Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that Sardar Patel had played an outstanding role in the making of India and the unification of princely states.

However, Sardar did not get due justice for his role in history, the Home Minister said after unveiling a huge 11-foot statue of the country’s first Home Minister at the Circuit House here.

Shah said, “Sardar did not care for name and fame and focused only on his duty towards the nation. He did not even bother about his failing health and worked tirelessly to achieve his goals.

He said Patel’s firm stance and dedicated work paved the way for the merger of 556 erstwhile principalities in the Union of India in the post-independence unification process.

Shah said Sardar acted tactically to bring some princely states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, including Jodhpur, into India’s fold by defeating certain conspiracies against the unification process.

However, history did not render justice to this “Loh Purush”, though he never bothered about name and fame.

Earlier, the Home Minister attended the 60th Raising Day of the BSF at its headquarters here, took salute of an impressive ceremonial parade, and lauded the dedicated role of BSF soldiers in the line of duty for the nation.

The Home Minister also paid tributes to the 1992 martyred BSF personnel who made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland over six decades and awarded medals to retired and serving personnel for their outstanding service.

Shah lauded the Modi government’s initiatives for reforms in internal security arrangements.

The Home Minister made specific mention of the Vibrant Border Village scheme and the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System.

He said the Vibrant Border Village scheme, which aims at providing basic amenities to the local people and is currently being implemented along the Northern border, will be extended to every last village along the entire international border.

Likewise, the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System will also be made functional along the entire Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh international borders.

He also expressed satisfaction over the success of another pilot project, the laser-driven anti-drone gun system, which delivered encouraging results during trials in Punjab.

He said that in the near future, a full-fledged Anti-Drone unit will be formed in the BSF.