Sardar Patel's 151st birth anniversary: Parade at Ekta Nagar to celebrate end of armed Naxalism

New Delhi, October 31, 2026: The country is observing the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel today. The day has been celebrated as National Unity Day since 2014. It is a national resolve to protect the country's unity, integrity and security. Every year the day raises the same old question: how to keep a large and diverse country like India together. In 1947 and 1948, Sardar Patel answered it with a mix of negotiation, persuasion and firmness. Even 79 years later, the debate revolves around that answer.

When the British left, paramountcy lapsed and more than 560 princely states were, on paper, free to choose their own future. The States Department was formed under Sardar Patel on June 25, 1947. V.P. Menon was his secretary, and the two brought these states into the Indian Union in record time. Most rulers signed the Instrument of Accession after negotiations. Where talks failed, as in Junagadh and Hyderabad, Sardar Patel did not hesitate to act, taking decisions in the national interest.

Sardar Patel believed that a nation is not built by territory alone and that it also needs institutions. He championed the all-India services, which he called the steel frame of the country, and secured constitutional protection for them. As the country's first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, he steered the country through the turmoil of Partition and oversaw the rehabilitation of refugees and the restoration of law and order. In the Constituent Assembly he chaired the committees on fundamental rights, minorities and provincial matters. American historian George C. Herring described him as the architect of modern India as early as 1964.

This year's event is being held on a large scale. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay tribute to Sardar Patel at the Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar and watch the Unity Day parade. For the first time, the parade will be held in the evening. Contingents of the BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP and SSB will march with the state police forces that led the fight against armed Naxalism. Screens along the route will tell the story of each force's role.

In the cultural programme, the National School of Drama will stage a performance featuring 2,000 artists from the 126 districts that were once affected by armed Naxalism. There will also be folk and classical dances, a Unity Tableau Parade and an evening Light and Sound Show on the life of Sardar Patel. For the first time, the tableaux have been prepared by citizens through MyGov national competitions rather than by government departments. The cultural theme of the day is Vande Mataram.

Run for Unity events have been held in districts, institutions and campuses outside Ekta Nagar. This has made the day more a people's movement than a government ritual. The celebrations do not end on October 31. Bharat Parv, the national festival of culture and arts, will run at Ekta Nagar from November 1 to 15, 2026. Pavilions of states and Union Territories will showcase their handicrafts, cuisine and heritage.

The 182-metre-tall Statue of Unity is recognised as the world's tallest statue. It was dedicated to the nation on October 31, 2018. The area earlier known as Kevadia, a remote part of Narmada district, has become a national landmark in less than a decade. It now hosts the Unity Day parade, foundation programmes for civil service officers and major national conferences. Development around the statue has also opened up employment opportunities for local tribal communities.

This year's event has a special focus. Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan has said that the first and most important aspect of National Unity Day 2026 is the celebration of the end of armed Naxalism. More than 5,000 people from districts where Naxal violence once threatened life and property every day will be present at Ekta Nagar.

Sardar Patel believed that internal security is the first condition of national unity and that no state can tolerate an armed challenge to its authority. Police and paramilitary personnel, many of whom gave their lives, carried that resolve forward in this long fight. Similarly, this year's emphasis on a drug-free India is linked to the same thinking: a united nation needs a strong and healthy society.

Divisive narratives based on region, language, caste or religion continue to test the fabric of the country. Sardar Patel's message was that India's diversity is its strength, not its weakness. Many also regard the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 as the completion of the integration that Sardar Patel began in 1947. It brought Jammu and Kashmir fully within the constitutional framework that binds the rest of the Union.

For young people, Sardar Patel's life is a lesson in discipline, decisiveness and selfless service. Students' participation in Run for Unity, essay competitions, debates and the unity pledge shows that the new generation is embracing his legacy. The idea of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat that runs through Bharat Parv is, at heart, Sardar Patel's own idea of a nation bound by a shared purpose.

For decades, Sardar Patel's contribution did not receive the recognition he deserved. He died in December 1950, but was awarded the Bharat Ratna only in 1991, more than four decades later. The start of National Unity Day in 2014 and the statue standing on the banks of the Narmada have given his legacy a permanent place in the national consciousness.

He was the son of a farmer from Gujarat, who received the title of Sardar during the Bardoli Satyagraha and went on to become the architect of modern India's political unity. On the 151st anniversary, the best tribute is not merely to recall his work but also to understand that the task of keeping India together is never finished. Every generation has to play its part.