Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday hit out at the critics who have questioned the use of the lotus symbol in the G-20 logo as India prepares to preside over the presidency from next month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this week had unveiled the G-20 symbol, theme and the website. “One Earth, One Family, One Future” is our G-20 mantra, the Prime Minister had said during a virtual briefing on Monday, as he described the lotus in the logo as “a symbol of hope in these tough times”.
“Controversies are created over symbols related to our heritage. You must be aware that a logo was unveiled linked to G-20, the nations having a hold on about 85 per cent of the global GDP. Now that logo has a lotus. A storm was kicked up by some over the use of the symbol. They said that it’s a symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” the Defence Minister said at the event in Haryana’s Jhajjar.
“There is a limit to which such claims should be pushed. The reality is that in 1950, lotus was declared as the national flower. And they did that because the lotus is a symbol of India’s heritage. In 1857, when the first freedom struggle was waged, revolutionaries fought with lotus in one hand and roti in another,” Rajnath Singh can be further heard saying in a video tweeted by news agency ANI. He was attending the ceremony for unveiling of Prithivraj Chouhan statue and also tweeted photos from the event.
{{/usCountry}}“There is a limit to which such claims should be pushed. The reality is that in 1950, lotus was declared as the national flower. And they did that because the lotus is a symbol of India’s heritage. In 1857, when the first freedom struggle was waged, revolutionaries fought with lotus in one hand and roti in another,” Rajnath Singh can be further heard saying in a video tweeted by news agency ANI. He was attending the ceremony for unveiling of Prithivraj Chouhan statue and also tweeted photos from the event.
{{/usCountry}}“Should we forget that the lotus flower is a national symbol? Did the Prime Minister commit a big crime by doing that? An unnecessary row is being created. Just because it is a symbol of a party, should it be no longer considered the national flower? If some party has a hand as its symbol, should it not be used? Or if cycle is a party symbol, would you not use it? Just because it’s a party symbol? As long as our party is ruling, we would not let anybody target the national heritage,” the Union Minister further said.
While unveiling the theme, PM Modi on Monday had also stressed that “G-20 Presidency is not merely a diplomatic meeting for India, it is a new responsibility and a measure of the world’s trust in India”.
Meanwhile, PM Modi is set to attend the 17th G-20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, from Monday.
(With inputs from ANI)