Topic of the week for discussion: 7th to 13 th Nov . 2013 Topic: The Irony of the Iron Man of India Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was an Indian barrister and statesman, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India. He is known to be a social leader of India who played an unparalleled role in the country's struggle for independence and guided its integration into a united, independent nation. • Patel supported Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement and toured the state to recruit more than 300,000 members and raise over Rs. 15 lakh in funds. Helping organise bonfires of British goods in Ahmedabad, Patel threw in all his English-style clothes. • 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 . • 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. • 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 Topic allowed to attend. Introduction • After the signing of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact , Patel was elected Congress president for its 1931 session in Karachi— 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 . • As the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India, Patel organized relief for refugees in Punjab and Delhi, and led efforts to restore peace across the nation. • Using frank diplomacy , backed with the option and use of military force, Patel's leadership persuaded almost every princely state. Often known 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. Critics View: During his lifetime, Vallabhbhai Patel received criticism of an alleged bias against Muslims during the time of partition. He was criticised by prominent Muslims such as Maulana Azad as well as Hindu nationalists for readily plumping for partition. Patel was criticised by supporters of Subhas Chandra 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. Supporters Counter view: However, Patel is credited for being almost single-handedly responsible for unifying India on the eve of independence. Till date, he is regarded as the most successful Home Minister . 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. Patel had extreme dislike for the RSS. He actually banned it in 1948. 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 and Nehru's ignoring of Patel's advice on China. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi shared the stage in Ahmedabad at a function to commemorate India's iron man. At the inauguration of 182-metre monument of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the BJP and Congress exchanged blows over the legacy of the India's first home minister The fight over Patel is not about his legacy but bragging rights. Manmohan Singh touts Sardar Patel’s iron-clad secularism but then cannot resist saying “I am even happier that Sardar Patel was associated with the same political party of which I am a member.” It’s the fate of all historical giants to be devoured piecemeal by squabbling generations who will selectively carve out the parts that are to their greatest advantage. The inconvenient truth is the Congress never gave Patel his due because they were too busy gilding the Nehru-Gandhi family tree. What Modi has astutely tapped into is the general public’s weariness with the glorification of the Gandhis at the expense of pretty much every other leader, not just Patel. However it’s not that the BJP has that much to brag about in this regard. Modi boasted that the newspaper ads across the country for Sardar Patel is “the Gujarat effect” but in its tenure between 1999 and 2004, the NDA issued no advertisements for Sardar Patel for two years in a row. As humans we always want to walk in the footsteps of giants whether we fit in them or not. It’s not a uniquely Indian problem. Politicians routinely take a self- serving selective slice of leaders’ lives and thoughts and make that the whole truth so they can claim them for their own aggrandizement. They freeze them into statues, solid and immovable, the larger the better. We forget our leaders are not metal giants with marigold garlands. In life they were very human. They evolved, changed their opinions, sometimes even contradicted themselves. A 600 foot statue built at the cost of Rs 2500 crore to commemorate a man who was 5’5”. There is delicious irony in that. Perhaps India’s original Iron Man would be amused. Read further: http://www.asianage.com/india/bjp-trying-hijack-sardar-patel-s-legacy-cong-228 http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/modi-must-explain-if-he-agrees-with-patel-s- views/article1-1144733.aspx http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/bjp-patel-belonged-to-india-not-just-cong.html .