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Vallabhbhai Patel (Gujarati: વલ્લભભાઈ પટેલ) (31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950) was a political and social leader of India who played a major role in the country's struggle for independence and guided its integration into a united, independent nation. He was called the "Iron Man Of India". In India and across the world, he was often addressed as Sardar (Gujarati: સરદાર), which means Chief in many languages of India. Raised in
the countryside of Gujarat in Gujjar community and largely
self-educated, Vallabhbhai Patel was employed in successful practice as
a lawyer when he was first inspired
by the work and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.
Patel subsequently organised the peasants of Kheda, Borsad,
and Bardoli in Gujarat in non-violent civil
disobedience against
oppressive policies imposed by the British Raj;
in this role, he became one of the most influential leaders in Gujarat.
He rose to the leadership of the Indian National
Congress and was at
the forefront of rebellions and political events, organising the
party for elections in 1934 and 1937, and promoting the Quit India
movement. As the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister of India, Patel organised relief for refugees in Punjab and Delhi,
and led efforts to restore peace across the nation. Patel took charge
of the task to forge a united India from the 565 semi-autonomous princely states and
British-era colonial provinces. Using frank diplomacy backed with the
option (and the use) of military action, Patel's leadership enabled the
accession of almost every princely state. Hailed as the Iron Man of India,
he is also remembered as the "Patron Saint" of India's civil servants
for establishing modern
all-India services. Patel was also one of the earliest
proponents of property rights and free enterprise in India. Vallabhbhai
Jhaverbhai Patel was born at his maternal uncle's house Desai Vago in Nadiad in Leva Patidar Gujjar community of Gujarat.
His actual date of birth was never officially recorded — Patel entered
31
October as his date of birth on his matriculation examination papers. He was the fourth son of
Jhaverbhai and his wife Ladba Patel. They lived in the village of Karamsad,
in the Kheda district where Jhaverbhai owned
a homestead.
Somabhai, Narsibhai and Vithalbhai Patel (also
a future political leader) were his elder brothers. He had a younger
brother, Kashibhai and a sister, Dahiba. As a young boy, Patel helped
his father in the fields and bimonthly kept a day-long fast,
abstaining from food and water — a Hindu cultural observance that
enabled him to develop physical toughness. When
he was eighteen years old, Patel's marriage was arranged with Jhaverba,
a young girl of twelve or thirteen years from a nearby village.
According to custom, the young bride would continue to live with her
parents until her husband started earning and could establish their
household. Patel
travelled to attend schools in Nadiad, Petlad and Borsad, living
self-sufficiently with other boys. He reputedly cultivated a stoic
character — a popular anecdote recounts how he lanced his own painful boil
without hesitation, even as the barber supposed to do it trembled. Patel passed his matriculation at
the late age of 22; at this point, he was generally regarded by his
elders as an unambitious man destined for a commonplace job. Patel
himself harboured a plan — he would study to become a lawyer,
work and save funds, travel to England and study to become a barrister. Patel
spent years away from his family, studying on his own with books
borrowed from other lawyers and passed examinations within two years.
Fetching Jhaverba from her parents' home, Patel set up his household in Godhra and
enrolled at the bar. During the many years it took him to save money,
Vallabhbhai — now a pleader — earned a reputation as a fierce and
skilled
lawyer. His wife bore him a daughter, Manibehn,
in 1904 and later a son, Dahyabhai,
in 1906. Patel also cared for a friend suffering from Bubonic plague when
it swept across Gujarat. When Patel himself came down with the disease,
he immediately sent his family to safety, left his home and moved into
an isolated house in Nadiad (by other accounts, Patel spent this time
in a dilapidated temple); there, he recovered slowly. Patel
practised law in Godhra, Borsad and Anand while taking on the financial
burdens of his homestead in Karamsad. When he had saved enough for
England and applied for a pass and a ticket, they arrived in the name
of "V.J. Patel," at Vithalbhai's home, who bore the same initials.
Having harboured his own plans to study in England, Vithalbhai
remonstrated to his younger brother that it would be disreputable for
an older brother to follow his younger brother. In keeping with
concerns for his family's honour, Patel allowed Vithalbhai to go in his
place. He also financed his
brother's stay and began saving again for his own goals. In 1909,
Patel's wife Jhaverba was hospitalised in Mumbai (then
Bombay) to undergo a major surgical operation for cancer. Her health
suddenly worsened and despite successful emergency surgery, she died in
the hospital. Patel was given a note informing him of his wife's demise
as he was cross-examining a witness in court. According to others who
witnessed, Patel read the note, pocketed it and continued to intensely
cross-examine the witness and won the case. He broke the news to others
only after the proceedings had ended.
Patel
himself decided against marrying again. He raised his children with the
help of his family and sent them to English medium schools in Mumbai.
At the age of 36, he journeyed to England and enrolled at the Middle Temple Inn
in London. Finishing a 36-month course in 30 months, Patel topped his
class despite having no previous college background. Returning to
India, Patel settled in the city of Ahmedabad and
became one of the city's most successful barristers. Wearing
European style clothes and urbane mannerisms, he also became a skilled bridge player.
