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As India celebrates Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day) in 2025, it is time to revisit the life and legacy of Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, whose statesmanship and determination transformed a vast and fragile subcontinent into a single republic.
Seven decades later, Patel’s lessons about unity, institutional discipline and civic responsibility remain indispensable for a nation that thrives on its diversity.
architect of unity
When Sardar Patel took over as India’s first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in August 1947, the map of the subcontinent was a puzzle of more than 560 princely states – some eager to join the Union, others undecided or hostile.
Through a mixture of shrewdness, negotiation and persistence he managed to integrate the vast majority into India, and transform an uncertain political geography into a sovereign whole. As former Prime Minister Morarji Desai said, “The integration of the states can be called the greatest achievement of Vallabhbhai Patel’s life.”
Patel stressed that political union without moral solidarity is hollow. He said, “Power without unity is not a force unless it is properly harmonious and united; then it becomes a spiritual force.”
His civic warning was equally clear: “It is the prime responsibility of every citizen to realize that his country is free and that it is his duty to defend its independence.”
This was not rhetoric but a program of nation-building: unity based on citizenship and duty.
Integration in all areas
The task of nation-building is not exclusive to the subcontinent. Across the Gulf, leaders such as King Abdulaziz Al Saud and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan have similarly transformed fragmented polities into unified states; Today they are remembered as founding heroes by Saudis and Emiratis alike.
Their example – of combining political unification with an appeal to shared identity and purpose – offers a useful comparison: the act of unity is simultaneously practical and symbolic, military and moral.
In India, Patel faced delicate missions – Hyderabad, Junagadh and other accession questions – that required a balance of persuasion and authority.
Leaders who can see beyond narrow interests and bind diverse politics under a common civic roof leave lasting legacies.
Diversity as strength; Institutions as Foundation
Patel’s vision of India was not uniformity in disguise, but pluralism in practice. He believed that India’s diverse languages, faiths and customs should flourish within the framework of a single constitutional system.
To this end, he created institutions – above all all-India services, the so-called “steel frame” that would guarantee impartial administration in all areas.
His instructions to the civil service were clear and timeless: “A civil servant cannot and should not take part in politics. Nor should he involve himself in communal disputes. To deviate from the path of integrity in any case is to weaken the public service and lower its dignity.” That moral compass remains central to a functioning pluralistic democracy.
This blueprint is reflected in the police, paramilitary forces and civil bureaucracy of modern India. Patel’s argument was simple: effective institutions transform fragile unity into stable nationalism.
Renewing Patel’s vision in contemporary India
Under successive governments, and especially under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Patel’s memory has been institutionalized and popularized.
The Statue of Unity, observance of National Unity Day (31 October), cultural displays such as the Unity Parade and ‘Ek Bharat – Shreshtha Bharat’ programs are contemporary efforts to translate a historical legacy into civic behaviour.
These are not mere memorials and ceremonies: they are an attempt to reconnect the younger generation with the values of administrative integrity, public service and national belonging that Patel championed.
Support from Muslim thinkers and leaders
Crucial to Patel’s moral stature is the inter-communal recognition he achieved during his lifetime – including from leading Muslim thinkers and politicians who appreciated his dedication to national unity.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the respected scholar and India’s first education minister, addressed Patel repeatedly in India Wins Freedom, and the voluminous record of the time shows that Azad took Patel seriously as a central actor in the transfer of power and early consolidation of the Union.
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, an influential Muslim MP, worked with Patel in the tumultuous early months of independence; Published correspondence and archival volumes record their conversations and Kidwai’s recognition of Patel’s administrative role during the crisis. Such archival records demonstrate that Patel’s tenacity and administrative ability were acknowledged across the political and communal spectrum.
These endorsements are not symbolic gestures: they underline an important truth about Patel’s nationalism – it was constitutional rather than communal, focused on rights and duties rather than communal gain.
Patel’s concept of nationalism was such that every Indian could join it, regardless of religion.
Why does this matter in 2025?
India in 2025 will face complex challenges: rapid urbanisation, social flux, regional aspirations and ideological polarisation. Patel’s example speaks directly to these pressures. He taught that unity is patiently built – through institutions, quiet administration, and the insistence that every citizen share the burdens and benefits of freedom.
As he warned, “Faith is of no use in the absence of power. Both faith and power are necessary to accomplish any great work.”
This adage remains a practical program for a country that must bind many of its people into a civic project.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was not only the organizer of the region; He was the moral architect of India’s unity.
Like other nation-builders – whether in Arabia or elsewhere – his name is revered, not because he sought uniformity, but because he secured the space in which diversity could live together with dignity.
As we celebrate Unity Day 2025, let us remember that Patel’s legacy belongs to every Indian, irrespective of religion. He asked us to build institutions, practice public virtue, and keep our country united with strength and compassion.
In that spirit, the unity of India is not merely an achievement of the past, but a responsibility for the present and future.
((Zahack Tanvir is an Indian-born geopolitical analyst and founder of the UK-based The Milli Chronicle. With geopolitics and counter-extremism expertise, he provides insight into global affairs. He holds counter-terrorism certifications from Leiden University in the Netherlands and Georgetown University in Washington DC. He tweets under @ZahackTanvir))
–IANS
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