Sardar Vallbhbhai Patel Life story, Movement & Satyagrah

It is the prime responsibility of every citizen to feel that his country is free and to defend it freedom is his duty. Every Indian should now forget that he is a Rajput, a Sikh or a Jat. He must remember that he is an Indian and he has every right in his country but with certain duties.

— Sardar Patel

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and a prominent figure in the Indian Freedom Struggle, who later became India's First Deputy Prime Minister and Indian's First Home Minister. Sardar Patel's contribution in integrating 565 princely states into a newly independent India is unforgettable. Sardar Patel — who is popularly known as the Iron Man of India.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a charismatic leader who spoke his mind and valued the views of those who disagreed with him, believed strongly in the unity of Indians who fought the British together and their determination to advance from 'Swarajya' to 'Surajya'. He was an outspoken supporter of women's liberation and self-sufficiency as a result of rapid industrialization. Sardar Patel became a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi's Non-cooperation Movement and began wearing only khadi clothes. He rose to the topmost of the Indian National Congress, where he organized the party for elections in 1934 and 1937 while also promoting the Quit India Movement.

Story of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Sardar Patel was born in Nadiad, Gujarat, on October 31, 1875 (His birth anniversary is now observed as National Unity Day or Rashtriya Ekta Diwas). He hailed from a farmer's family. In his early years, Sardar Patel was considered by many as an unambitious man destined for a commonplace job. However, Patel proved them wrong. He passed the law examination, often studying himself, with borrowed books. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel practised law at Godhra, Borsad, and Anand in Gujarat, after passing the bar examination. He earned the reputation of being a fierce and skilled lawyer.

Chairman of the Municipal Committee

He accepted Mahatma Gandhi's leadership, having been tremendously impressed by the fearless lead that Mahatma Gandhi gave to right public wrongs. In 1917 he was elected for the first time as the Sanitation Commissioner of Ahmedabad. From 1924 to 1928 he was Chairman of the Municipal Committee. The years of his association with the Municipal administration were marked by much meaningful work for the improvement of civic life. Work was done to improve water supply, sanitation and town planning and the Municipality was transformed, from being a mere adjunct to British rule, into a popular body with a will of its own. There were also calamities like Plague in 1917 and famine in 1918, and on both occasions Vallabhbhai Patel did important work to relieve distress. In 1917 he was elected Secretary of the Gujarat Sabha, a political body which was of great assistance to Gandhiji in his campaigns.

Sardar Patel's Political Career

Kheda Satyagrah –

The association with Mahatma Gandhi became closer during the Kheda Satyagraha in 1918, which was launched to secure exemption from payment of the land revenue assessment since the crops had failed. It took three months of intense campaigning that was marked by arrests, seizures of goods, chattels, livestock and much official brutality before relief was secured from an unwilling Colonial Government. Gandhiji said that if it were not for Vallabhbhai's assistance "this campaign would not have been carried through so successfully". The five years from 1917 to 1922 were years of popular agitation in India. The end of the war was followed by the Rowlatt Act and still further curtailment of individual freedom.

Khilafat Movement –

The Khilafat movement or the Caliphate movement, also known as the Indian Muslim movement, was a political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan, and Abul Kalam Azad to restore the caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate, who was considered the leader of the Muslims, as an effective political authority. It was a protest against the sanctions placed on the caliph and the Ottoman Empire after the First World War by the Treaty of Sévres. The movement collapsed by late 1922 when Turkey gained a more favourable diplomatic position and moved towards Nationalism. By 1924, Turkey had simply abolished the role of caliph. Followed the Khilafat movement with massacres and terror in the Punjab. Gandhiji and the Congress decided on non-cooperation. Vallabhbhai left his practice for good and gave himself up wholly to political and constructive work, touring villages, addressing meetings, organizing picketing of foreign cloth shops and liquor shops.

Bardoli Satyagrah –

Then came the Bardoli Satyagraha. The occasion for the Satyagraha was the Government's decision to increase the assessment of land revenue from Bardoli taluka by 22 per cent and in some villages by as much as 50 to 60 per cent. Having failed to secure redress by other means, the agriculturists of the taluka decided at a Conference on February 12, 1928, to withhold payment of land revenue under the leadership of Vallabhbhai Patel. The struggle was grim and bitter. There were seizures of property and livestock to such an extent that for days on end, people kept themselves and their buffaloes locked in. Arrests followed and then brutalities of the police and the hired Pathans. The struggle drew the attention of the whole country to it. Patels and Talatis resigned from their jobs. Government revenues remained unrealized. The Government had to ultimately bow before popular resolve and an inquiry was instituted to find out to what extent the increase was justified and the realization of the increased revenue was postponed. It was a triumph not only of the 80,000 peasants of Bardoli but more particularly of Vallabhbhai personally; he was given the title of "Sardar" by the nation.