Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the unveiling of a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - the first in North America - in Canada as “a marker for relations between the two countries”.
The bronze statue was unveiled at a programme at the Sanatan Mandir Cultural Center in the town of Markham in the Greater Toronto Area with messages from the Prime Ministers of India and Canada.
In a video address to the nearly 1000-strong crowd at the event, Prime Minister Modi said the statue “doesn’t just strengthen our cultural values, but will also be a marker for relations between the two countries”.
He also tweeted that this was “a great initiative” by the diaspora “to deepen cultural linkages with India”.
In a message to the organisers, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the gathering provided “a wonderful opportunity to recognise the longstanding and dynamic relationship that exists between India and Canada, and the significant contributions that our Indo-Canadian community – more than 1.4 million strong – make to our country in all fields of endeavour”.
The message was read out by minister of federal economic development agency for southern Ontario Helena Jaczek, who was present at the programme, along with her cabinet colleague minister of housing and diversity and inclusion Ahmed Hussen.
{{/usCountry}}The message was read out by minister of federal economic development agency for southern Ontario Helena Jaczek, who was present at the programme, along with her cabinet colleague minister of housing and diversity and inclusion Ahmed Hussen.
{{/usCountry}}Trudeau also said the statue stood “as a testament to the community’s deep gratitude and respect for Sardar Patel’s immense contributions and selfless dedication to India”.
Messages were also sent in by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Nayana Thakkar, secretary to the board of trustees of the temple, said that this was a smaller version of the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat.
This statue stands nine feet in height, atop at four foot high pedestal, and weighs approximately 1000kg.
She said part of the thought process behind installing the statue was that “our children should also know Indian history, what our leadership was like”.
The temple began a drive to collect funds for the statue in 2019 and it was made by Matu Ram Art Centres, a firm in Gurugram. It arrived earlier this year and the temple decided to unveil it on May 1 on occasion of Gujarat Day.
According to Thakkar, the temple originally wanted to time it for the temple’s 25th anniversary last year but was unable to do so due to Covid-19 related restrictions.