I thought, having regarded the state of our democracy at present, no subject would be of greater appropriateness and relevance than the enduring relevance of Sardar Patel. More than ever before, we need to recall what he stood for and what he tirelessly strove to achieve. My life is my message, said Mahatma Gandhi.
And the same could have been said by Sardar Patel. To question the enduring relevance of Sardar Patel to India today is like questioning the relevance of the sun to the solar system. You cannot conceive of a solar system without the sun, and you cannot conceive of modern India without Sardar Patel.
In the 25 years of India’s history, between 1922 and 1947, India had a comparable galaxy of talent, no inferior to that which America produced. And our leaders in those days combined talent with sterling character. Undoubtedly, Sardar Patel was in the top rank.
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Story of Sardar Patel’s life is easily told. The traditional date of his birth is 31st October, 1875. But really speaking, nobody knows the exact date on which he was born. The traditional date, 31st October, is what he gave for his matriculation examination.
And he never changed it. Rather typical of the constancy which characterised his mental make-up, Sardar Patel was born to parents who were deeply religious. It is remarkable how frequently the children of deeply religious parents fare well in life.
Vallabhbhai himself became the architect of modern India, while his brother Vithalbhai became the first speaker of the central legislature. Vallabhbhai was a very affectionate man, though there were not many occasions when he displayed his affectionate nature. He had a very fine sense of humour.
Mahatma Gandhi has gone on record to say that during the 16 months when he was in jail, he was kept in peals of laughter by Vallabhbhai, who was a co-inmate in the jail. Vallabhbhai never courted publicity. He never projected himself anywhere, but quietly did his work.
He was a true karma yogi. After he became a widower at the age of 33, the only love in his life was his motherland, to which he was passionately devoted. Sardar Patel had three great ambitions.
First of all, he wanted to consolidate India. In the 5,000 years of its history, India was never united. It had always been a group of different states.
Vallabhbhai wanted to bring into existence a united, homogeneous India when it became a republic in 1950. You will recall how there were 554 Indian states which occupied two-thirds of India, and one-third of India was British India. So the one-third British India and two-thirds, the 554 states, had all to be brought together and made into one single country.
The Manchester Guardian rightly said, without Patel, Gandhiji’s idea would have had less practical influence and Nehru’s idealism less scope. Patel was not only the organiser of the fight for freedom, but also the architect of the new state when the fight was over.
The same man is seldom successful as rebel and statesman. Sardar Patel was the exception. While launching the PEPSU union at Patiala, Sardar Patel said this is the first time in history, after centuries, that India can call itself an integrated whole in the real sense of the term. We must work with unity.
If we falter or fail, we shall consign ourselves to eternal shame and disgrace. His second ambition was to ensure the survival of a united country through the instrument of a strong civil service. He conceived of the Indian Administrative Service, IAS, in place of the Indian Civil Service, ICS, and it was he who also conceived of the Indian Police Service, IPS.
But as I shall point out from passages quoted from Indian statements and politicians, it is surprising how little this country is grateful to Sardar for what he has done.
Without Sardar Patel there would be no India today. You can take it as gospel truth. His third ambition was to make India economically strong, prosperous and progressive.
This ambition was not fulfilled. After the death of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he died on the 15th December 1950, the government consciously discarded the economic policies of the Sardar and adopted a sterile form of socialism, which was the bane of India till the present government started its new policy of liberalisation. The nation has not realised the greatness of Sardar Patel as it should have done.
If Vallabhbhai had not lived, India would not be what it is today. He aimed at integration in two ways, not only territorial integration, but the integration of the different communities by developing a sense of national identity. There were 554 Indian states which comprised two-thirds of India, while one-third was British India, as I have already said.
Sardar Patel was also the chairman of the minority sub-committee of the Constituent Assembly. To his work as the chairman of the sub-committee for the minorities, I attach very great importance, because today when we have this vociferous tendency, when communities feel alienated from the mainstream of our national life, it is necessary to recall how statesmanlike Sardar Patel was. He had the same problems that we are having now, the Muslims feeling that they are not being well treated, the Sikhs feeling that they have no place in a unified country.
