Unity is the strength of any society and it (society) is weak without it.
Hence those who wish the good of the nation strongly praise unity.
Well said by someone, unity is the reflection of strength. Today when we talk of unity we do remember our Sardar who contributed in forming a nation, India. Freedom was our foremost dream but uniting the 562 princely states into one nation was also an unaccomplished and uphill task. It looks simple but it is not as simple. With differences in religion, caste and culture we were clustered into one Nation. Lord Macaulay’s speech in the British parliament on February 2, 1835 speaks the same as to what unity in India stands for and how Great Britain conquered this nation—“I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural
heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.” The Britain did this successfully by dividing the nation and ruled over us for almost 200 years. Even before them we were ruled for thousands and thousands of years by many: French, Portuguese, Mughals, Chandragupta Maurya and many more but today we firmly call ourselves part of one nation, India. The credit for this goes to a man who deeply went to the roots of division and gathered them under one tree.
Sardar he was of this country, an Architect who built this nation through his vision. Born in 1875 to Jhaverbhai and Laadbai in a farmer’s community and determined towards his goals he achieved success at every level of his life. Despite being son of a poor farmer he became a barrister. He participated in the legal issues such as Kheda and Bardoli Satyagrahas and other such freedom struggles, for which he was even put twice in imprisonment and from there he was known as “Sardar”.
On August 15, 1947, India was finally declared an Independent nation, already Pakistan took its share with the wants of more lust, but we were left with the princely states and their communal disharmony with refugee crisis. This reminds me of Lord Macaulay and his statement about India in the British parliament. It was a high time to unite this country, as our backbone was already broken by Great Britain. Meanwhile, Patel got the responsibility of merging the states into one nation and Gandhiji had a firm belief in Patel. Assisted by V.P. Menon, the work started to merge the nations as a part of Akhand Bharat. These princely states like Gwalior, Patiala, Bikaner and many more proactively merged with the country but states like Travancore, Hyderabad, Junagadh, Bhopal and Kashmir were hesitant to join India. Step by step these princely states joined the country either voluntarily or with force. Patel became the first Deputy Prime Minister of India and also the country’s first Home Minister. Patel was among the few who suggested that Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar should be in the Constitutional Panel, and suggested law against cruelty based on casteism. Sardar also amended the Indian Civil Services Code (Indian Civil Services Act, 1861) to Indian Administrative Services as per the bureaucratic structure of India. Today’s AMUL was yesterday’s Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited, and this was the idea of Patel who guided the farmers of Gujarat and exhorted them to organise the processing and sale of the milk. Patel was among the few who strongly supported the partition of India. According to him, Jinnah was supported by Muslims and if Partition was denied then there would be a major civil war between Hindus and Muslims. Even the 562 princely states would have asked for independent nation status and forming of a nation would not have been possible.
After the death of Gandhi, the responsibility of the country was on the shoulders of Nehru and Patel, and both played their role effectively. Patel just got less than four years to serve this nation as a Union Cabinet Minister before he died in 1950, but even in those years he worked eagerly and endlessly. The Iron Man of this nation who stood firmly for this country, one of the most important pillars of this country, the one who formed a Nation out of nations left us on December 15, 1950. Even China did not dare to antagonise India when Patel was alive; indeed it took China twelve years to declare war against India after Patel’s death.
Today, when we look back at 1947, the time when both the Nations were liberated we do look at them with wide difference. India is stepping towards its progress and on the other hand, Pakistan is still struggling for the survival of its democracy. India is one of those prominent countries which could have been easily divided on the ground of sensitive issues but this did not happen nor it will happen as we are tied with one knot, the knot of unity.
On Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary what else can we give to him, rather than building the world’s tallest statue? Sometimes we do forget that this Republic of India would not have been the world’s largest democracy without that Sardar. Today if in our country we have twenty-nine States and seven Union Territories then this would not have been possible without that Sardar and if we rank ourselves as the 7th largest economy and in terms of area if we rank 7th then it is only because of that Sardar. For me even that statue is a small contribution compared with what Patel gave to us, but today he can see his own nation from 182 metres of his height for which he contributed day and night. From Indira Col (Jammu and Kashmir) to Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari) and from Kibithu (Arunachal Pradesh) to Sir Creek (Gujarat): if we call ourselves Indians, then it is only because of that Sardar. If Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel along with V.P. Menon had not merged this country into one nation then certainly today we would have been divided into numerous states. To move from one state to another, to get water from the rivers flowing or the dams through these 562 states we would have had to take permission. Pakistan and China were eagerly waiting and are still waiting as to when this country will split and when they will satisfy their infinite greed. Even when U.S.S.R. was split it looked small, indeed without its union it is just powerless, imagine this with India. When Britishers divided the nation, the division was on the basis of India and Pakistan, the princely states were given option to join either of the both or to remain united, but it was because of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s contribution that we are living as one nation. If India being a nation with immense number of religions, castes, creeds and languages is incredible in its form than it is because of that Iron Man. Sardar said, “We have to shed mutual bickering, shed the differences of being high or low and develop the sense of equality. We have to live like the children of the same father.” This showed that Sardar was a mere nurturer of his countrymen. Even after 68 years of his death, the iron man is still alive in the hearts of every Indian. It is high time every Indian united not only through a nation but through their hearts; this was what Sardar dreamed of.
Sardar Patel was not only the architect of this country but also the engineer who built this nation with inclusion of a variety of flavours. Today, before calling ourselves as a Hindu, Muslim or Christian we do call ourselves first Indians. Might be there are thousands of differences with our costumes, culture and food habits but still we live like as if we are a family. Internally, however, there might be differences but when an invader tries to invade us we foil the plan with the sole voice calling ourselves Indians. All this was possible because of our Iron Man, who made us so bold with our belief that we think unity as our strength. In coming years, India will definitely climb the steps of superpower and one of the reasons behind its being a superpower would be its unity.
“Manpower without unity is not a strength unless it is harmonised and united properly, then it becomes a spiritual power” was the belief which Sardar Patel nurtured.