Patel’s 1950 letter to Nehru: Find no legal power to deal with Press or men like Syama Prasad

Less than a year before the First Constitutional Amendment, Patel wrote to Nehru about Supreme Court rulings that had 'knocked the bottom out' of press control laws.

Jawaharlal Nehru with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel | Wikimedia Commons

My dear Jawaharlal,

Thank you for your letters dated 29 and 30 June 1950 respectively.

I have seen the statement on Korea. While it is satisfactory in its support of the UNO’s recommendation, I feel that we need not have reiterated our foreign policy. Such reiteration implies that this step could be construed as a departure from that policy and we were being apologetic or on the defensive about it. After all, the step which we have taken fits in with our policy of supporting the UNO and invoking the various remedies mentioned in the Charter against aggression. Once we felt, as we did in the case of Korea, that an aggression had taken place, I do not think we can set any limits to our action to resist that aggression. We have to exhaust all the means laid down in the Charter. The question merely would be one of timing and effectiveness. When actual armed aggression takes place, it is doubtful whether negotiations and mediation alone can secure the objective of peace. Negotiations and mediation can avail us only if there is a cessation of hostilities. Otherwise we cannot match words against arms.

I am glad you are coming here on the 5th. Apart from the little respite from the heat of Delhi which it will give you, your visit would enable us to talk about so many things which have been exercising your mind as well as mine.

I am getting rather worried about Kashmir, particularly the attitude of Sheikh Sahib, his failure to deal with the Communist infiltration in the State, and the dissensions in the National Conference. I have had a talk with P. C. Chaudhuri. From what he tells me it appears that both the National Conference and Sheikh Sahib are losing their hold on the people of the Valley and are becoming somewhat unpopular. At the same time, it appears that there is a marked appreciation of what we have done for the Valley though they naturally feel that they deserve more. In such circumstances and in the world situation today, I agree with you that a plebiscite is unreal. Not only that, it would be positively dangerous because my own feeling is that once the talk starts, the non-Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir would start feeling uneasy and we might be faced with an exodus to India. This would be an additional point to emphasise in respect of our stand that the conditions preliminary to plebiscite should be fully and effectively fulfilled before we can talk of it.

I share your anxiety about the situation in Bengal. At the same time, I do feel that a realisation is growing that the pact is the last chance of securing a peaceful settlement of the whole matter. From what Diwakar tells me, it appears that the Bengal Press, particularly Suresh Majumdar and Tushar Kanti Ghosh, have now become converted to this view and mean to implement the Press code. It will be their headache to deal with Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s utterances in accordance with that code. If they do not deal with them, we can then take them to task. I find no legal powers to deal with either Press or men like Syama Prasad Mookerjee. Before you left for Indonesia, I drew your attention to the Supreme Court decision in Cross Roads and Organiser cases. That knocks the bottom out of most of our penal laws for the control and regulation of the Press. The views which they have expressed in that judgment on the question of sedition make it doubtful whether we can do anything not only about the speeches of Syama Prasad Mookerjee but also those of the more extremist type. As you say, we have involved ourselves in so many legal and constitutional difficulties that we do not know how to overcome them. I sounded a note of warning and caution when these provisions were being debated in the Drafting Committee, but then we were led away by our idealistic exuberance. We seldom paused to consider the practical and administrative applications of the many constitutional provisions and even their inter-relation. My own feeling is that very soon we shall have to sit down and consider constitutional amendments. You will recall that the Chief Justice of India himself referred to difficulties which he was experiencing in regard to the functioning of the Supreme Court. Some minor difficulties we have been able to meet under the ‘Removal of difficulties’ article. But the major headaches affecting everybody are still there to deal with.

Now that the Congress Working Committee is meeting on the 12th, I shall be coming to Delhi on the 11th morning. We can then discuss the dates for the Congress session. I personally think that the third week of August would be the most suitable. This would give us a fortnight or so before the session of the Legislature. We could devote this period to dealing with many important problems that are bound to arise, both in the external and internal spheres, because once the Legislature starts we get so much involved in the rush of business that our normal work suffers tremendously. I agree that some time between the 15 and 20 September would be suitable for the session of the Legislature.

I agree with you that Maulana, without much detriment to parliamentary business, could leave for the Middle East in the middle of September.

In your letter of 29 June, you have referred to the satisfactory attitude of the East Bengal Government. That attitude is of course matched by the equally satisfactory attitude of the West Bengal Government. The whole question is one of the attitude of the people. In that respect, I make bold to say that barring a few exceptions on our side—and I admit there are some big exceptions individually—our people have given and are giving the pact a fair trial, probably fairer than in East Bengal. We have been getting daily reports of incidents on the other side of the frontier. In the atmosphere which prevails whether in East or West Bengal, we cannot afford to ignore even minor incidents which have the consequence of creating a vague sense of insecurity, fear or alarm. When people have lost their nerves, even small incidents acquire tremendous significance. I do not know whether you have read a letter from one Afsaruddin Ahmed dated 10 June 1950. A copy was circulated by the IB to Dharma Vira on 29 June 1950. That letter contains a survey of conditions both before and after the pact by a Muslim and can be taken to be fairly authentic. It confirms the many intelligence reports which we have been getting and also indicated that a great deal requires to be done in East Bengal before the general mentality of the people can approach that of ours in West Bengal. Unless this is done, any amount of goodwill and good intentions at the top in East Bengal is not likely to yield effective results.

Yours,
Vallabhbhai Patel

This is part of ThePrint’s Great Speeches series. It features speeches, debates, and letters that shaped modern India.