And instead of saying now, I shall come to the precise instances where he used this influence to ensure that India remained one. He made different communities give up their claim for separate electorates. Even the spokesman of the Parsis had in mind a separate electorate.
But Vallabhbhai merely smiled at the ridiculous idea, and the matter was not discussed again. The Parsis are a microscopic minority, but the Muslims, the Sikhs and the Christians were in substantial numbers. Even in those days, the Sikhs demanded Khalistan.
Sardar Patel dealt with the problem with great understanding. He went to the heart of the Sikh hinterland. He talked to the Sikhs in Amritsar and impressed upon them how we all have to live together as brothers and sisters.
He pointed out that such separatism would only turn India into Pagalistan, the land of lunatics. He was a true leader in the sense that he did not flatter the people, but plainly told them where they were wrong. This is very important.
A nation marches forward when it has the moral leadership of individuals who are not afraid to speak bluntly and forthright and tell the people where they are wrong. It’s no use merely pampering people and telling them how great they are and how great their democracy is.
And Sardar Patel was truly a mover of people, a mobilizer of opinion. In August 1947, he said again in ringing words how and why India could not be divided. And his words are very beautiful.
He said, India is one and indivisible. You cannot divide the sea or split the running waters of a river. He said this not merely to the Muslims and to the Sikhs, but to the Hindus themselves when the RSS made a strong plea that India should become a Hindu state.
His words were to the RSS, we in government have been dealing with the RSS movement. They want that Hindu Rajya or Hindu culture should be imposed by force. No government can tolerate this.
Vallabhbhai was not against anybody except the fanatic. If you were a fanatic he was against you, whether you were a Hindu or a Muslim or a Sikh. And I come to a very important point.
It is wrong to portray him as being anti-Muslim. Vallabhbhai as the Home Minister had the courage to ban the RSS. Yes, only twice in India’s history the RSS has been banned.
The first time was done by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Imagine a man who is wrongly called anti-Muslim banning the RSS. Why? Because he didn’t want fanaticism anywhere.
He did not want fanatical Hindus, he did not want fanatical Muslims, he did not want fanatical Sikhs. And the second time it was banned was during the emergency. When for other reasons the ban had come.
That conclusively shows how totally secular and non-communal Sardar Patel was in his approach. He told the Hindu Mahasabha, in those days the Mahasabha was the very powerful Hindu body. He told them, I quote, If you think that you are the only custodians of Hinduism, you are mistaken.
Hinduism preaches a broader outlook on life. There is much more tolerance in Hinduism than is supposed. This is a very important point.
I think all scholars are agreed that there has never been a religion in the world broader or more Catholic in its outlook than Hinduism. It is a most tolerant religion. That’s why every single faith, every single religion has flourished in India. Every single one without exception.
In a speech in January 1948 at Calcutta, Sardar Patel warned the country that there could never be any serious talk of a Hindu state. India had elected to be a secular state.
He solemnly declared, if the government could not act as trustees for the entire population, irrespective of caste, religion or creed, it does not deserve to continue for a single day. I have quoted his exact words. In 1947, when we attained independence, when people were jubilant that we attained Swaraj, there were two persons who struck a note of dissent, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel.
The response of Sardar Patel to independence gained in 1947 was memorable. Here are words which I have quoted, which I think ought to be taught in every school and college. Everyone must know what the greatest thinkers of India have thought about Swaraj.
What we have is not Swaraj, but only freedom from foreign rule. The people have still to win internal Swaraj, abolish distinctions of caste or creed, banish untouchability, improve the lot of the hungry masses, and live as one joint family. In short, to create a new way of life and bring about a change of heart and a change of outlook.
To Sardar Patel, the unity and integrity of India was of paramount importance. He shared the view of the Indian thinker, who, when he was told that the British divide and rule, gave the profound response. No, it is not the British who divide and rule, it is we who divide and they rule. That is why he was against the creation of linguistic states.
While the unification and integration of India was his greatest achievement, only next in importance was his creation of a strong and independent civil service. He trusted and respected the officers in the civil service and gained their affection and deep regard.
