Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurates ‘Tarang Shakti 2024’, lauds IAF’s valour
The exercise, one of the largest multinational air drills ever held in the country, is being organised in Rajasthan's Jodhpur.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday unveiled the statue of Veer Durgadas Rathore, a Rajput General of the Kingdom of Marwar, on his 385th anniversary at Salva Kala village in Jodhpur district.
This statue of Veer Durgadas riding on a horse is 12 feet high and made of Ashtadhatu weighing around 1400 kg.
Speaking on the occasion, the Defense Minister said, “I wonder why such a grand statue of Marwar’s heroic great man was not installed in his village earlier? Veer Durgadas’ personality was amazing and had great devotion, honesty, and bravery”.
Recalling Durgadas and Akbar’s era, Singh said when Akbar started leaving, he handed over his two sons and a daughter to Durgadas with great confidence that they would be safe under his (Durgadas) care. The kids have imparted education as per their religion and language and not as per Hindu dharma. Though some forces were conspiring to create conflict between Hindu-Muslim, he added.
“Khan Shamsher of Kantalia had tortured Durgadas’ mother in search of him, even then she did not reveal the address of her son. His mother was killed. When the time came to take revenge, Durgadas said that I will not kill the enemy’s mother, sister, and daughter. Every woman older in age is our mother, women of equal age are sisters and younger girls are our daughters. He always protected religion, land, and flag from foreign invaders”, according to the Defense Minister who posted his brief statement on his FB wall.
In history, Durgadas is credited with having preserved the rule of the Rathore dynasty over Marwar, India, following the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh in the 17th century. In doing so he had to defy Aurangzeb, a Mughal emperor.
The Minister who was extended a warm welcome at the airforce airstrip in Jodhpur was accompanied by Union Ministers G S Shekhawat, MP from Pali P P Chaudhary, BJP State President Satish Poonia, and a number of local MLAs
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