Patel nurtured ambitions to expand his practise and accumulate great
wealth and to provide his children with modern education. He had also
made a pact with his brother Vithalbhai to support his entry into
politics in the Bombay
Presidency, while Patel himself would remain in Ahmedabad and
provide for the family. At
the urging of his friends, Patel won an election to become the
sanitation commissioner of Ahmedabad in 1917. While often clashing with
British officials on civic issues, he did not show any interest in
politics. Upon hearing of Mohandas Gandhi,
he joked to Mavlankar that Gandhi would "ask you if
you know how to sift pebbles from wheat. And that is supposed to bring
independence." But Patel was deeply impressed
when Gandhi defied the British in Champaran for
the sake of the area's oppressed farmers. Against the grain of Indian
politicians of the time, Gandhi wore Indian style clothes and
emphasised the use of one's mother tongue or any Indian language as
opposed to English — the lingua franca of India's intellectuals. Patel
was particularly attracted to Gandhi's inclination to action — apart
from
a resolution condemning the arrest of political leader Annie Besant,
Gandhi proposed that volunteers march peacefully demanding to meet her. Patel
gave a speech in Borsad in September 1917, encouraging Indians
nationwide to sign Gandhi's petition demanding Swaraj
— independence — from the British. Meeting Gandhi a month later at the
Gujarat Political Conference in Godhra,
Patel became the secretary of the Gujarat Sabha
— a public body which would become the Gujarati arm of the Indian National
Congress — at Gandhi's encouragement. Patel now energetically
fought against veth —
the forced servitude of Indians to Europeans — and organised relief
efforts in wake of plague and famine in Kheda. The
Kheda peasants' plea for exemption from taxation had been turned down
by British authorities. Gandhi endorsed waging a struggle there, but
could not lead it himself due to his activities in Champaran.
When Gandhi asked for a Gujarati activist to devote himself completely
to the assignment, Patel volunteered, much to Gandhi's personal delight. Though his decision was made on
the spot, Patel later said that his desire and
commitment came after intensive personal contemplation, as he realised
he would have to abandon his career and material ambitions. Supported
by Congress volunteers Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya and Abbas Tyabji,
Vallabhbhai Patel began a village-to-village tour in the Kheda
district, documenting grievances and asking villagers for their support
for a statewide revolt by refusing the payment of taxes. Patel
emphasised potential hardships with the need for complete unity and
non-violence despite any provocation. He received enthusiastic
responses from virtually every village. When
the revolt was launched and revenue refused, the government sent police
and intimidation squads to seize property, including confiscating barn
animals and whole farms. Patel organised a network of volunteers to
work with individual villages — helping them hide valuables and protect
themselves during raids. Thousands of activists and farmers were
arrested, but Patel was not. The revolt began evoking sympathy and
admiration across India, including with pro-British Indian politicians.
The government agreed to negotiate with Patel and decided to suspend
the payment of revenue for the year, even scaling back the rate. Patel
emerged as a hero to Gujaratis and admired across India. In 1920, he was elected
president of the newly formed Gujarat Pradesh
Congress Committee — he would serve as its president till 1945. Patel
supported Gandhi's Non-cooperation
movement and
toured the state to recruit more than 300,000 members and raise over
Rs. 1.5 million in funds. Helping
organise bonfires of British goods in Ahmedabad, Patel threw in all his
English style clothes. With his daughter Mani and son Dahya, he
switched completely to wearing khadi.
Patel also supported Gandhi's controversial suspension of resistance in
wake of the Chauri Chaura incident. He worked
extensively in the following years in Gujarat against alcoholism, untouchability and caste
discrimination, as well as for the empowerment of women. In the
Congress, he was a resolute supporter of Gandhi against his Swarajist critics.
Patel was elected Ahmedabad's municipal president in 1922, 1924 and
1927 — during his terms, Ahmedabad was extended a major supply of
electricity and the school system underwent major reforms. Drainage and
sanitation systems were extended over all the city. He fought for the
recognition and payment of teachers employed in schools established by
nationalists (out of British control) and even took on sensitive Hindu-Muslim Issues. Sardar
Patel personally led relief efforts in the aftermath of the intense
torrential rainfall in 1927, which had caused major floods in the city
and in the Kheda district and great destruction of life and property.
He established refuge centres across the district, raised volunteers,
arranged for supply of food, medicines and clothing, as well as
emergency funds from the government and public. When
Gandhi was in prison, Sardar Patel was asked by Members of Congress to
lead the satyagraha in Nagpur in
1923 against a law banning the raising of the Indian flag. He organised
thousands of volunteers from all over the country in processions
hoisting the flag. Patel negotiated a settlement that obtained the
release of all prisoners and allowed nationalists to hoist the flag in
public. Later that year, Patel and his allies uncovered evidence
suggesting that the police were in league with local dacoits in
the Borsad taluka even as the government prepared to levy a major tax
for fighting dacoits in the area. More than 6,000 villagers assembled
to hear Patel speak and supported the proposed agitation against the
tax, which was deemed immoral and unnecessary. He organised hundreds of
Congressmen, sent instructions and received information from across the
district. Every village in the taluka resisted
payment of the tax, and through cohesion, also prevented the seizure of
property and lands. After a protracted struggle, the government
withdrew the tax. Historians believe that one of Patel's key
achievements was the building of cohesion and trust amongst the
different castes and communities, which were divided on socio-economic
lines. In
April 1928, Sardar Patel returned to the freedom struggle from his
municipal duties in Ahmedabad when Bardoli suffered from a serious
predicament of a famine and steep tax hike. The revenue hike was
steeper than it had been in Kheda even though the famine covered a
large portion of Gujarat. After cross-examining and talking to village
representatives, emphasizing the potential hardship and need for
non-violence and cohesion, Patel initiated the struggle — complete
denial
of taxes. Sardar
Patel organised volunteers, camps and an information network across
affected areas. The revenue refusal was stronger than in Kheda and many
sympathy satyagrahas were undertaken across Gujarat. Despite arrests,
seizures of property and lands, the struggle intensified. The situation
reached a head in August, when through sympathetic intermediaries, he
negotiated a settlement repealing the tax hike, reinstating village
officials who had resigned in protest and the return of seized property
and lands. It was during the struggle and after the victory in Bardoli
that Patel was increasingly addressed by his colleagues and followers as Sardar. As Gandhi
embarked on the Dandi Salt March,
Patel was arrested in the village of Ras and tried without witnesses,
with no lawyer or pressman allowed to attend. Patel's arrest and
Gandhi's subsequent arrest caused the Salt Satyagraha to
greatly intensify in Gujarat — districts across Gujarat launched an
anti-tax rebellion until and unless Patel and Gandhi were released.
