TAWANG, 20 Sep: “Tawang is the last gift to the nation by the first home minister of the country, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,” said Chief Minister Pema Khandu, and expressed regret that “this fact is lost in history.”
Flagging in the ‘Soul of India’ ride at the war memorial here on Friday morning, Khandu said that the contributions made by Patel at the highest level and Major Bob Khathing at the ground level in bringing Tawang under the rule of India has never been recognised and therefore remains unknown to the people.
“This propelled us to conduct an exhaustive research and bring to the fore the contributions of Sardar Patel and Major Khathing by establishing the Major Ralengnao Bob Khathing museum in Tawang,” he said.
Recognising the need for the museum to convey the emotion of ‘one nation’ and narrate the broader story of India’s unity and diversity, a ‘Soul of India’ installation has been conceived as part of the museum, which would house soil from iconic locations in each state and union territory connected to India’s freedom struggle.
In order to operationalise the concept, the ‘Soul of India’ ride was drawn up. The ride commenced on 13 June with a team of three riders from the Royal Arunachal Riders and, over the course of one month, they traversed 12,000 kms to collect sacred soil from different regions.
Riders from across India contributed by collecting and sending soil from sites that were inaccessible during the main ride.
A total of 36 casks, each containing soil from these iconic locations, were received by the chief minister, and will be featured at the ‘Soul of India’ installation in the museum.
On behalf of the state government and the people of Tawang, Khandu expressed gratitude to the riders and all those involved in the task.
He informed that the plan is to inaugurate the museum on 31 October, which is celebrated as the National Unity Day, commemorating Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary.
“We are working to invite Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to inaugurate the museum in the presence of Chief of Defence Staff Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi and chief ministers or their representatives of the northeastern states,” Khandu said.
He later took stock of the status of the under-construction museum. (CMO’s PR Cell)
