Swarnim Gujarat is just entertainment: Sanat Mehta

Sanat Mehta,who led the Maha Gujarat Movement from 1956 to 1960 along with Indulal Yagnik,called the Swarnim Gujarat celebrations a manoranjan programme. He said he too would have participated had it been celebrated in slums or the tribal belt or for some education-related activity. Mehta termed Gujarat as the most powerful state in the country. He criticised the present government for making the poor and tribal people dance in such functions in the name of giving them a chance.

“Our fight was different. We used to sing ‘Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat’ and not ‘Jai Jai Maha Gujarat’. Indulal Yagnik’s dream was something else during the fight,but after Gujarat actually came into existence,parties were divided. We thought Indulal would take over the reins but it did not happen,” Mehta told The Sunday Express.

But today,he said,it is like a ‘win some,lose some’ situation. “There were people who used to say Gujarat is not an economically viable state; today,they have been proved wrong. I would rather say that Gujarat has the potential to create four Mumbais. In those days it was said that Kutch was a ‘money order’ economy,but we proved it wrong and today there are industries in the same desert. However,it is sad that we are lagging behind in certain areas. Close to two crore people are living in poverty. Kerala is still leading in literacy rate. I would love to see my state as number one in these grey areas as well,” he said.