Life Stories of Sardar Vallabhai Patel

Sardar Patel occupied a pivotal post in the Republic of India and his position, power and patriotism could not be over-estimated. He had risen to the highest rung of political authority by dint of his service to the nation; and even though he was the Deputy Premier, he enjoyed an equal position with the Premier in the Councils of the Government as well as in the hearts of the masses.
Pedestal of Duty
On March 29, 1948, Sardar Patel escaped narrow death in an airplane. He took off from New Delhi for Jaipur in an official Dakota. He boarded the R.I.A.F. Devon on account of some trouble in the Dakota. He was to inaugurate the Rajasthan Union. The engine developed trouble and the plane force-landed on a river-bed. All the occupants were unhurt.
“It was perfect landing”, said Patel, “the pilot did a marvelous feat, I am none the worse for it.”
On the next day when he addressed the august assembly of the Rajasthan Union, he said: “I should like to apologize to you for the trouble and inconvenience that was caused on account of the delay in my arrival.. …….
For me it was a sort of variety entertainment, but for you all, was a time of anxious waiting and concern …….. .
For two hours we were cut off from all the world but we were always with God.”
The enigma of Sardar Patel’s character laid in is coolness and devotion to duty. His courageous leadership had saved the country from many a serious crisis. He, by removing the yellow patches of princes, had created a strong and powerful India from a standstill agreement, he forced the princes for secession and then to integration. Now the states have become as subservient to the center as the provinces. He expressed his ideas in an address to the Patiala and the East Punjab States Union.
“If you look at the history of India, you will find that for centuries India was steeped in slavery. What struggles, what sacrifices, what bitterness, and what sorrow we all had to face to rid India of that centuries-old malady that had eaten into the very vitals of its nationhood. A great change has come about, indeed a great revolution has been brought into being. The greater the change, the more comprehensive the revolution, the more are the travails through which the country has to pass. We have already had more than a due share of trouble and travails. We are lucky we have survived so many of them, but many are still to be overcome. If we falter or fail we shall consign ourselves to eternal shame and disgrace.”
Sardar Patel, unlike many other Congressmen, had always maintained a strong attitude to the Muslim League, Pakistan and the stooges of Pakistan in India.
This is how he thundered in Bombay on January 18, 1948, just a few days before the death of Gandhi-ji :
“I am a frank man. I say bitter things to Hindus and Muslims alike. At the same time I maintain,’ as I have said a number of times, that I am a friend of Muslims. If Muslims do not accept me as such, they also act as mad men. They do not seem to understand the right or the wrong. But for their attitude I cannot forsake truth. I cannot descend from the pedestal of duty. Some of them went to Gandhi ji and complained about my Lucknow speech in which I criticized them for not condemning Pakistan’s attitude to Kashmir. They went and told Gandhi-ji many things and Gandhi ji felt compelled to defend me. That also pained me, for after all I am not a weak person who should be defended by others.”
Vallabhbhai was called the Sardar in spite of the Congress disavowing all titles, but that did not exclude those titles of popular origin signifying the people’s appreciation of a leader. Gandhi himself called him always “the Sardar.” He was extremely alert and extremely anxious to inform himself. He had a genius for detail. No detail was too insignificant for him. He was most affable and had no aristocratic bearing or reserve. He had a wit all his own. In conversation he choked you with a laughter by play of his sharp and incisive wit, by the display of his wisdom and by the apt citation of hundreds of proverbs in Gujarati. His loyalty to Gandhi was proverbial. Of him it could be truly said:
“His is not to make reply
His is not to reason why,
His is but to do and die.”
All the three parties, Labor, Capital and Government, have common interests and common outlook in many a field. We must act with mutual consultation. All of us must have courage to face facts and deal with them in a practical way. Hesitancy is out of place, boldness is clearly indicated. But at the same time you should show understanding and sympathy to those whom you utilize as the means of production. It is only then that you can win labor round. You should educate labor into correct ways of conduct. Public opinion can never be won by following the path of least resistance.
— SARDAR VALLABHBHAI PATEL
