Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said India's armed forces and the leadership are committed to defend `Swaraj' or sovereignty of the country, and it was demonstrated very well during Operation Sindoor.
Speaking after the unveiling of an equestrian statue of Maratha statesman and general Peshwa Bajirao I at the National Defence Academy (NDA) here, the BJP leader also said whenever he is plagued by negative thoughts, he thinks of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Bajirao.
The NDA was the most appropriate place for Bajirao's memorial as it is an institution where military leadership is trained, Shah said. "Whenever negative thoughts come to my mind, I usually think about `Bal' (young) Shivaji and Peshwa Bajirao, thinking that they were able to establish a `Swaraj' (self-rule or sovereign state) amid adverse conditions," he said.
The responsibility to defend the Swaraj now lies with 140 crore Indians, Shah added. "When it was time to put up a fight to establish a Swaraj, we did it. When fighting will be required to defend the Swaraj, our forces and leadership will definitely demonstrate it, and Operation Sindoor was its finest example," he said.
Paying tributes to Bajirao I (1700 to 1740), Shah said if the battle for independence started by Shivaji Maharaj and taken forward by the Peshwas for 100 years not been fought, "India's basic structure would have ceased to exist.”
“In his life of 40 years, Peshwa Bajirao scripted immortal history which no other person could write,” he added. Bajirao, who became `Peshwa' or prime minister of the Maratha state at the age of 19, is credited with the expansion of the Maratha rule in central and northern India. After the event, Shah also interacted with NDA cadets.
