On Gandhi Jayanti, Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal dedicates tallest national flag to state

On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal dedicated the country’s third tallest national flag to the state at a function held at Gandhi Mandap in Guwahati on Tuesday. The 319.5 feet flag pole is the highest in the country with respect to the average elevation of the city, a release issued by the state government said.

Considering the height of the Flag Pole, it is ranked third highest in the country after Attari Border which is 360 feet and Pimpri Chinchwad Bhakti Shakti Chowk,  Pune which is 351 feet, the release said.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that Gandhiji’s philosophy on non-violence, swachhata (cleanliness), untouchability is still relevant not only in India but outside also. Even the legends like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King followed Gandhiji’s philosophy to serve the humanity, he said. Terming Gandhiji a great humanist and nationalist, Sonowal said installing the tallest national flag in the state was motivated by Gandhiji’s principle of nationalism.

Speaking on Gandhiji’s importance on cleanliness, the chief minister referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2014. He said that Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is no longer a government programme, it has become a mass movement.

The reflections of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan can be seen in entire length and breadth of the country where people irrespective of all class are volunteering themselves to cleanliness movement, he said.