Once
released, Patel served as interim Congress president, but was
re-arrested while leading a procession in Mumbai. After the signing of
the Gandhi - Irwin
Pact, Patel was elected Congress president for its 1931 session
in Karachi
— here
the Congress ratified the pact, committed itself to the defence of
fundamental rights and human freedoms, and a vision of a secular
nation, minimum wage and the abolition of untouchability and serfdom.
Patel used his position as Congress president in organising the return
of confiscated lands to farmers in Gujarat. Upon the failure of the Round Table
Conference in
London, Gandhi and Patel were arrested in January 1932 when the
struggle re-opened, and imprisoned in the Yeravda Central Jail. During
this term of imprisonment, Patel and Gandhi grew close to each other,
and the two developed a close bond of affection, trust, and frankness.
Their mutual relationship could be described as that of an elder
brother (Gandhi) and his younger brother (Patel). Despite having
arguments with Gandhi, Patel respected his instincts and leadership.
During imprisonment, the two would discuss national and social issues,
read Hindu epics and crack jokes. Gandhi also taught Patel the Sanskrit language. Gandhi's secretary Mahadev Desai kept detailed records of
conversations between Gandhi and Patel. When
Gandhi embarked on a fast-unto-death protesting the separate
electorates allocated for untouchables, Patel looked after Gandhi
closely and himself refrained from partaking of food. Patel was later moved to a
jail in Nasik,
and refused a British offer for a brief release to attend the cremation
of his brother Vithalbhai, who had died in 1934. He was finally
released in July of the same year. Patel's
position a the highest level in the Congress was largely connected with
his role from 1934 onwards (when the Congress abandoned its boycott of elections) in the party
organization. Based at an apartment in Mumbai,
he became the Congress's main fundraiser and chairman of its Central
Parliamentary Board, playing the leading role in selecting and
financing candidates for the 1934 elections to the Central
Legislative Assembly in
New Delhi and also for the Provincial elections of 1936. As well as collecting funds
and selecting candidates, he would also determine the Congress stance
on issues and opponents. Not
contesting a seat for himself, Patel nevertheless guided Congressmen
elected in the provinces and at the national level. In 1935, Patel
underwent surgery for hemorrhoids,
yet guided efforts against plague in Bardoli and again when a drought
struck Gujarat in 1939. Patel would guide the Congress ministries that
had won power across India with the aim of preserving party
discipline — Patel feared that the British would use opportunities to
create conflicts among elected Congressmen, and he did not want the
party to be distracted from the goal of complete independence. But Patel would clash with Nehru,
opposing declarations of the adoption of socialism at
the 1936 Congress session, which he believed was a diversion from the
main goal of achieving independence. In 1938, Patel organized rank and
file opposition to the attempts of then Congress president Subhash Bose to
move away from Gandhi's principles of non-violent resistance. Patel
considered Bose to want more power over the party. He led senior
Congress leaders in a protest, which resulted in Bose's resignation.
But criticism arose from Bose's supporters, socialists and other
Congressmen that Patel himself was acting in an authoritarian manner in
his defense of Gandhi's authority. When World War II broke
out, Patel supported Nehru's decision to withdraw the Congress from
central and provincial legislatures, contrary to Gandhi's advice, as
well as an initiative by senior leader Chakravarthi
Rajagopalachari to
offer Congress's full support to Britain if it promised Indian
independence at the end of the war and install a democratic government
right away. Gandhi had refused to support Britain on the grounds of his
moral opposition to war, while Subhash Chandra
Bose was
in militant opposition to the British. The British rejected
Rajagopalachari's initiative, and Patel embraced Gandhi's leadership
again. He
participated in Gandhi's call for individual disobedience, and was
arrested in 1940 and imprisoned for nine months. He also opposed the
proposals of the Cripps' mission in 1942. Patel lost more
than twenty pounds during his period in jail. While
Nehru, Rajagopalachari and Maulana Azad initially criticized
Gandhi's proposal for an all-out campaign of civil disobedience to
force the British to Quit
India, Patel was its most fervent supporter. Arguing that the
British would retreat from India as they had from Singapore and Burma,
Patel stressed that the campaign start without any delay. Though
feeling that the British would not quit immediately, Patel favored an
all-out rebellion which would galvanize Indian people, who had been
divided in their response to the war. In Patel's view, an all-out
rebellion would force the British to concede that continuation of
colonial rule had no support in India, and thus speed power transfer to
Indians. Believing
strongly in the need for revolt, Patel stated his intention to resign
from the Congress if the revolt was not approved. Gandhi strongly pressured
the All India
Congress Committee to
approve of an all-out campaign of civil disobedience, and the AICC
approved the campaign on 7 August 1942. Though Patel's health had
suffered during his stint in jail, Patel gave emotional speeches to
large crowds across India asking
people to refuse paying taxes and participate in civil disobedience,
mass protests and a shutdown of all civil services. He raised funds and
prepared a second tier of command as a precaution against the arrest of
national leaders. Patel made a climactic
speech to more than 100,000 people gathered at Gowalia Tank in Bombay (Mumbai) on 7
August: "The
Governor of Burma boasts
in London that they left Burma only after reducing everything to dust.
