Khunti: National Unity Day was observed in Khunti to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, with a programme organised by the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Vishwa Mitra Sangh at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk. Speakers highlighted Patel’s contribution to national unity, his leadership and his association with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army (INA).
Dr Deepak Kumar Ghosh, president of the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Vishwa Mitra Sangh, spoke about Patel’s personality and contributions. Recalling his firm stand on Kashmir, he quoted Patel’s warning to Pakistan on 27 November 1948: “We will not abandon Kashmir and its people. We will not bow to such threats.”
Dr Dharmendra Nath Tiwari, a social worker from Murhu, referred to what he described as Patel’s prediction about the future of Pakistan. He quoted Patel as saying that “Mr Jinnah does not understand that geography is against him, and there is no hope that East and West Pakistan will remain one nation”. He said the geographical separation of around 1,600 kilometres between the two regions was reflected in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Tapan Ghosh, national president of the Akhil Bharatiya Sanskritik Vikas Mahasangh, highlighted a lesser-known connection between Sardar Patel and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. He said that in 1945, Patel arranged for a banned film about Netaji’s Indian National Army to be brought secretly to India from Burma (Yangon).
According to Ghosh, Gujarati engineer B.C. Mehta brought the film reels to Mumbai after concealing them in gunny bags and handed them over to Patel. Patel subsequently screened the film for Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and other senior Congress leaders. Ghosh said the film helped counter British propaganda portraying Netaji as a Japanese agent.
He also said Patel later initiated assistance through the INA Relief Fund for INA soldiers and members of Netaji’s family.\n\nYoung speaker Dhruvendra Bhaskar said that had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel become the Prime Minister of India, the country’s strength would have been many times greater. He added that Patel would have been able to silence threats from hostile neighbouring countries.
Guru Anup, Jitendra Pandey, Tulsi Prajapati, Kishore Thakur, Birsa Lohra and several other dignitaries attended the programme. They paid tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and described him as a true patriot.
