Curtains came down on “The Great India Run 2022” amid much fanfare in a glittering ceremony at Nehru Park on Monday in the national capital. The relay-run, which covered a distance of 829 km across four states and travelled all the way from Lal Chowk in Srinagar to New Delhi, concluded with a closing ceremony in the presence of Union Minister Jitendra Singh and Rajya Sabha member Kartikeya Sharma as chief guests.
The culmination ceremony of “The Great India Run” was attended by more than 500 fans and onlookers. The mood was patriotic as not a single person present at the venue was without a Tricolour in their hands.
The run was flagged off from the iconic Lal Chowk in Srinagar on 5 August. The run was organised to be part of the “75th Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” and the “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign.
The run is an initiative of iTV and iTV Foundation and builds on the chapter of the Great India Run held in 2016.
Attended by many dignitaries, including Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari, the event started off with high-spirited hoisting of the Tricolour and playing of patriotic songs. Addressing the ceremony, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Jitendra Singh waxed eloquent about “The Great India Run” and said, “It is indeed a wonderful initiative and I would like to thank Kartikeya Ji and iTV Group for this wonderful initiative and I am quite sure that this will help a lot in not only promoting running as sports in the country but also spread a positive message of Unity and Integrity.”
Congratulating the MP Kartikeya Sharma for organising the run, Minister Singh said, “I want to compliment Kartikeya Sharma and the entire team inspired by him. The way they have organized the event, it has actually supplemented PM Modi’s call for Har Ghar Tiranga. When for the first time PM Modi talked from the Red Fort about Swacha Bharat Abhiyan and just within a year 4 lakh toilets for women were built, was commendable, and people supported this campaign.”
Member of Parliament Kartikeya Sharma with Union Minister Jitendra Singh.
He further added, “In the same way PM Modi initiated the start-up India. Before 2014, India had 350 start-ups and now we have 75,000 start-ups, 105 unicorns. India stands third in the start-up ecosystem in the world. The PM just initiated these campaigns and people went on to run them. They have tried to give us a new political culture, which is above political lines.”
Member of Parliament Kartikeya Sharma welcomed the guests by calling the event historic and thanked all the guests for being part of the event. He said, “The Great Indian Run 2022 has been a historic event and created a sort of record as never before any run of this magnitude was flagged off from Lal Chowk, Kashmir. I felt the sense of pride attending the event at Lal Chowk when we were celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.”
He further said, “I must share an instance with you, one realisation is apart from anything else. When on 5 August we organised this debate and we started this run from there, I was thinking, 30 years back, in the form of ekta yatra, our respected Prime Minister had gone to hoist the flag in Srinagar, what could have been the atmosphere at that time. I was forced to think in such a way, because now after 30 years, we are living in a different India. Because now it has been possible in a place like Lal Chowk, we could organise our event and hoist the flag there.”
He added, “But if you think that in what condition the PM did it 30 years back and what kind of pressure would have been there at that point in time. So it was in itself an initiative which helped India after 30 years. We should realise this that how much it is important for the unity of India. I would also thank freedom fighters of our country who fought and gave blood for the country.”
Sharma further said, “We believe in ‘Ek Desh, Ek Samvidhan, Ek Jhanda and Har Ghar Tiranga’. We had started this event with this slogan. At Lal Chowk I lived this dream with fellow citizens who ran from Lal Chowk carrying with them the spirit of our nation. Sports as we all know has the spirit to unite this country. With the spirit these sportspersons, who ran for the nation, have shown great determination carrying forward the vision of PM Narendra Modi ji. It is indeed a matter of immense pride that iTV played a part in this noble and unique initiative aimed at taking the tricolour at every nook and cranny of the country to every village, to every household and to everyone›s heart. With all my heart I congratulate the 11 brave hearts and ultra-runners led by Arun Bhardwaj who had undertaken this challenge and completed the gruelling 829 km run from Kashmir to Delhi with the tricolour in hand spreading the message of unity and integrity.”
Manoj Tiwari said, “It is an honour to be part of this event. It is really great and to unfurl the national flag at the Lal Chowk is simply fabulous. I would request Kartikeya Ji to come up with more initiatives like this which keeps the country united.”
Arun Bhardwaj, an ultra-runner, who was also at the event, talked about his experience of his 10-day journey of “The Great India Run”, “India has to be made greatest,” he said. He also thanked Sharma for organising such an event. He said, “I had to collect those people who could make all this happen successfully so that the country runs forward with this task which was completed by runners.”
