India, Oct. 30 -- When India gained independence on August 15, 1947, the British left behind a fractured subcontinent that included more than 560 princely states. Without geographical unity, its hard-won freedom would have been hollow. With vision, determination, and an unyielding will, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first deputy prime minister and home minister, forged these scattered principalities into a single nation, giving independent India its shape and strength. However, the efforts of this great unifier did not receive the recognition he deserved.

Decades later, Narendra Modi recognised this omission and took decisive steps to preserve and celebrate Patel's legacy. Today, the world's tallest statue, the Statue of Unity, stand...