On the last day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day UK visit, Indian ladies in UK (IlU) group presented a colourful crochet blanket knitted by over 4,000 diaspora women under a ‘Chai pe Crochet’ initiative to the PM, who inaugurated a memorial dedicated to Dr BR Ambedkar and unveiled a statue of Basaveshwara, the 12th century Indian philosopher and social reformer.
In August, Maharashtra Government acquired the bungalow where the Dalit icon and architect of India’s Constitution lived in 1921-22 during his student days at london School of Economics (lSE).
Modi on Saturday left for Turkey, where he will attend the G20 Summit on Sunday.
The “unique” large-scale blanket was made up of more than 2,500 little squares of crochet created by Indian women across the UK in their own individual styles.
“More than 4,000 Diaspora women created this colourful crochet to highlight India’s diversity and gender issues,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted and posted a photograph of Modi being presented the multi-coloured blanket of crochet ---- a handicraft in which yarn is made up into a textured fabric by means of a hooked needle.
A delegation of IlU group, which claims to have almost 5,000 Indian women mostly first generation immigrants from India as members, met Modi at Taj St. James --- where he was staying during the visit --- to present the ‘Unity in Diversity’ blanket, calling on the Indian Prime Minister to better engage with the Indian Diaspora community in the UK. “Any such show of support from the global Indian community is very welcome to India,” Modi told them.
The women were encouraged to use their personal creativity to create thousands of crochet squares to make up one large vibrant blanket. “Modi told us that he had followed what we were doing in the past couple of days and commended us for keeping India’s future in mind,” said Poonam Joshi, IlU member and the brainchild behind the initiative.
After inaugurating the memorial dedicated to Dr BR Ambedkar, Modi said the Dalit icon’s message of equality and justice continues to resonate. He visited the house where Ambedkar lived in 1921-22. Maharashtra had acquired the three-storey 2,050 sq ft house at 10 King Henry’s Road, in northwest london, in August for an estimated cost of 3.2 million to 4 million pounds. Modi, who was accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, paid floral tributes to Ambedkar’s bust at the house.
“There are some very special documents and letters related to Babasaheb on display, including some of his writings. My personal highlight is a letter he wrote in German to Bonn University. It just shows the wide intellect of the great man,” Fadnavis said.
The six-room memorial is still under renovation but one of the floors which Modi explored on Saturday will be open to the public until November 20. It will then shut for further repairs and renovations and is expected to be open again in the New Year.
The main floor that had been hurriedly spruced up for Modi’s visit includes a selection of black and white photographs, Ambedkar’s famous quotes and a room dedicated to bound copies of his writings as well as a large wall painting of the preamble of the Indian Constitution.
“Ambedkar, whose 125th birth anniversary we are celebrating now, was not just an architect of India’s Constitution but our parliamentary democracy,” Modi had told MPs in his speech in the British Parliament earlier this week.
Narendra Modi also unveiled a statue of Basaveshwara, the 12th century Indian philosopher and social reformer, in london praising him for giving the world ideals of democracy much before the Magna Carta. “Basaveshwara fought against the caste system and evil forces in society. I hope people will try to understand what he advocated,” Modi said.
Describing Basaveshwara as a Karma Yogi, Modi said he spread the message “work is worship” and advocated parliamentary democracy much before the Magna Carta.
“When I was with (British) PM David Cameron, he was showing me the Magna Carta. But long before him Basaveshwara gave the principles of democracy,” he said.
Magna Carta, meaning ‘The Great Charter’, is one of the most famous documents in the world. Originally issued by King John of England (1199-1216) as a practical solution to the political crisis he faced in 1215, Magna Carta established for the first time the principle that everybody, including the king, was subject to the law.
“This statue will be an inspiration for all those who believe in democratic ideals,” he said.
Dr Neeraj Patil, the former mayor lambeth, who initiated the drive for installing Basaveshwara’s statue here, announced that the Basaveshwara Foundation will donate 250,000 pounds to the friends of Vauxhall Plessure Garden for donating the land where the statue is installed.
Basaveshwara shares a conceptual relationship with Britain because he preached British values of democracy, freedom of speech, equality of opportunity and tolerance way back in the 12th century.
Basaveshwara’s statue is the first Indian statue approved on the conceptual basis in the vicinity of British Parliament.