So you promise the same thing to India?... You refer in your radio
broadcasts and newspapers to the government established in Burma by
Japan as a puppet government? What sort of government do you have in
Delhi now?... When France fell before the Nazi onslaught, in the midst
of total war, Mr. Churchill offered union with England to the French.
That was indeed a stroke of inspired statesmanship. But when it comes
to India? Oh no! Constitutional changes in the midst of a war?
Absolutely unthinkable... The object this time is to free India before
the Japanese can come and be ready to fight them if they come. They
will round up the leaders, round up all. Then it will be the duty of
every Indian to put forth his utmost effort — within non-violence. No
source is to be left untapped; no weapon untried. This is going to be
the opportunity of a lifetime." Historians
believe that Patel's speech was instrumental in electrifying
nationalists, who had been skeptical of the proposed rebellion. Patel's
organising work in this period is credited by historians for ensuring
the success of the rebellion across India. Patel was arrested on 9
August and was imprisoned with the entire Congress
Working Committee from
1942 to 1945 at the fort in Ahmednagar.
Here he spun cloth, played bridge, read a large number of books, took
long walks, practised gardening. He also provided emotional support to
his colleagues while awaiting news and developments from the outside. Patel was deeply pained at
the news of the deaths of Mahadev Desai and Kasturba Gandhi later in the year. But
Patel wrote in a letter to his daughter that he and his colleagues were
experiencing "fullest peace" for having done "their duty." Even
though other political parties had opposed the struggle and the British
had employed ruthless means of suppression, the Quit India movement was
"by far the most serious rebellion since that of 1857," as the viceroy
cabled to Winston
Churchill.
More than one hundred thousand people were arrested and thousands
killed in police firings. Strikes, protests and other revolutionary
activities had broken out across India. When Patel was released on
15 June 1945 he realised that the British were preparing proposals to
transfer power to Indian hands. In
the 1946 election for the Congress presidency, Patel stepped down in
favor of Nehru at the request of Gandhi. The election's importance
stemmed from the fact that the elected President would lead free
India's first Government. Gandhi asked all 16 states representatives
and Congress to elect the right person and Sardar Patel's name was
proposed by 13 states representatives out of 16, but Patel respected
Gandhi's request to not be the first prime minister. As a Home
Minister, Patel merged all parts of India under federal control but Jammu and
Kashmir was left
out because of Nehru. After
the election of Nehru as the party's president, Patel began directing
the Congress campaign for the general elections of the Constituent
Assembly of India.
In
the elections, the Congress won a large majority of the elected seats,
dominating the Hindu electorate. But the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali
Jinnah won a
large majority of Muslim electorate seats. The League had resolved in
1940 to demand Pakistan
— an
independent state for Muslims — and was a fierce critic of the
Congress.
The Congress formed governments in all provinces save Sindh, Punjab and Bengal,
where it entered into coalitions with other parties. When the British mission proposed
two plans for transfer of power, there was considerable opposition
within the Congress to both. The plan of 16 May 1946 proposed a loose
federation with extensive provincial autonomy, and the "grouping" of
provinces based on religious majority. The plan of 16 June 1946
proposed the partition of India on religious lines, with over 600 princely
states free
to choose between independence or accession to either dominion. The
League approved both plans, while the Congress flatly rejected the 16
June proposal. Gandhi criticised the 16 May proposal as being
inherently divisive, but Patel, realizing that rejecting the proposal
would mean that only the League would be invited to form a government,
lobbied the Congress
Working Committee hard
to give its assent to the 16 May proposal. Patel engaged the British
envoys Sir Stafford
Cripps and Lord
Pethick-Lawrence and
obtained an assurance that the "grouping" clause would not be given
practical force, Patel converted Nehru, Rajendra Prasad and Rajagopalachari to
accept the plan. When the League retracted its approval of the 16 May
plan, the viceroy Lord Wavell invited
the Congress to form the government. Under Nehru, who was styled the
"Vice President of the Viceroy's Executive Council," Patel took charge
of the departments of home affairs and information and broadcasting. He
moved into a government house on 1, Aurangzeb Road in Delhi — this
would
be his home till his death in 1950. Vallabhbhai
Patel was one of the first Congress leaders to accept the partition of
India as a solution to the rising Muslim separatist movement led by Muhammad Ali
Jinnah. He had been outraged by Jinnah's Direct Action campaign,
which had provoked communal violence across India and by the viceroy's
vetoes of his home department's plans to stop the violence on the
grounds of constitutionality. Patel severely criticised the viceroy's
induction of League ministers into the government, and the revalidation
of the grouping scheme by the British without Congress approval.
