determined to “root out the forces of hate and violence that are at work in our country”.
The ban order came after a former RSS member assassinated Gandhi, although an inquiry found later that the group was not responible for the crime.
In a letter to RSS leaders that year, Patel decried their speeches “full of communal poison” and pointed out that “it was not necessary to spread poison in order to enthuse the Hindus and organise for their protection”.
The Hindu right, Patel wrote later to Nehru, “will have to change its entire outlook”.
The Congress has been foolish in neglecting its ties to Patel, Mr Islam said. Instead, the party has chosen to play up the Nehru-Gandhi family, which still controls the Congress today.
“But it is a sad commentary on Indian politics that both parties are even fighting so fiercely over this leader from the past,” Mr Islam said. “It’s sad that they aren’t instead talking about the policies and politics of today.”
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
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The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
CONCRETE COWBOY
Directed by: Ricky Staub
Starring: Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Jharrel Jerome
3.5/5 stars
The Cairo Statement
1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations
2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred
3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC
4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.
5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.
6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security
SPEC SHEET
Display: 10.4-inch IPS LCD, 400 nits, toughened glass
CPU: Unisoc T610; Mali G52 GPU
Memory: 4GB
Storage: 64GB, up to 512GB microSD
Camera: 8MP rear, 5MP front
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, 3.5mm audio
Battery: 8200mAh, up to 10 hours video
Platform: Android 11
Audio: Stereo speakers, 2 mics
Durability: IP52
Biometrics: Face unlock
Price: Dh849
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Results
2.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mezmar, Adam McLean (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
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3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Gold Silver, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.
4pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m; Winner: Atrash, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez.
4.30pm: Gulf Cup Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Momtaz, Saif Al Balushi, Musabah Al Muhairi.
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Al Mushtashar, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
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Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
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Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
