From the biography: How, inspired by Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel tried to win over the ‘untouchables’
· Scroll
In his mind, Vallabhbhai accused the British of unchivalrous conduct. “When two Rajputs decide to battle, and one of them refuses to strike, the other would refrain from attacking. But here our opponent was not a Rajput, and he attacked by arresting Gandhiji.” Vallabhbhai imagined, too, that the Raj’s prisons would be unable to hold Gandhi for long. Not knowing that the title was destined for himself, he described the Mahatma as India’s “Sardar”, and added:
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Many sacrifices have been offered up by India to the British Lion, but never before had it been its good fortune to receive so sacred a prey. It will not, however, be very easy for it to digest such a prey…The great spiritual strength of our Mahatma will transform the raging lion into a mild lamb?
But the fruitless blame and the rootless fancy were passing thoughts. Patel emerged from the shock and loneliness following Gandhi’s arrest with a resolve to take charge of Gujarat. His decision, and the realism and self-confidence that marked it, are evident in an article he wrote in Navajivan. Though Vallabhbhai writes in the third person, it is plain that he sees himself as “the mason” who, while “fully conscious” of his “shortcomings”, will...