Although further outraged at the League's boycott of the assembly and
non-acceptance of the plan of 16 May despite entering government, he
was also aware that Jinnah did enjoy popular support amongst Muslims,
and that an open conflict between him and the nationalists could
degenerate into a Hindu - Muslim civil war of disastrous consequences.
The continuation of a divided and weak central government would in
Patel's mind, result in the wider fragmentation of India by encouraging
more than 600 princely states towards independence. Between the months of
December 1946 and January 1947, Patel worked with civil servant V.P. Menon on the latter's suggestion
for a separate dominion of Pakistan created
out of Muslim majority provinces. Communal violence in Bengal and
Punjab in January and March 1947 further convinced Patel of the
soundness of partition. Patel, a fierce critic of Jinnah's demand that
the Hindu majority areas of Punjab and Bengal be included in a Muslim
state, obtained the partition of those provinces, thus blocking any
possibility of their inclusion in Pakistan. Patel's decisiveness on the
partition of Punjab and Bengal had won him many supporters and admirers
amongst the Indian public, which had tired of the League's tactics, but
he was criticised by Gandhi, Nehru, secular Muslims and socialists for
a perceived eagerness to do so. When Lord Louis
Mountbatten formally
proposed the plan on 3 June 1947, Patel gave his approval and lobbied
Nehru and other Congress leaders to accept the proposal. Knowing
Gandhi's deep anguish regarding proposals of partition, Patel engaged
him in frank discussion in private meetings over the perceived
practical unworkability of any Congress - League coalition, the rising
violence and the threat of civil war. At the All India
Congress Committee meeting
called to vote on the proposal, Patel said: Following
Gandhi's and Congress' approval of the plan, Patel represented India on
the Partition Council, where he oversaw the division of public assets,
and selected the Indian council of ministers with Nehru. However,
neither he nor any other Indian leader had foreseen the intense
violence and population transfer that would take place with partition.
Patel would take the lead in organising relief and emergency supplies,
establishing refugee camps and visiting the border areas with Pakistani
leaders to encourage peace. Despite these efforts, the death toll is
estimated at between five hundred thousand to a million people. The estimated number of
refugees in both countries exceeds 15 million. Understanding
that Delhi and Punjab policemen, accused of organising attacks on
Muslims, were personally affected by the tragedies of partition, Patel
called out the Indian Army with South Indian regiments
to restore order, imposing strict curfews and shoot-at-sight orders.
Visiting the Nizamuddin
Auliya Dargah area
in Delhi, where thousands of Delhi Muslims feared attacks, he prayed at
the shrine, visited the people and reinforced the presence of police.
He suppressed from the press reports of atrocities in Pakistan against
Hindus and Sikhs to prevent retaliatory
violence. Establishing the Delhi Emergency
Committee to
restore order and organising relief efforts for refugees in the
capital, Patel publicly warned officials against partiality and
neglect. When reports reached Patel that large groups of Sikhs were
preparing to attack Muslim convoys heading for Pakistan, Patel hurried
to Amritsar and
met Sikh and Hindu leaders. Arguing that attacking helpless people was
cowardly and dishonourable, Patel emphasised that Sikh actions would
result in further attacks against Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. He
assured the community leaders that if they worked to establish peace
and order and guarantee the safety of Muslims, the Indian government
would react forcefully to any failures of Pakistan to do the same.
Additionally, Patel addressed a massive crowd of approximately 200,000
refugees who had surrounded his car after the meetings: Following
his dialogue with community leaders and his speech, no further attacks
occurred against Muslim refugees, and a wider peace and order was
re-established soon over the entire area. However, Patel was criticised
by Nehru, secular Muslims and taxed by Gandhi over his alleged wish to
see Muslims from other parts of India depart. While Patel vehemently
denied such allegations, the acrimony with Maulana Azad and
other secular Muslim leaders increased when Patel refused to dismiss
Delhi's Sikh police commissioner, who was accused of discrimination.
Hindu and Sikh leaders also accused Patel and other leaders of not
taking Pakistan sufficiently to task over the attacks on their
communities there, and Muslim leaders further criticised him for
allegedly neglecting the needs of Muslims leaving for Pakistan, and
concentrating resources for incoming Hindu and Sikh refugees. Patel
clashed with Nehru and Azad over the allocation of houses in Delhi
vacated by Muslims leaving for Pakistan — Nehru and Azad desired to
allocate them for displaced Muslims, while Patel argued that no
government professing secularism must
make such exclusions. However, Patel was publicly defended by Gandhi
and received widespread admiration and support for speaking frankly on
communal issues and acting decisively and resourcefully to quell
disorder and violence. Patel
is remembered as the man who united India. He
is, in this regard, compared to Otto von
Bismarck of
Germany, who did the same thing in 1860s. Under the 3 June plan, more
than 600 princely states were given the option of joining either India
or Pakistan, or choosing independence. Indian nationalists and large
segments of the public feared that if these states did not accede, most
of the people and territory would be fragmented. The Congress as well
as senior British officials considered Patel the best man for the task
of achieving unification of the princely states with the Indian
dominion. Gandhi had said to Patel "the
problem of the States is so difficult that you alone can solve it". He was considered a
statesman of integrity with the practical acumen and resolve to
accomplish a monumental task. Patel asked V.P. Menon,
a senior civil servant with whom he had worked over the partition of
India,
to become his right hand as chief secretary of the States Ministry. On
6 May 1947, Patel began lobbying the princes, attempting to make them
receptive towards dialogue with the future Government and trying to
forestall potential conflicts. Patel used social meetings and
unofficial surroundings to engage most monarchs, inviting them to lunch
and tea at his home in Delhi.