In Sardar Patel’s words, the most dangerous thing in a democracy is to interfere with the services. If today the police force is wholly demoralized in most states, it is entirely due to the political interference by ministers and other politicians in the discharge by the police of their professional duties. The greatest tragedy of India has been that Sardar Patel’s economic policies were not implemented.
His realism and pragmatism in economic matters were foolishly ignored after his death, as I have said earlier. Sardar Patel never posed as a socialist. He had no property of his own, except his personal belongings.
Once an ardent socialist approached him with an appeal to abolish inequality of wealth, and cited as an instance that one Mr. X was master of several million. The Sardar let him expatiate on the distribution of surplus wealth. When he had finished, Sardar coolly looked at him and said, I know the extent of Mr. X’s wealth.
If all of it were distributed equally among the people of India, your share would be about four annas and three pais. I am willing to give it to you from my own pocket if you undertake to talk no more about it. He wanted to purge capitalism of its ugly face, but he realized that wealth has to be created first before it can be distributed.
So long as Sardar Patel was alive, there was no nationalisation. He said, I quote, Some people want us to nationalise all industries. How are we to run nationalised industries if we cannot run our ordinary administration? It is easy to take over any industry we want to, but we do not have the resources to run them. Not enough experienced men, not enough men of expertise and integrity.
Sardar Patel started the Indian National Trade Union Congress, INTUC, because he wanted a fair deal to be given to labour. But he was not in the popularity contest, and he had no patience with people who were.
He was against the mindless calls for strikes made by trade union leaders who live in a thought-free zone. He said in Calcutta in January 1948, I quote, Regarding strikes, I feel that it is deplorable that they have become so cheap. They are now props of leadership of labour and have ceased to be a legitimate means of redressing grievances of labour.
The maximum should be produced and then distributed equitably. Instead, they fight before even producing wealth. It is to restore sanity and a fair deal between labour and employers and to give a correct lead to labour that we set up the Indian National Trade Union Congress.
I am a great believer like Sardar Patel in never breaking your word. To Sardar Patel, the plighted word was sacred. He never broke his word.
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In 1950, the last year of his life, Sardar Patel repeatedly expressed his total disillusionment with the debased standards of politicians and the malfunctioning of Indian democracy.
Even in the very first year. Imagine what Sardar Patel would have felt if he looked at the standards prevailing today. On 27th May 1950, that is just six months before his death, he spoke at Porbandar, the hometown of Mahatma Gandhi, in a mood of introspection.
And he said, We have not digested Gandhiji’s teachings. We are merely imitating. We have adult franchise, but do not know how to use it.
If we continue to indulge in personal jealousy, and power-hunting, we shall turn into poison what Gandhiji has got for us. During the last three years, we have worked in a manner which has brought us only shame. We have strayed from the right road and must get back to it and understand Gandhiji’s teachings and apply them in life.
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The India of today is certainly not the India of Sardar Patel’s dreams. After five and forty years of independence the picture that emerges is that of a nation potentially great but in a state of moral decay. We suffer from a petty degeneration of conscience and an unchecked dissolution of values.
We have no sense of shame or shock that under a first class constitution we run a third class democracy. I’ve had the temerity to make this statement because as I read Sardar Patel’s words which were uttered at a time when the moral degradation was not as great as it is today he virtually suggested that it was not a first class democracy. If in those days it was not consider what you would call this democracy today.
The country with the noblest cultural heritage has become the most criminalised and the most violent democracy on earth. What a transformation could be effected if we relearn the values which Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stood for. The environment will change beyond recognition when we install Dharma on the throne again.
The country is crying aloud for moral leadership fearless and forthright which will tell the people as Sardar Patel did what does not flatter them and what they do not want to hear just as we celebrate the 15th August as the day of independence we should celebrate the anniversary of Sardar Patel’s birth 31st October as the day of interdependence the dependence of the 26 states upon one another the dependence of our manifold communities upon one another the dependence of the numerous castes upon one another in their sure knowledge that we are one nation. A regenerated India freed from petty squabbles violence and communal bitterness and cured of the cancer of divisiveness would be the greatest monument to the Sardar’s memory. Thank you.
This is part of ThePrint’s Great Speeches series. It features speeches and debates that shaped modern India.