Union Home minister Amit Shah (file photo)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said basic education should be imparted in local languages. He urged students to keep their native languages and dialects alive. He added that no one should have an inferiority complex in not knowing English.
Speaking to the students of the prestigious Sardar Patel Vidyalaya on the 147th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he said if Patel had been the first prime minister of India, the country would not have faced many problems. "India's map wouldn't have been the same had it not been for Patel as he ensured the peaceful integration of more than 500 princely states and that of Lakshwadeep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Junagadh, Hyderabad, and even Kashmir."
He recalled that former British PM Winston Churchill said India will disintegrate and collapse once the colonisers left. But Patel worked to instill grassroots democracy because of which the country made great strides in 75 years. "Many people would not know that Patel played a key role in framing the constitution of the country. He was the one who urged Bhimrao Ambedkar to take up the responsibility."
Patel was the first home minister of India. Shah claimed that many attempts to erase the legacy of Patel were made back in the day. And Patel was not a leader who worked on promoting himself.