At these meetings, Patel stated that there was no inherent conflict
between the Congress and the princely order. Nonetheless, he stressed
that the princes would need to accede to India in good faith by 15
August 1947. Patel invoked the patriotism of India's monarchs, asking
them to join in the freedom of their nation and act as responsible
rulers who cared about the future of their people. He persuaded the
princes of 565 states of the impossibility of independence from the
Indian republic, especially in the presence of growing opposition from
their subjects. He proposed favourable terms for the merger, including
creation of privy purses for
the descendants of the rulers. While encouraging the rulers to act with
patriotism, Patel did not rule out force, setting a deadline of 15
August 1947 for them to sign the instrument of accession document. All
but three of the states willingly merged into the Indian union — only Jammu and
Kashmir, Junagadh,
and Hyderabad did not fall into his
basket. Junagadh
was especially important to Patel, since it was in his home state of Gujarat.
The Nawab had under pressure from Sir Shah Nawaz
Bhutto acceded
to Pakistan. It was however, quite far from Pakistan and 80% of its
population was Hindu. Patel combined diplomacy with force, demanding
that Pakistan annul the accession, and that the Nawab accede to India.
He sent the Army to occupy three principalities of Junagadh to show his
resolve. Following widespread protests and the formation of a civil
government, or Aarzi
Hukumat, both Bhutto and the Nawab fled to Karachi,
and under Patel's orders, Indian Army and police units marched into the
state. A plebiscite later organised produced a 99.5% vote for merger
with India. In
a speech at the Bahauddin College in Junagadh following the latter's
take-over, Patel emphasised his feeling of urgency on Hyderabad, which
he felt was more vital to India than Kashmir: Hyderabad
was the largest of the princely states, and included parts of
present day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
and Maharashtra states. Its ruler, the Nizam Osman Ali Khan was
a Muslim, although over 80% of its people were Hindu. The Nizam sought
independence or accession with Pakistan. Muslim forces loyal to Nizam,
called the Razakars,
under Qasim Razvi pressed
the Nizam to hold out against India, while organising attacks on people
on Indian soil. Even though a Standstill Agreement was signed due to
the desperate efforts of Lord Mountbatten to avoid a war, the Nizam
rejected deals and changed his positions. In
September 1948, Patel emphasised in Cabinet meetings that India should
talk no more, and reconciled Nehru and the Governor General, Chakravarti
Rajgopalachari to
military action. Following preparations, Patel ordered the Indian Army to integrate Hyderabad (in
his capacity as Acting Prime Minister) when Nehru was touring Europe. The action was termed Operation Polo,
in which thousands of Razakar forces had been killed, but Hyderabad was
comfortably secured into the Indian Union. The main aim of Mountbatten
and Nehru in avoiding a forced annexation was to prevent an outbreak of
Hindu - Muslim violence. Patel insisted that if Hyderabad was allowed
to
continue with its antics, the prestige of the Government would fall and
then neither Hindus nor Muslims would feel secure in its realm. After
defeating Nizam, Patel retained him as the ceremonial chief of state,
and held talks with him. Governor General Chakravarti
Rajagopalachari, Nehru and Patel formed the triumvirate which
ruled India from 1948 to 1950. Prime Minister Nehru was intensely
popular with the masses, but Patel enjoyed the loyalty and faith of
rank and file Congressmen, state leaders and India's civil services.
Patel was a senior leader in the Constituent
Assembly of India and
was responsible in a large measure for shaping India's constitution. Patel was a key force
behind the appointment of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji
Ambedkar as
the chairman of the drafting committee, and the inclusion of leaders
from a diverse political spectrum in the process of writing the
constitution. Patel
was the chairman of the committees responsible for minorities, tribal
and excluded areas, fundamental rights and provincial constitutions.
Patel piloted a model constitution for the provinces in the Assembly,
which contained limited powers for the state governor, who would defer
to the President — he clarified it was not the intention to let the
governor exercise power which could impede an elected government. He
worked closely with Muslim leaders to end separate electorates and the
more potent demand for reservation of seats for minorities. Patel
would hold personal dialogues with leaders of other minorities on the
question, and was responsible for the measure that allows the President
to appoint Anglo - Indians to Parliament.
