Sardar Patel
Jaswant Singh’s recent faux pax is not the only one in history. Sardar Patel had a fair share of them too. From his anger at the escape of the prime minister of Hyderabad to his views on Kashmir, the iron man raised the ire of many political leaders.
SO CALLED “greats” have a lot of contradictory aspects and Sardar Patel was no exception. He was known for his tendency to pontificate, he was also known for many faux pas just as some of our present politicians like Advani and Jaswant Singh. At the time of partition, Mir Laiq Ali, Prime Minister of the princely State of Hyderabad, had eluded Indian security and escaped to Karachi when Sardar Patel had sent the armed forces to surround the State in order to get it to surrender to India.
The incident roused Sardar’s ire. Addressing Muslims, Sardar Patel said,“I naturally begin to doubt whether Muslims here feel that their future lies in India. I want to tell you frankly that mere declarations of loyalty to the Indian Union will not help you at this critical juncture. You must give practical proof of your declarations. I ask you why you did not unequivocally denounce Pakistan for attacking Indian territory with the connivance of Frontier tribesmen? Is it not your duty to condemn all acts of aggression against India?” He also asked them bluntly as to why they did not speak about Kashmir in their conference. He went on to say “those who want to go to Pakistan can go there and live in peace. Let us live here in peace to work for ourselves.”
Do you expect a national builder to single out one community and use these unkind words? It is not surprising that Patel’s speeches upset Maulana Azad and Nehru. Gandhi reprimanded him: “I have heard many complaints against you. Your speeches are inflammatory and play to the gallery.” It was common knowledge that if you wanted Pandit Nehru to turn against any politician or civil servant all you had to do was to call that person a Patellite.
His daughter, Maniben Patel published her diary which recounted other such situations. In an entry dated July 23, 1949, she referred to a discussion about the possibility of the partition of Kashmir which involved India retaining Jammu and handing over the rest of the state to Pakistan. Patel had retorted: ‘‘We want the entire territory… and battle for the whole of Kashmir”.
She writes further that he was happy to see Guru Golwalkar, the then RSS chief, released from jail and wanted to welcome RSS workers into the Congress. On August 3, 1949, says the diary: “Glad at release of Golwalkar — ready to welcome in Congress. Bapu’s (Sardar’s) task to make their entry easy.” Sardar Patel was the man who had banned the RSS after Gandhiji’s murder. Where does the BJP really stand? I say, let us not open the rusted cupboards. Many skeletons are going to tumble down. The leaders of that period did what they thought fit according to their opinion. Forgive and forget and move forward! We have to make a new India.
