Narendra Modi attends Bihar Centennial Session, Surat

Place: Surat

Bihar is celebrating its centennial right now. In 1912, when there was the British government, Bihar separated from the Bengal and began its journey of development. Friends, in the past for some time Bihar fell into the hands of such leaders, that its contributions were written off the minds of the people because of the destruction caused. But please don’t forget that Bihar has given a lot to this country for centuries. The entire humanity is grateful to Bihar for its contribution of the Buddha. You can go anywhere in the whole of Asia today. They are influenced by the Buddha. Being influenced by the Buddha means being influenced by Bihar. In every corner of the world, Bihar made its identity through the Buddha in that period.

Gujarat has had a very close relationship with Bihar. Even today, both Buddha and Mahavir have their influence in Gujarat. Even today, Gujarat is living under the influence of Mahavir. Even today Gujarat is making an attempt to live as Mahavir. And I am amongst those fortunate people, who were born in that city, where Huein Tsang from China had come. Eight hundred years ago he had come and stayed in my town of Vadnagar. And Huein Tsang has written in his historical writings that in that period, there was an institute for the training of 10,000 Buddhist monks in my city. There was an arrangement for the residence of 10,000 monks there. This shows how much the influence of the Buddha had spread at that time. And I am proud to have been born in that city, so that our link gets established with history. Friends, in the whole world, if you can see the remains of the Lord Buddha in your hands, it is so only in Gujarat. Even recently, when excavations were being made, we found the remains of the Lord Buddha in a golden casket and taking these, we are going to build a beautiful memorial for the Lord Buddhaon the land of Gujarat. Even today, if you go to Girnar, you’ll find that the Rock Edicts of Ashoka are extant there.

Brothers and sisters, when Mahatma Gandhi had started his first movement, he began it on the land of Bihar in Champaran. And when Jayaprakash Narayan Ji started the first movement against corruption, he did it on the land of Gujarat. A son of Gujarat begins his movement in Bihar and a son of Bihar comes and leads the youth in Gujarat. Bihar and Gujarat have had this relationship.

Brothers and sisters, you have come from Bihar to earn your living. You are welcome on the land of Gujarat. Whatever Gujarat is today, it has the fragrance of the sweat of India. Gujarat has not been built with only the sweat of Gujaratis. People from every corner of India have shed their sweat here and that’s how my Gujarat has been built. Hence, everyone is welcome as well as respected in Gujarat. Brothers and sisters, Manoj Tiwari has the same right on Gujarat as Narendra Modi has and all of you also have the same right on Gujarat.

This country is one. It cannot be divided in pieces.It has a unified tradition, a unified culture, a unified heritage and a unified populace. Because of this unity, there is no corner of India, from where people have not come to live in Surat. Brothers and sisters, if a son of Bihar has gone to any other corner of India, his mother must be asking, “Son, are you fine?” But if he has come to Gujarat, his mother sleeps peacefully, thinking that her dear son is safe in Gujarat. If a single daughter leaves Patna and reaches the boundary of Gujarat in her train, her mother asks how far the train has reached. When she knows that train has entered into the territory of Gujarat, she says, “Daughter, you have now reached safely; I can sleep now.” Gujarat has built this reputation for itself.

Brothers and sisters, in this centennial year, if we all can carry out one task, we should do it. And it is worth doing. And Narendra Modi will do this work. But what work is that? For some reasons whatever is spoken about Bihar, those are not nice words. This should stop. Friends, after so many years, you will see that many people who have made achievements are from Bihar. A large number of IAS officers are from Bihar. A large number of IPS officers are from Bihar. A large number of members of Team India are from Bihar. A large number of people in the film industry are from Bihar. In the field of education and Sciences, a large number of people are from Bihar. There was a son from Bihar here. Son, please stand up for a while. In the whole world, this son of my Bihar has crossed the heights of knowledge. Then why do people talk about this Bihar in any kind of words they want?

Let’s all pledge that we will re-establish the prestige of Bihar and will say that you have everything.They are nice people, who are hard working. But its image has been tarnished. Friends, if there is an attempt to tarnish the image of any state, problems arise for centuries. Once again, we have to show the prestige of Bihar. It has everything; we don’t have to give anything. Only we have to speak on its behalf. Wherever we go, we should say it’s a good place. Brothers and sisters, if we begin to speak in favour of Bihar, its lost self-confidence will come back again. And I have the confidence that if there is a state that can give direction to the country, that can show the way, then such a state is Bihar. Brothers and sisters, because of this, we are celebrating this centennial with great fervor.

And I appeal to the Bihari community in Surat that they should not stop at just this programme in Surat. Biharis are not only in Surat. There are more than fifty towns where Biharis are living in Gujarat.And everywhere we should have some centennial programme. You have full support of my government for this. Last year we had celebrated the Golden anniversary of Gujarat. We had celebrated it in Patna as well. We had celebrated it also in Ranchi. We had also celebrated it in Dhanbad. In this Golden year anniversary all these people had joined hands together. If Bihar celebrates the Golden anniversary of my Gujarat, then Gujarat will also celebrate the centennial of Bihar with great fervor.

It is my good fortune that I got the opportunity to show my respect to such senior people.The organisers of this programme of Bihar invited me for this programme and gave me this opportunity. I am grateful to them. Brothers and sisters come and let’s go forward with the mantra of development. We have only one mantra i.e., development.I want Gujarat to develop so much that your house in Bihar will be filled up with the money earned here.Your mother should be happy that her son has gone to the right place, from where he sends so much of money. With the development of Gujarat, Bihar should prosper. We all should make this effort. With this wish, I welcome you all. Jai Bihar! Say it loudly, Jai Bihar! Jai Jai Bihar!