His intervention was key to the passage of two articles that protected
civil servants from political involvement and guaranteed their terms
and privileges. He was also
instrumental in
founding the Indian
Administrative Service and
the Indian Police
Service,
and for his defence of Indian civil servants from political attack, he
is known as the "patron saint" of India's services. When a delegation
of Gujarati farmers came to him citing their inability to send their
milk production to the markets without being fleeced by intermediaries,
Patel exhorted them to organise the processing and sale of milk by
themselves, and guided them to create the Kaira District
Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited, which preceded the Amul milk products brand. Patel
also pledged the reconstruction of the ancient but dilapidated Somnath Temple in Saurashtra
— he
oversaw the creation of a public trust and restoration work, and
pledged to dedicate the temple upon the completion of work (the work
was completed after Patel's death, and the temple was inaugurated by
the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad). When the Pakistani
invasion of Kashmir began
in September 1947, Patel immediately wanted to send troops into
Kashmir. But agreeing with Nehru and Mountbatten, he waited till
Kashmir's monarch had acceded to India. Patel then oversaw India's
military operations to secure Srinagar,
the Baramulla Pass and the forces retrieved much territory from the
invaders. Patel, along with Defence Minister Baldev Singh administered
the entire military effort, arranging for troops from different parts
of India to be rushed to Kashmir and for a major military road
connecting Srinagar to Pathankot to be built in 6 months. Patel strongly advised
Nehru against going for arbitration to the United Nations,
insisting that Pakistan had been wrong to support the invasion and the
accession to India was valid. He did not want foreign interference in a
bilateral affair. Patel opposed the release of Rs. 55 crores to the Government of
Pakistan,
convinced that the money would go to finance the war against India in
Kashmir. The Cabinet had approved his point but it was reversed when
Gandhi, who feared an intensifying rivalry and further communal
violence, went on a fast-unto-death to obtain the release. Patel,
though not estranged from Gandhi, was deeply hurt at the rejection of
his counsel and a Cabinet decision. In 1949,
a crisis arose when the number of Hindu refugees entering West Bengal, Assam and Tripura from East Pakistan climbed
over 800,000. The refugees in many cases were being forcibly evicted by
Pakistani authorities, and were victims of intimidation and violence.
Nehru
invited Liaquat Ali Khan,
Prime Minister of Pakistan to find a peaceful solution. Despite his
aversion, Patel reluctantly met Khan and discussed the matters. Patel
strongly criticised, however, Nehru's intention to sign a pact that
would create minority commissions in both countries and pledge both
India and Pakistan to a commitment to protect each other's minorities. Syama Prasad
Mookerjee and
K.C. Neogy, two Bengali ministers
resigned and Nehru was intensely criticised in West Bengal for
allegedly appeasing Pakistan. The pact was immediately in jeopardy.
Patel however, publicly came out to Nehru's aid. He gave emotional
speeches to members of Parliament, and the people of West Bengal, and
spoke with scores of delegations of Congressmen, Hindus, Muslims and
other public interest groups, persuading them to give peace a final
effort. The pact was approved and within a year, most of the Hindu
refugees had returned to East Pakistan. Patel
was intensely loyal to Gandhi and both he and Nehru looked to him to
arbitrate disputes. However, Nehru and Patel sparred over national
issues. When Nehru asserted control over Kashmir policy, Patel objected
to Nehru's sidelining his home ministry's officials. Nehru was offended by Patel's
decision making regarding the states'
integration, having neither consulted him nor the cabinet. Patel asked
Gandhi to relieve him of his obligation to serve, knowing that he
lacked Nehru's youth and popularity. He believed that an open political
battle would hurt India. After much personal deliberation and contrary
to Patel's prediction, Gandhi on 30 January 1948 told Patel not to
leave the government. A free India, according to Gandhi, needed both
Patel and Nehru. Patel was the last man to privately talk with Gandhi,
who was assassinated just minutes after Patel's departure. At Gandhi's wake,
Nehru and Patel embraced each other and addressed the nation together.
Patel gave solace to many associates and friends and immediately moved
to forestall any possible violence. Within two months of
Gandhi's death, Patel suffered a major heart attack;
the timely action of his daughter, his secretary and nurse saved
Patel's life. Speaking later, Patel attributed the attack to the "grief
bottled up" due to Gandhi's death. Criticism
arose from the media and other politicians that Patel's home ministry
had failed to protect Gandhi. Emotionally exhausted, Patel tendered a
letter of resignation, offering to leave the government. Patel's
secretary persuaded him to withhold the letter, seeing it as fodder for
Patel's political enemies and political conflict in India. However,
Nehru sent Patel a letter dismissing any question of personal
differences and his desire for Patel's ouster. He reminded Patel of
their 30-year partnership in the freedom struggle and asserted that
after Gandhi's death, it was especially wrong for them to quarrel.
Nehru, Rajagopalachari and other Congressmen publicly defended Patel.
Moved, Patel publicly endorsed Nehru's leadership and refuted any
suggestion of discord. Patel publicly dispelled any notion that he
sought to be prime minister. Though
the two committed themselves to joint leadership and non-interference
in Congress party affairs, they would criticise each other in matters
of policy, clashing on the issues of Hyderabad's integration and UN
mediation in Kashmir. Nehru declined Patel's counsel on sending
assistance to Tibet after its 1950 invasion by
the People's Republic of China and ejecting the Portuguese from Goa by military force. When
Nehru pressured Dr. Rajendra Prasad to decline a nomination to
become the first President of
India in
1950 in favour of Rajagopalachari, he thus angered the party, which
felt Nehru was attempting to impose his will. Nehru sought Patel's help
in winning the party over, but Patel declined and Prasad was duly
elected. Nehru opposed the 1950 Congress presidential candidate Purushottam Das
Tandon, a conservative Hindu leader, endorsing Jivatram
Kripalani instead
and threatening to resign if Tandon was elected. Patel rejected Nehru's
views and endorsed Tandon in Gujarat, where Kripalani received not one
vote despite hailing from that state himself. Patel
believed Nehru had to understand that his will was not law with the
Congress, but he personally discouraged Nehru from resigning after the
latter felt that the party had no confidence in him. On 29
March 1949, authorities lost radio contact with a plane carrying Patel,
his daughter Maniben and the Maharaja of
Patiala. Engine failure caused the pilot to make an emergency
landing in a desert area in Rajasthan.
