SARDAR PATEL
FROM THE MEMOIRS OF MR MKK NAIR, A 1947 BATCH IAS OFFICER.
It appears, both Rajaji and Nehru received missives from Sardar
asking permission to takeover Hyderabad, and it was denied, this was
repeated on the 14th and on the 19th when both asked Sardar to take
action, they received a reply, ACTION INITIATED ON 14TH OF SEPTEMBER.
THAT WAS A REAL SARDAR
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Home
Minister of India, whose 137th birth anniversary is on October 31,
was insulted, humiliated and disgraced by the then Prime Minister,
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, during a Cabinet meeting.
"You are a complete communalist and I'll never be a party to your
suggestions and proposals," Nehru shouted at Patel during a crucial
Cabinet meeting to discuss the liberation of Hyderabad by the Army
from the tyranny of the Razakkars, the then Nizam's private army.
"A shocked Sardar Patel collected his papers from the table and
slowly walked out of the Cabinet room. That was the last time Patel
attended a Cabinet meeting.
He also stopped speaking to Nehru since then," writes MKK Nair, a
1947 batch IAS officer, in his memoirs "With No Ill Feeling to
Anybody". Nair had close ties with both Sardar and VP Menon, his Man Friday.
Though Nair has not written the exact date of the above mentioned
Cabinet meeting, it could have happened during the weeks prior to the
liberation of Hyderabad by the Indian Army. Operation Polo, the
mission to liberate Hyderabad from the Nizam, began on September 13,
1948 and culminated on September 18.
While Sardar Patel wanted direct military action to liberate
Hyderabad from the rape and mayhem perpetrated by the 2,00,000
Razakars, Nehru preferred the United Nations route.
Nair writes that Nehru's personal hatred for Sardar Patel came out in
the open on December 15, 1950, the day the Sardar breathed his last
in Bombay (now Mumbai).
"Immediately after he got the news about Sardar Patel's death, Nehru
sent two notes to the Ministry of States. The notes reached VP Menon,
the then Secretary to the Ministry. In one of the notes, Nehru had
asked Menon to send the official Cadillac car used by Sardar Patel to
the former's office. The second note was shocking. Nehru wanted
government secretaries desirous of attending Sardar Patel's last
rites to do so at their own personal expenses.
"But Menon convened a meeting of all secretaries and asked them to
furnish the names of those who want to attend the last rites of
Patel. He did not mention anything about the note sent by Nehru.
Menon paid the entire cost of the air tickets for those secretaries
who expressed their wish to attend Sardar's last journey. This
further infuriated Nehru," Nair has written about his memoirs in the
corridors of power in New Delhi.
Nair's friendship with Patel began during the former's posting in
Hyderabad as a civilian officer of the Army. "I was a bachelor and my
guest house was a rendezvous of all those in the inner circle of the
then Nizam of Hyderabad.
Every night they arrived with bundles of currency notes. We gambled
and played flash and the stakes were high. During the game I served
them the finest Scotch. After a couple of drinks, the princes and the
junior Nawabs would open their minds and reveal the secret action
plans being drawn out in the Nizam's palace. Once intoxicated, they
would tell me about the plans to merge Hyderabad with Pakistan after
Independence.
This was information that no one outside the Nawab's close family
members and the British secret service were privy to. But I ensured
that this information reached directly to Sardar Patel and thus grew
our relation," writes Nair.
The relation between Nair and Sardar Patel was such that the former's
director general in the ministry told him once: "Sardar Patel keeps
an open house for you." Nair, who worked in various ministries
during his three-decade long civil service career, writes that the
formation of North East Frontier Service under the Ministry of
External Affairs by Nehru and the removal of the affairs of the Jammu
& Kashmir from the Ministry of Home Affairs are the major reasons
behind the turmoil in both the regions.
