It may not make a whit of a difference, but Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi wants to observe UN Day differently. Rather than tamely going through the motions of unfurling the United Nations flag in the state Capital on October 24, he wants his ‘‘five crore Gujaratis’’ to bombard the UN website with e-mails, seeking a permanent berth for India in the UN Security Council.Modi has appealed to the people of Gujarat that they send the e-mails to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and ask him to favourably consider India’s plea for a permanent seat in the Council.Such canvassing, though, carries no weight in the UN’s decision-making but mindless of that, Modi’s appeal says: ‘‘For the last 31 years, the state has been observing the UN Day more to complete the formality’’, so this year a new initiative be taken and the UN website be flooded with demands seeking a permanent seat for India in the Security Council.Because India is a UN member, protocol requires that all Indian states must unfurl the UN flag in their capitals on October 24. But for Modi, plain routine has never seemed enough.Sources close to the Chief Minister said he broached the idea of doing something different the very day his office received a Central government letter on flag-hoisting.‘‘He felt that instead of just going through the motions of unfurling the flag on UN Day, it would be better if something is done for the nation,’’ said a senior official, requesting anonymity. ‘‘He has appealed to all Gujaratis in the state and across the globe to flood the United Nations website with e-mails.’’The government has already started sending out e-mails to some four lakh non-resident Gujaratis, asking them to take part in the campaign and giving the address to which their appeal must be sent.
