In February 1928, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel wrote to the Governor of Bombay Leslie Wilson that unless the tax collection arrangements in Bardoli district were reviewed, the farmers from the region would refuse to pay taxes.
In memory of this stirring start to the famed Bardoli Satyagraha in Gujarat, the Dharmic Ideas and Policy Foundation organised a four-city tour of Hindol Sengupta, the award-winning, best-selling biographer of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Bharat Ratna and India’s first deputy prime minister, across the United Kingdom. Sengupta is the author of The Man Who Saved India: Sardar Patel and his idea of India (Viking/Penguin Random House). He was in conversation with Dr. Gautam Sen, retired lecturer in political economy at the London School of Economics and the talks were held at Wembley in London, Leicester, Birmingham and Cardiff.
The discussions, which drew hundreds of people, Sengupta spoke in detail about the life and legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. “Sardar Patel is the definitive architect of the very cartographic imagination of India,” Sengupta said. “What he achieved in bringing together the union of the modern Indian nation state is unparalleled for its scale, ambition and relative ease of operation and democratic reasoning. When we celebrate his life, we celebrate a founding pillar of Indian democracy.”
Dr. Sen said, “Sardar Patel was the son of a farmer and yet he had a uniquely global vision. He was wise, prescient and utterly grounded in his role as a nation builder. Sengupta has written a book that has brought Patel to life for a new generation and has become a definitive text in the study of Patel.”
DIPF communications officer, Mukesh Naker said, “Sardar Patel is a giant of the Indian national movement and we at DIPF have always been inspired by his work and legacy. Hundreds of British people of Indian origin from all walks of life attended these talks to share and rejoice in the memory of Sardar Patel.”
