Nehru frequently asked Questions 1

Q-  Was there dispute among Patel and Nehru over policies?

Ans - its wrong!  infact, both leaders having good relation on personal count as well as over sevral political and social issues.

Here are some examples .....

“Jawaharlal and I have been fellow-members of the Congress, soldiers in the struggle for freedom, colleagues in the Congress Working Committee, and other bodies of the Congress, devoted followers of the Great Master who has unhappily left us to battle with grave problems without his guidance, and co-sharers in the great and onerous burden of administration of this vast country. Having known each other in such intimate and varied fields of activity we have naturally grown fond of each other; our mutual affection has increased as years have advanced, and its is difficult for people to imagine how much we miss each other when we are apart and unable to take counsel together in order to resolve our problems and difficulties.
........Gifted with an idealism of high order, a devotee of beauty and art in life, and equipped with infinite capacity to magnetize and inspire others and a personality which would be remarkable in any gathering of world’s foremost men, Jawaharlal has gone from strength to strength as a political leader.

...It was, therefore, in the fitness of things that in the twilight preceding the dawn of independence he should have been our leading light, and that when India was faced with crises after crises, following the achievement of our freedom, he should have been the upholder of our faith and the leader of our legions. No one knows better than myself how much he has laboured for his country in the last two years of our difficult existence. I’ve seen him age quickly during that period, on account of the worries of the high office that he holds and the tremendous responsibilities that he wields.

…As one older in years, it has been my privilege to tender advice to him on the manifold problems with which we have been faced in both administrative and organizational fields. I have always found him willing to seek and ready to take it. Contrary to the impression created by some interested persons and eagerly accepted in credulous circles, we have worked together as lifelong friends and colleagues, adjusting ourselves each other’s advice as only those who have confidence in each other can.

…It is obviously impossible to do justice to his great and pre-eminent personality in these few condensed words. The versatility of his character and attainment at once defy delineation. His thoughts have sometime a depth which it is not easy to fathom, but underlying them to all is a transparent sincerity and a robustness of youth which endear him to everyone without distinction of caste and creed, race or religion”.
- Sardar Patel  about Jawaharlal Nehru.......
wrote on October 14, 1949, a month before Nehru’s 60th birthday for Abhinandan Granth, where he heaped praises on Nehru’s merits and also went on to elaborate the deep ties he shared with him.

सर्वात महत्वाचे म्हणजे गांधी-पटेल-नेहरू या तिघांची भुमिका परस्पर पुरक आहे हे आवर्जून जाणवते व ते त्याच पद्धतीने मांडले आहोस. पटेल वि.गांधी किंवा पटेल वि. नेहरू हा संघर्ष दर्शविणे मुर्खपणा आहे म्हणतोस ते एकदम योग्य आहे. परंतु मी आवर्जून सांगेन की, गांधी पेक्षा तत्कालीन धोरणावर पटेल आणि नेहरू या दोघांचाच पगडा होता. सरदार पटेल एकमेव फाळणी समर्थक नेते होते हे मात्र खरे नव्हे. नेहरूंनी जुलै 1947 मधे ' The avoidability of partition' नावाचा लेख लिहीला आहे. त्या फाळणीची अपरीहार्यता स्पष्ट केली आहे. एवढेच नव्हेतर जेंव्हा भारत पाकीस्तान'Reunion' चा विषय निघाला तेंव्हा नेहरूंनी तो क्षणार्धात धुडकाऊन लावला एवढेच नव्हेतर त्यावर एक लेखही लिहीला. पाकीस्ताने नव्याने निर्माण केलेल्या समस्यांची जवाबदारी पुन्हा पत्करून भारतीयांचे भविष्य आम्ही धुसर करू शकत नाहीत, तेंव्हा तुमचा पाकीस्तान तुम्ही तुमच्या विचारांवर हवा तसा निर्माण करा भारत त्याच्यात बाधा आणणार नाही. असेच या लेखात नमुद केले आहे. पटेल आणि नेहरूंचे उद्दीष्ट एकच होते, मार्गही एकच होता पण जवाबदा-या, कामाचा बाज, बोली, देहबोली आणि भुमिकेचे संवादही ठरवून घेतले होते असे वाटते. अगदी एक फलंदाज एकेरी धाव घेतो आणि तर दुसरा गोलंदाजावर तुटून पडतो, पुन्हा गोलंदाज बदलला की एकमेकांची शैली ते बदलतात. कॉग्रेस सनातनी हिंदु-मुसलमान, उदारमतवादी हिंदु-मुसलमान, आधुनिक हिंदुमुसलमान, डावे, उजवे, समाजवादी,  भांडवलवादी सर्वांचा मेळा आहे. या सर्वांवर अंकुश ठेवण्यासाठी पटेल नेहरूंनी कार्य केले. त्यांच्या वक्तव्याचे आकलन  तत्कालीन परिस्थितीच्या परीप्रेक्षात करावे लागते. त्यामुळे पटेल हे नेहरूंप्रमाणेच धर्मनिरपेक्ष अशा अस्सल भारतीयत्वाचे प्रतिक ठरतात. माझ्या मतानुसार देशातील सर्वौच्च नेहरूवादी म्हणून मी पटेलांचा उल्लेख करेन तर सर्वौच पटेलवादी म्हणून नेहरूंचा उल्लेख करावा लागेल.

© Raj kulkarni