Jodhpur: Union home minister Amit Shah Saturday praised the Maheshwari community for what he described as its sustained contributions to India from the era of battles against the Mughals through the freedom struggle and into post-Independence nation-building. Addressing the Maheshwari Global Convention here as chief guest, Shah said the community supported rulers during conflicts in earlier periods by helping “fill the coffers” for battles. He also credited Maheshwari “Bhamashahs” (philanthropists) with funding major expenses of the freedom movement, including Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts, and said the community played a role in the country’s cultural renaissance. Shah said that while a complete formal account may not be documented, the community’s role in sustaining the freedom movement was widely acknowledged. He also said the Maheshwari community continued to contribute after Independence through manufacturing, trade, wealth creation and adoption of technology, calling it progressive and far-sighted. Shah urged people to adopt ‘swadeshi’ and ‘swabhasha’, calling on them to consume and trade in local products and to speak Hindi and local languages at home. He said foreign languages could be used where needed for progress but stressed that children should be spoken to in the mother tongue, which he said sustains society, religion and culture. Linking swadeshi to the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat, Shah said self-reliance was essential for India to become a leading nation in every field by 2047. He asked community members to expand into manufacturing products not currently made in the country, alongside their existing businesses, to support the self-reliance push. Shah described such community conventions as a binding force that strengthens the nation rather than dividing it. He said if each community supported its poor, the country’s poor would be taken care of, and if each community became self-reliant, the nation would become self-reliant.
Shah lauds Maheshwari community role in fighting Mughals and British | Jaipur News
