New Delhi, October 31
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today chose to remind the country of the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi on this day in 1984. He also dedicated the National Unity Day to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel.

Modi skipped the event commemorating the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi where President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and top leaders of the Congress paid floral tributes to her.

Addressing a gathering at Rajpath ahead of the Unity Run, Modi reminded the audience of the mammoth task of integrating the princely states by the first Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

He said the riots that broke out in various parts of the country in 1984 rendered a blow to the nation’s unity. Stating that Sardar Patel never lost sight of the objective of the country’s unity, the PM said damage was done to the unity on his birth anniversary 30 years ago when a dangerous incident took shape. “Our own people were done to death. And that incident was not an injury on a community, but a dagger on the centuries-old fabric and system of the country...it was dangerously objectionable,” he said. Paying tributes to Sardar Patel, Modi said: “Let us not forget that a nation that disregards its history can never create one...Don't divide history, legacy in narrow confines of ideology.”

Remembering the contribution of Patel in the Independence movement, Modi said Mahatma Gandhi had entrusted him with planning of the historical Dandi march which he successfully did.

"When we see Ramakrishna Paramhans he appears to be incomplete without Swami Vivekananda. Similarly when we see Mahatma Gandhi, he also appears incomplete without Sardar Patel," he said.

Modi also compared Patel with Chanakya, saying: "The country can never forget Sardar Patel. Centuries ago, Chanakya conducted a successful experiment of establishing a strong set up by uniting small princely states.”

Modi also flagged-off a Unity Run and joined the participants for some distance. Sports personalities including wrestler Sushil Kumar, boxer Vijender Singh and cricketers Virendra Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, also took part in the run.