It was a very important acknowledgement by Mr Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, when he publicly said in the presence of 60,000 people at Wembley Stadium on Friday 13 November 2015 that CB’s persistent campaign demanding start of direct flights from London to Ahmedabad was successful. Mr Modi declared during his landmark speech that direct flights to Ahmedabad from London will commence from 15 December 2015.
Myself together with my family members, my friends and perhaps millions of people worldwide were thrilled when PM Modi mentioned CB’s name as a long standing friend and praised your continuous service which was a unique occasion.
I remember that for a long time CB had been campaigning for recommencement of this service. In 2009, as the Chairman of NCGO and the Editor of Asian Voice Publication, he re-launched a joint campaign and collected a large number of signatures which were formally submitted to Air India. In 2010 Mr Praful Patel, then Minister of Aviation in the Indian Government falsely declared that the flights will start from October 2010.
CB has been very resilient and your persistent knocking on the door of the Indian Government, using various channels and forums in India and in the UK finally proved to be greatly instrumental in the Indian Prime Minister declaring that the direct flights will commence on 15 December 2015.
On behalf of National Association of Patidar Samaj, I congratulate and thank you for becoming a large factor in this result.
Pravin Amin, BSc (Civil), CEng, MICE.
President, National Association of Patidar Samaj.
