Statue of Unity: An Open Letter to

Sardar Patel by Medha Patkar -

The Wire
October 31, 11,25 am

Statue of Unity: An Open Letter to Sardar

Patel by Medha Patkar
Medha Patkar
October 31, 11,25 am
The Statue of Unity, a 597-foot statue of Sardar Patel at Sadhu Bet. Credit: PTI

Respected Sardar Patelji, Namaskar!

Wherever you may be, as our leader of the Freedom Movement,

your soul, I know, rests here on the motherland whose beloved son
you have always been. Your act of freeing India from the shackles of
royal states and estates and of freeing the farmers from the
oppressive tax laws of the British regime is unprecedented even to
this day. As the first home minister of the first government of
Independent India, your firm, non-communal and social approach to
the unparalleled violence and the relief work thereafter, was
appreciated by none else than Mahatmaji as unique, despite the
controversy created by some.

You stood tall in the historical freedom struggle of India as Sardar.

But you know, while throwing your legacy by the way side, a 182
meter-high statue of yours is being unveiled in a few days to be the
tallest in the world! Can you imagine who has built your new avatar?
Many Chinese and some local Adivasi and national labourers have
worked overnight on the ‘Sadhu Betʼ, a hillock with Adivasi deity of
their faith. You would surely ask, on whose land would this statue
stand? Whose plan was this? This land, river, forest that your avatar
is going to stand on, belongs to Adivasis. The very same people
your government and then leaders, Mahatma to Pandit Nehru
recognised as villagers with rights, as republics and offered security
through Panchsheel. The forefathers of the Indian Constitution, with
Babasaheb at the helm, also granted them right to peace and good
government, through the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution and
later, the PESA Act towards self-reliance.

You would surely watch from the highland, the scene down into the
River Narmada and its banks to the basin wide and far. Your vision
will find their huts and hamlets in the hills and hillocks one of which
was Varata Bawa Tekri under your feet. Do remember the days when
you carried out the operation to integrate the princely states with
delicacy and democracy, to make most of them sacrifice voluntarily
for unity. By the way, your avatar is also claimed to be for the same
goal, unity…yet with the insanity of impinging upon not just their
land but also their rights. Would you ever think of using ‘forceʼ
against these simple and least monetised, self-reliant people, as
had to be done against the princely state of Junagadh then?

Sardar, these Adivasis also belong to the farming community you

recognised as the contributors who feed and need to lead. Today, if
only you know the reasons behind their laying life and cuddling
death, you would have taken to the same task and struggle,
combing villages and fields as in August 1942. But the most
shocking for you, who acquired royal properties, dealt with
transfers, created ‘privy purses,ʼ would be to know the ways and
means of transferring today the life supporting resources of the very
brethren you fought for, receiving acclaim for the social movement
you built. Non-cooperation was the non-violent tool you exercised,
under the guidance of Bapu then.

Also read: Reconfiguring Indiaʼs Nationalism, One Grand Statue at a

Time
The same tool is now a weapon in the hands of the Indian rulers,
practising neo-colonial ideals. They do not bring in the horses or the
Sepoys or take over properties of the rich and the mighty. They take
over the very life line: land, water, river, forest and fish of the weak
and the marginalised. Could you ever dream of the Indian State –
the ICS cadres who you were treated as the ‘Patron Saintʼ of, and
the cabinet members, you warned against ‘partiality and
corruptibilityʼ and incited against a path of rectitude in your speech
on April 21, 1947 – assuming itself to be powerful enough to not only
tax farmers but also exploit them through low prices for the produce
and extract GST from small traders and evict the market
infrastructure of the poor, the hawkers, in the name of huge,
gigantic infrastructure? Is your legacy at stake, Sardar? How could
they tolerate suicides by lakhs of farmers?

Do please have a look on your left and you will find the six-lane
highway running up to 120 km in length parallel to Narmada. Lakhs
of trees, more than 100-years-old, within the last year had to make
way for this highway. People of Rajpipla, once a princely state that is
recorded in history for having defeated Aurangzebʼs forces are
compelled to be mute spectators, having no channel to vent their
Mann ki Baat.

You, Sardar, once the chairman of the committees responsible for

minorities, tribals, excluded areas and fundamental rights must also
know that when your avatar will be well lit and decorated, the tribal
communities, being repressed and oppressed, are to be thrown into
darkness. Their lands, in six villages not even legally acquired,
following British law of 1894, but simply taken over, paying a paltry
sum of Rs 80 to Rs 200 per acre in 1961, are now being diverted for
luxurious hotels named after ‘Shreshtha Bharathʼ or Swaminarayan
Complex and even a museum with their own remnants.
You, who were successful in recovering the farmlands for the
farmers refusing to pay the oppressive tax would come down to
support these tribals who are not granted anything as per the new
law of 2013, nor are gifted with alternative land but are being made
to accept a Rs 7 lakh package which they too are non-cooperating
with. You were at the forefront of such a struggle and having
threatened to leave Congress, had made your party accept the path
of non-violent yet militant battle that led you into jail in 1940 and a
solid mass protest in 1942, with shutdown of none less than civil
services! With your ability to organise the countrymen as also to
face the onslaught of the imperialist forces, you could certainly
challenge the present powers, the creators of your avatar, vouching
for unity, but practising divide and rule tactics and promoting or
allowing brutality, while denying diversity of creed, culture and
religion.