"This was done by Nehru to curtail the wings of Sardar Patel," Nair
has written. Though Sardar Patel was known as a no-nonsense man
devoid of any sense of humour, Nair has written about lighter moments
featuring him. The one centres around VP Menon with whom Patel had a
special relation. Menon had to face ire of Nesamani Nadar, a
Congress MP from Kanyakumari, during his visit to Thiruvananthapuram
in connection with the reorganisation of States. Nadar barged into
Menon's suite in the State Gust House and shouted at him for not
obeying his diktats. Menon, who was enjoying his quota of
sun-downer, asked Nadar to get out of his room. A furious Nadar
sent a six-page letter to Sardar Patel trading all kinds of charges
against Menon.
"He was fully drunk when I went to meet him in the evening and he
abused me using the filthiest of languages," complained Nadar in his letter.
Sardar Patel, who read the letter in full asked his secretary V
Shankar, an ICS officer: "Shankar, does VP take drinks?" Shankar, who
was embarrassed by the question, had to spill the beans.
"Sir, Menon takes a couple of drinks in the evening," he
said. Sardar was curious to know what was Menon's favourite
drink. Shankar replied that Menon preferred only Scotch.
"Shankar, you instruct all government secretaries to take Scotch in
the evening," Sardar told Shankar.
Nair writes that this anecdote was a rave in the Delhi evenings for a
number of years!
Balraj Krishna (92), who authored Sardar's biography, told The
Pioneer that Nehru was opposed to Babu Rajendra Prasad, the then
President, travelling to Bombay to pay his last respects to
Patel. "But Prasad insisted and made it to Bombay," said
Krishna. MV Kamath, senior journalist, said though Nehru too
attended the funeral of Patel, it was C .Rajagopalachari, who
delivered the funeral oration.
Prof MGS Narayanan, former chairman of Indian Council of Historical
Research, said there was no reason to disbelieve what Nair has written.
"But his memoirs did not get the due recognition it deserved. It is a
historical chronicle of pre-and post independent India," he said.....
.....IF only Sardar had become PM, as per the votes of CWC, and
Gandhi had not dissuaded him, in favour of a sulking Nehru..many of
the country's problems would never have seen the day.....!!
FROM THE MEMOIRS OF MR MKK NAIR, A 1947 BATCH IAS OFFICER.
It appears, both Rajaji and Nehru received missives from Sardar
asking permission to takeover Hyderabad, and it was denied, this was
repeated on the 14th and on the 19th when both asked Sardar to take
action, they received a reply, ACTION INITIATED ON 14TH OF SEPTEMBER.
THAT WAS A REAL SARDAR
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister and Home
Minister of India, whose 137th birth anniversary is on October 31,
was insulted, humiliated and disgraced by the then Prime Minister,
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, during a Cabinet meeting.
"You are a complete communalist and I'll never be a party to your
suggestions and proposals," Nehru shouted at Patel during a crucial
Cabinet meeting to discuss the liberation of Hyderabad by the Army
from the tyranny of the Razakkars, the then Nizam's private army.
"A shocked Sardar Patel collected his papers from the table and
slowly walked out of the Cabinet room. That was the last time Patel
attended a Cabinet meeting.
He also stopped speaking to Nehru since then," writes MKK Nair, a
1947 batch IAS officer, in his memoirs "With No Ill Feeling to
Anybody". Nair had close ties with both Sardar and VP Menon, his Man Friday.
Though Nair has not written the exact date of the above mentioned
Cabinet meeting, it could have happened during the weeks prior to the
liberation of Hyderabad by the Indian Army. Operation Polo, the
mission to liberate Hyderabad from the Nizam, began on September 13,
1948 and culminated on September 18.
While Sardar Patel wanted direct military action to liberate
Hyderabad from the rape and mayhem perpetrated by the 2,00,000
Razakars, Nehru preferred the United Nations route.
Nair writes that Nehru's personal hatred for Sardar Patel came out in
the open on December 15, 1950, the day the Sardar breathed his last
in Bombay (now Mumbai).
