Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of India’s most prominent founding fathers. A lifelong Gandhian and Congressman, he is remembered today for the major role he played in the country’s struggle for freedom, and during the tumultuous early years of the newly independent nation, the sagacity with which he dealt with the accession and integration of the princely states with the Indian union, the banning of the RSS after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, and the firmness with which he managed the breakdown of law and order after Partition. In the years after his death in 1950, his stature has only grown and many parties have tried to co-opt him to serve their political ends.
A man of unimpeachable integrity and firm convictions, Sardar Patel never shied away from stating his views on any issue no matter how contentious. This anthology brings together his key writing and thinking on a variety of subjects including the accession of princely kingdoms, Indian secularism, the need to protect the interests of minorities, his differences with Nehru, his reverence for Gandhi, his distaste for sectarian politics, his belief in the idea of a plural India, and much else besides.
Urvish Kothari is a well-known Gujarati writer, columnist, and satirist with a keen interest in Gandhi, Patel, Ambedkar, Nehru, and the freedom movement of India. He did his PhD on the Hindu–Muslim relationship in Gandhi’s articles in the periodical Navjivan. He has written books in Gujarati on various subjects including one on Sardar Patel. His collection and appreciation of English cartoons of India in the twentieth century resulted in a summer school course at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, in 2015. Hindi film music from the 1930s–60s is his other passion.
He runs Saarthak Prakashan with two friends and co-edits Saarthak Jalso.
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