Tribute to Sardar Patel

Author(s): Friends of Sardar Patel Awrd Association UCLA
Publisher: USA Friends of Sardar Patel Awrd Association UCLA

Page 12

What Sardar's Contemporaries said
About Sardar
ne of the greatest joys of my life was that I had
an opportunity of staying in prison with Sardar. I knew his invincible courage and his burning love for our country, but never had I the good fortune of spending so much time with him as I was able to do during these sixteen months. His affection and overwhelming love reminded me of my mother. I would never have imagined that he possessed such qualities of maternal affection. If I was in the slightest degree indisposed he would be immediately by my side and pay personal attention to the slightest of my needs. -Gandhiji some time after spending sixteen months with Sardar in Yeravada jail in 1932-33, quoted in Kewal L. Panjabi, The Indomitable Sardar, Bombay, 1977, p. 92
very soft heart. Those who had the good fortune of coming in close contact with him knew what an amount of milk of human kindness was flowing though his veins. Like Mahatma Gandhi, he would look into the details of every problem that came up before him and he would not be satisfied unless he had probed the thing to its depth....His success was due to his power of organization, attention to details - which are often neglected - confidence in the people whom he inspired and led, and their unflinching confidence in him, his utter selflessness and fearlessness; and, above all, his courage and determination which never wavered even in the most adverse circumstances. - Rajendra Prasad, First President of India
.... It is a great story [of his life) as all of us know, as the whole country knows, and history will record it in many pages and call him the builder and consolidator of the New India...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. We shall remember him as a friend and a colleague and a comrade above all; and, I who have sat here on this bench side by side with him for these several years, will feel rather forlorn and a certain emptiness will steal upon me when I look at this empty bench.... --From Jawabarlal Nehru's Address to the Parliament on Friday, December 15, 1950, the day of Sardar's death
Vallabhbhai was a dutiful son, a kind and loving brother, a generous friend and a kind parent. He was soft and tolerant to a degree which very few know. His appearance, demeanor and paucity of words earned him the nickname, “The Iron Man of India.” This was only partially true. So far as the interests of the country, the selfrespect of the Nation, loyalty to Bapu and the Congress were concerned, he was an iron man; he would not compromise these with anybody or allow the opponent any quarters. But essentially in his outlook and relations with humanity, he was soft as butter all through his
life.
- GV Mavlankar, First Speaker, Indian Parliament
The Sardar ... had a mind which could grasp complicated situations almost instantaneously. He could see things straight and after he had once considered and made up his mind on any matter, it was most difficult, if not impossible, to dislodge him. This does not mean that whenever one differed from him, one had to yield... He was utterly fearless and would not hesitate to call a spade a spade....Behind a forbidding exterior, he had a
Sardar Vallabhbhai became the Sardar of the people, because he never abandoned courage even amidst mightiest storms and perilous situations. He was indeed a most gallant horseman of Gandhiji's Non-Violent Army. Never did he waver or flinch from duty. To my mind, the two most outstanding achievements of Sardar will ever remain enshrined in the annals of Indian History. They are: his Satyagraha of Bardoli (1928), and his marvelous work for the unification of the country, - Vinoba Bhave, Foremost Disciple of Mahatma Gandhi
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