Namaste, 
Too often, Westerners associate India’s independence movement with only Gandhi and Nehru. IMO Gandhi and Nehru emasculated India. In my article The Assertive Indian, I said that Westerners should know about the efforts of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel toward India’s independence.
Now, after reading His Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle against Empire
by Sugata Bose, great-nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (and grandson of Sarat Chandra Bose), I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that strong personalities such as Netaji and Sardar Patel were at odds with each other. For one thing, Sardar Patel, as part of Gandhi’s wing, undermined Netaji’s becoming Congress President.
More personally, and this was new to me, Sardar Patel’s family fought the terms of his older brother Vithalbhai’s will, which allocated a portion of his fortune to Netaji “for the political uplift of India and preferably for publicity work on behalf of India’s cause in other countries.” Vithalbahai Patel and Netaji met as they were convalescing in a sanatorium in Europe.
This is not to disparage the efforts of both Netaji and Sardar Patel toward achieving India's independence. Both men contributed strongly to India's independence in their own ways.
Note: this article contains a link to Amazon.com. The Bahu of Bengal is an Amazon.com affiliate, and by selecting the link and purchasing the book through that link, you support the work of this blog.
Too often, Westerners associate India’s independence movement with only Gandhi and Nehru. IMO Gandhi and Nehru emasculated India. In my article The Assertive Indian, I said that Westerners should know about the efforts of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel toward India’s independence.
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| Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose |
by Sugata Bose, great-nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (and grandson of Sarat Chandra Bose), I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that strong personalities such as Netaji and Sardar Patel were at odds with each other. For one thing, Sardar Patel, as part of Gandhi’s wing, undermined Netaji’s becoming Congress President. |
| Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel |
This is not to disparage the efforts of both Netaji and Sardar Patel toward achieving India's independence. Both men contributed strongly to India's independence in their own ways.
Note: this article contains a link to Amazon.com. The Bahu of Bengal is an Amazon.com affiliate, and by selecting the link and purchasing the book through that link, you support the work of this blog.
1 comment:
Really loved this part of your blog. Yes it is said that Vallabhbhai Patel was at logger heads with Netaji and opposed him. Even after independence was won, it is said both Patel and Nehru ordered that no photograph of Netaji shall be displayed in any police station or Government office. I am not sure of such claims but my father acknowledges having read it in many Bengali books. Moreover all love and respect to you for starting such a nice blog.
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