"Immediately after he got the news about Sardar Patel's death, Nehru
sent two notes to the Ministry of States. The notes reached VP Menon,
the then Secretary to the Ministry. In one of the notes, Nehru had
asked Menon to send the official Cadillac car used by Sardar Patel to
the former's office. The second note was shocking. Nehru wanted
government secretaries desirous of attending Sardar Patel's last
rites to do so at their own personal expenses.
"But Menon convened a meeting of all secretaries and asked them to
furnish the names of those who want to attend the last rites of
Patel. He did not mention anything about the note sent by Nehru.
Menon paid the entire cost of the air tickets for those secretaries
who expressed their wish to attend Sardar's last journey. This
further infuriated Nehru," Nair has written about his memoirs in the
corridors of power in New Delhi.
Nair's friendship with Patel began during the former's posting in
Hyderabad as a civilian officer of the Army. "I was a bachelor and my
guest house was a rendezvous of all those in the inner circle of the
then Nizam of Hyderabad.
Every night they arrived with bundles of currency notes. We gambled
and played flash and the stakes were high. During the game I served
them the finest Scotch. After a couple of drinks, the princes and the
junior Nawabs would open their minds and reveal the secret action
plans being drawn out in the Nizam's palace. Once intoxicated, they
would tell me about the plans to merge Hyderabad with Pakistan after
Independence.
This was information that no one outside the Nawab's close family
members and the British secret service were privy to. But I ensured
that this information reached directly to Sardar Patel and thus grew
our relation," writes Nair.
The relation between Nair and Sardar Patel was such that the former's
director general in the ministry told him once: "Sardar Patel keeps
an open house for you." Nair, who worked in various ministries
during his three-decade long civil service career, writes that the
formation of North East Frontier Service under the Ministry of
External Affairs by Nehru and the removal of the affairs of the Jammu
& Kashmir from the Ministry of Home Affairs are the major reasons
behind the turmoil in both the regions.
"This was done by Nehru to curtail the wings of Sardar Patel," Nair
has written. Though Sardar Patel was known as a no-nonsense man
devoid of any sense of humour, Nair has written about lighter moments
featuring him. The one centres around VP Menon with whom Patel had a
special relation. Menon had to face ire of Nesamani Nadar, a
Congress MP from Kanyakumari, during his visit to Thiruvananthapuram
in connection with the reorganisation of States. Nadar barged into
Menon's suite in the State Gust House and shouted at him for not
obeying his diktats. Menon, who was enjoying his quota of
sun-downer, asked Nadar to get out of his room. A furious Nadar
sent a six-page letter to Sardar Patel trading all kinds of charges
against Menon.
"He was fully drunk when I went to meet him in the evening and he
abused me using the filthiest of languages," complained Nadar in his letter.
Sardar Patel, who read the letter in full asked his secretary V
Shankar, an ICS officer: "Shankar, does VP take drinks?" Shankar, who
was embarrassed by the question, had to spill the beans.
"Sir, Menon takes a couple of drinks in the evening," he
said. Sardar was curious to know what was Menon's favourite
drink. Shankar replied that Menon preferred only Scotch.
"Shankar, you instruct all government secretaries to take Scotch in
the evening," Sardar told Shankar.
Nair writes that this anecdote was a rave in the Delhi evenings for a
number of years!
Balraj Krishna (92), who authored Sardar's biography, told The
Pioneer that Nehru was opposed to Babu Rajendra Prasad, the then
President, travelling to Bombay to pay his last respects to
Patel. "But Prasad insisted and made it to Bombay," said
Krishna. MV Kamath, senior journalist, said though Nehru too
attended the funeral of Patel, it was C .Rajagopalachari, who
delivered the funeral oration.
Prof MGS Narayanan, former chairman of Indian Council of Historical
Research, said there was no reason to disbelieve what Nair has written.
"But his memoirs did not get the due recognition it deserved. It is a
historical chronicle of pre-and post independent India," he said.....
.....IF only Sardar had become PM, as per the votes of CWC, and
Gandhi had not dissuaded him, in favour of a sulking Nehru..many of
the country's problems would never have seen the day.....!!
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