JAIPUR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday heaped praise on Congress veteran and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot while addressing an event in Banswara during which he recalled his days as Gujarat chief minister and how they worked together in past without any discord. The Prime Minister also hailed him as "one of the senior-most Chief Ministers in the country and an experienced politician." 


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“Ashok JI (Gehlot) and I had worked together as CMs. He was the most senior in our lot of CMs. Ashok Ji is still one of the senior-most CMs among those who are sitting on the stage right now,” PM Narendra Modi said while addressing the gathering at Mangarh Dham ki Gaurav Gatha’ in Banswara, Rajasthan.


 



 


During his speech, PM Modi also regretted that the struggle & sacrifice of tribal communities didn't get their rightful place in history written after Independence. “Today, the country is rectifying that decades-old mistake. India's past, present & future is not complete without the tribal community,” the PM said in Banswara. “Every step of our freedom struggle, pages of history are filled with tribal valour,” the Prime Minister said. 


 



 


Responding to his speech, Gehlot said that PM Modi gets respect globally because he is the PM of a country where democracy is deep-rooted.


Gehlot said that when PM Narendra Modi goes abroad he receives great honour. because he`s the PM of the nation of Gandhi, where democracy is deep-rooted. "When world realises this, they feel proud that PM of that country is coming to them..." Gehlot said during the event “Mangarh Dham ki Gaurav Gatha,” which recalled the 1913 Mangarh massacre.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier Tuesday shared the dais with veteran Congress leader Gehlot at the event. The Prime Minister also declared the Mangarh Dham in the Banswara district of Rajasthan as a national monument. It was here that the British forces - on November 17, 1913 - gunned down more than 1,500 people of the Bhil tribal community.


CMs of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Bhupendra Patel were also present on the dais. As the Chief Minister of Gujarat, the Prime Minister recalled serving the region of Mangarh which is part of Gujarat and informed that Govind Guru spent the last years of his life here, and his energy and knowledge can still be felt in the soil of this land.


The Prime Minister remembered that the entire area which was a barren land earlier got transformed with greenery after he urged everyone via the platform of Van Mahotsav. He thanked the tribal community for selflessly working for the campaign.


Remembering the massacre of November 17, 1913, in Mangarh, the Prime Minister remarked that it was an example of extreme cruelty by British rule in India. "On one hand we had the innocent tribals who were seeking independence while on the other hand, it was the British colonial rulers who after surrounding the hills of Mangarh, massacred more than one thousand five hundred innocent men, women, elderly, and children in broad daylight," PM Modi said.