With all passengers safe, Patel and others tracked down a nearby
village and local officials. When Patel returned to Delhi,
thousands of Congressmen gave him a resounding welcome. In Parliament,
MPs gave a long, standing ovation to Patel, stopping proceedings for
half an hour. In his twilight years, Patel
was honoured by members of Parliament and awarded honorary doctorates of
law by the Punjab
University and Osmania
University. Patel's
health declined rapidly through the summer of 1950. He later began
coughing blood, whereupon Maniben began limiting his meetings and
working hours and arranged for a personalised medical staff to begin
attending to Patel. The Chief Minister
of West Bengal and
doctor Bidhan Roy heard Patel make jokes
about his impending end, and in a private meeting Patel frankly
admitted to his ministerial colleague N.V. Gadgil that
he was not going to live much longer. Patel's health worsened after 2
November, when he began losing consciousness frequently and was
confined to his bed. He was flown to Mumbai on 12 December to
recuperate at his son Dahyabhai's flat — his condition deemed critical,
Nehru and Rajagopalachari came to the airport to see him off. After
suffering a massive heart attack (his second), he died on 15 December
1950. In an unprecedented and unrepeated gesture, on the day after his
death more than 1,500 officers of India's civil and police services
congregated to mourn at Patel's residence in Delhi and pledged
"complete loyalty and unremitting zeal" in India's service. His cremation in Sonapur, Mumbai, was
attended by large crowds, Nehru, Rajagopalachari, President Prasad. During
his lifetime, Vallabhbhai Patel received criticism of an alleged bias
against Muslims during the time of partition. He was criticised by
nationalist Muslims such as Maulana Azad as well as Hindu nationalists
for readily plumping for partition. Patel was criticised by supporters
of Subhash Bose for acting coercively to
put down politicians not supportive of Gandhi. Socialist politicians
such as Jaya Prakash
Narayan and Asoka Mehta criticised him for his
personal proximity to Indian industrialists such as the Birla and
Sarabhai families. Some historians have criticised Patel's actions on
the integration of princely states as undermining the right of
self-determination for those states. However,
Patel is credited for being almost single handedly responsible for
unifying India on the eve of independence. He won the admiration of
many Indians for speaking frankly on the issues of Hindu - Muslim
relations and not shying from using military force to integrate India.
His skills of leadership and practical judgement were hailed by British
statesmen — his opponents in the freedom struggle — such as Lord Wavell,
Cripps, Pethick-Lawrence and Mountbatten. Some historians and admirers
of Patel such as Rajendra Prasad and industrialist J.R.D. Tata have
expressed opinions that Patel would have made a better prime minister
for India than Nehru. Nehru's critics and Patel's admirers cite Nehru's
belated embrace of Patel's advice regarding the UN and Kashmir and the
integration of Goa by
military action. Proponents of free enterprise cite the failings of
Nehru's socialist policies as opposed to Patel's defence of property
rights and his mentorship of the Amul co-operative project. Among
Patel's surviving family, Manibehn Patel lived in a flat in Mumbai
for the rest of her life following her father's death; she often led
the work of the Sardar Patel
Memorial Trust — which organises the prestigious annual Sardar Patel
Memorial Lectures — and other charitable organisations. Dahyabhai Patel was a businessman who
eventually was elected to serve in the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian
Parliament) as an MP in the 1960s. For
many decades after his death, there was a perceived lack of effort from
the Government of India, the national media and the Congress party
regarding the commemoration of Patel's life and work. However,
Patel is lionised as a hero in Gujarat and his family home in Karamsad
is still preserved in his memory. Patel was officially awarded the Bharat Ratna,
India's highest civilian honour posthumously in 1991. Patel's birthday,
31 October, is celebrated nationally in India as Sardar Jayanti. The Sardar Patel
National Memorial was
established in 1980 at the Moti Shahi
Mahal in
Ahmedabad. It comprises a museum, a gallery of portraits and historical
pictures and a library, which stores important documents and books
associated with Patel and his life. Amongst the exhibits are many of
Patel's personal effects and relics from various periods of his
personal and political life. Patel
is the namesake of many public institutions in India. A major
initiative to build dams, canals and hydroelectric power plants on the Narmada river
valley to
provide a tri-state area with drinking water, electricity and increase
agricultural production was named the Sardar Sarovar.
Patel is also the namesake of the Sardar
Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, the Sardar Patel
University, Sardar
Patel High School and
the Sardar Patel
Vidyalaya, which are among the nation's premier institutions.
India's national police
training academy is
also named after him. In Richard
Attenborough's Gandhi (1982), actor Saeed Jaffrey portrayed Patel. In 1993,
the biopic Sardar was produced and directed by Ketan Mehta and featured noted Indian
actor Paresh Rawal as
Patel; it focused on Patel's leadership in the years leading up to
independence, the partition of India, India's political integration and
Patel's relationship with Gandhi and Nehru. |