Kripalani (L) with Sardar Vallabhai Patel and Manibehn Patel. Credit:
Wikimedia Commons

If only you would take a step forward and downward into the valley
of Narmada, you would surely be overwhelmed with the simplicity of
these nature-based generations-old communities, of Adivasis,
farmers and fishworkers. Many of them had already lost their lands
as it was acquired by the state for the Dam, again in your name,
Sardar Sarovar, without paying them compensation worth a rupee.
They too walked in your steps, faced attacks, and were sent to jails.
(Jail? You had called it a ‘place for peaceʼ, in 1943, remember?) The
government in 2013 issued orders and made promises to give land
for land. But ultimately they are being cheated and evicted out of
their balance land for tourism! Do please have an eye on these fast
track operations around, as only you can stop them from further
damage…only you can!

Sardar, the scale and impact of forcible encroachment upon the

lives of the communities in this most ancient Narmada civilisation
and the valley, can be seen by someone of your stature and
perspective. No one can hold your hand today, but you could and
would drag the sena/army of bureaucrats out of their villages with
your ‘iron handʼ if only you witnessed their might against the toilersʼ
rights. Will you, our beloved leader, engage the powers that be in a
thorough review and reflection? Gone are the days when yourself
and Gandhiji had such a discourse on the floor of the jail and
evolved a vision of swaraj and self-reliance, of agriculture and
village republics. Gone are the days when you valued production by
masses to ensure equity in both the economy and the social life.

I feel ashamed to tell you that there was no need to bring in 1,500
Chinese workers here while excluding local adivasis from Gujarat,
your own state, many of whom are compelled to migrate and
harvest sugarcane, working day and night. I feel shaken to share
with you what is being planned and publicised in your name…
Shopping malls, five or seven star hotels, luxurious guest houses,
helipads, statewise bhavans on the river bank with all its
paraphernalia the shops, markets, massive food plaza, food courts,
walk ways, travelators and what not. All this when not less than
35,000 families, affected by the Dam in your name since years, are
still awaiting full, fair and just rehabilitation. They never marketised
Narmada, nor its water. They are damned by the Dam but are most
awed and anguished to see their sacrifice being taken as a capital
for the tourism industry and as everyone knows, political tourism
too. They are sad that the farmers of Gujarat, the progeny of your
movements are left high and dry… while the corporates reap huge
benefits.

Your contribution to the farmers and vision of India are enshrined

with that of Mahatmaji and Nehru in all our memories. You accepted
Panditji, and vowed for unity within Congress. The common citizens
of this country have no place in this gigantic play today, Sardar. All
lights will be on you, the avatar, Sardar, while throwing everything
that you practised and preached is intentionally left to the dark
recesses of history books and the future of the Adivasis and this
country is being sealed with the new paradigm.

Your generation was aware of two vices – corruption and

communalism. The spirit behind your then sermons is needed today.
Your NO to communalism reflected in your appeal to the religious
leaders during communal violence following the partition that was
inevitable. Your speeches across India and a letter to Golwalkar
Guruji against the Hindu fundamentalist vision of RSS asking them
to change and get integrated, is to be read and imbibed by every
citizen of the country today. Those who are hiding behind your new
Avatar, and marketing you, have never engaged themselves to
understand your thoughts and your action to over come violence, to
move from monarchies to democracy, from monopoly and
hegemony to equity and fraternity. They do not visit the families of
those lynched by mobs. They do not respect the resolutions of the
adivasis. They do not value agriculture or the agriculturists. But
they are staking a claim to your name, Sardar.
They hail the tallness of your Avatar while they are consumed in
their own pettiness. Adivasis know all this. Evicted since 1961, the
Adivasis canʼt take it anymore. No Jaykaras ! No celebrations from
them. They mourn, they protest, they condemn and challenge as
they know their mother river, not just gods and goddesses but
culture and nature, and their very life is threatened again and again.
Their forefathers too had fought the British, and with their
perseverance had held on to land then. They are in a new freedom
struggle, asserting self-determination. They are not a part of this
game in your name, worth Rs. 3,500 crores with about 200 crores
illegally collected from public enterprises as CSR, as per a CAG
report. What is CSR ? That will be for another letter on another day
Sardar…

Your avatar shall stand tall, Sardar. In the midst of the river, on the
Varata Bawa Tekri. We watch with hope that your Avatar shall watch
over and stop all that is unjust, against unity, equity and
sustainability. We seek the blessings and support of your iron hand
for today and for ever. We look forward to having you there when
adivasis raise their voice, amidst festive tourists who will gather on
the 31st and everyday, with or without your legacy, but all vows for a
new touristocracy. We know you alone will listen to the adi-vasis,
their cry halt, inspiring them to fight for their rights and the Mother
Riverʼs too !. Narmada appeals to you, Sardar !

With respectful tribute,

Medha Patkar