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“Our mutual conflicts and internecine quarrels and jealousies have in the past been the cause of our downfall and our falling victims to foreign dominations a number of times. We cannot afford to fall into those errors and traps again.” –Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

 Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is called the maker of united India. Sardar Patel, in his persona, possessed so many characteristics of which commitment to discipline, firm determination, management and taking quick and appropriate decisions to resolve problems were the foremost. These characteristics made the Sardar a matchless administrator, leader, organizer, and statesman. He was also unparalleled for his exceptional way of working.  It was due to this that Sardar Patel completed the enormous task of merging more than five hundred fifty princely states into the Indian Union in a very short period.

The task of India’s integration was not easy. It was also not easy to handle the situation that emerged due to the partition of the country, especially due to the exchange of population (lakhs in number), communal upsurge and a crackdown in the administration. Anti-social and anti-national elements were active internally and externally. Protecting India from such elements was a challenging task. But, it was the firm determination of the Great Sardar for which he used to say himself that, “we are not going to let grass grow under our feet” and the charisma of his multifaceted personality that India could survive through the toughest phase of its socio-political history. India could be unified and rebuilding work of the nation could be started and, thus, a new chapter could be added in its glorious history. Undoubtedly, the role and contribution of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the process of integration and rebuilding of India immediately after the freedom remained outstanding and unprecedented. For this gigantic task, the Sardar will be remembered by his compatriots for hundreds and thousands of years.

Along with this, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel deserves appreciation and respect from the international community, people around the world, besides India, for the legacy he left through his ideas and works.

The Sardar’s practical approach in the implementation of non-violence-centred around the Gandhian way to get justice is worth mentioning. It was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who accorded the best and the most practical dimension to the Gandhian method of Ahimsa through a dozen Satyagrahas, from Non-Co-operation (1920 AD) to the Quit India Movement (1942 AD). In this regard, his organizational ability, plannings and strategies remained unique. His way of working is still matchless and exemplary to be followed by the whole world, especially for those who wish to carry out their activities through the Gandhian way.  

Secondly, value-based views and works of Sardar Patel are no less important. Vallabhbhai’s stress on value-based politics and society, and tasks accomplished by him accordingly are subject of analysis. In his entire public life, Sardar Patel remained committed to values at all levels in all walks of life. Especially, in the political sphere he never seemed lacking behind morality and ethics. Rather, the manner in which the Sardar came forward to protect autonomy of democratic values, for their honour, maturity and respect, is extraordinary and ideal. Sardar Patel was of the firm opinion that “democracy and democratic institutions can function efficiently only where the unit to which these are applied can subsist in a fairly autonomous existence.” These views of the Sardar are exemplary and significant for people of democratic nations across the world. Further, it is, undoubtedly, the legacy he left for all those who are concerned with democratic values and wish for matured and true democracy.   

Sardar Patel wished for a prosperous and unified India as well as the world. He desired a strong and well-off Hindustan to defend the whole of humanity. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was of the opinion that Bharat should contribute towards the development of the whole world taking it as its prime responsibility. It was in this very context that the Sardar played an important role in India’s association with international organizations like the Commonwealth and the United Nations, and he desired these organisations to work according to the spirit they possessed.

It is, however, ironic that the people are not much familiar with the exemplary ideas and works of Sardar Patel. Indians and the people around the world need to analyze all-time thoughts and unprecedented tasks that the Sardar accomplished. 

In relation to Sardar’s dedicated life, his unmatched works and thoughts, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had rightly said on December 15, 1950, “History will call him the builder and consolidator of the new India and will say many things about him. But, perhaps, to many of us here he will be remembered as a great captain of our forces in the struggle for freedom and as one who gave us sound advice in times of troubles as well as in moments of victory, as a friend and colleague on whom one could invariably rely, as a tower of strength which revived wavering hearts when we were in trouble.”