At birth of PEPSU, Patel asked border states to bear greater responsibility for India's unity

THE following are excerpts from Vallabhbhai Patel's speech at the inauguration of the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) in Patiala on July 15, 1948:Today, we have assembled on a historic occasion. A new chapter in the history of India is opening up before us. We have reason to congratulate ourselves that we are all participating in such an auspicious event; we have also occasion to be proud of it. But along with this pride and this celebration let us not be unmindful of our duties and obligations. We must cleanse our hearts and purify our minds and resolve to do pure deeds by ourselves, by the new Union and by our country. We should harbour no evil. We should reflect who we are, what we have inherited and what we have achieved.If you look at the history of India, you will find that for centuries, India was steeped in slavery. What struggles, what sacrifices, what bitterness and what sorrow we all had to face to rid India of that centuries-old malady that had eaten into the very vitals of its nationhood! A great change has come about, indeed a great revolution has been brought into being. The greater the change, the more comprehensive the revolution, the more are the travails through which the country has to pass. We have already had more than our due share of troubles and turmoil. We are lucky to have survived so many of them, but many are still to be overcome. If we falter or fail, we shall consign ourselves to eternal shame and disgrace.I want you to realise the full gravity of the situation and to consider the position in the light of the legacy which we have inherited. Did anyone dream a year or two ago that one-third of India would be integrated in this fashion? This is the first time in history after centuries that India can call itself an integrated whole in the real sense of the term. But we must all resolve that whatever mistakes we might commit, we should do nothing which would be calculated to send India back into the slavery of the past. It is, therefore, the duty of India's valiant sons to see that the clocks of progress are not put back, but go forward. We must also realise that if we have to take our due place in the comity of nations, it will not come to us for the asking; we shall have to strain every nerve for it.What I told you during my last visit to Amritsar and Patiala in September and October last year still deserves to be carefully considered. I told you then that it was not necessary for you to struggle to wrest power from the Princes. If we approach them in the right fashion, they themselves would be willing to surrender it. Those words have come true today. In the achievements which are shown to the credit of the States Ministry, the Princes have their due share.Similarly, I asked the Sikhs of the Punjab and the Punjab States to come to the rescue of the unfortunate and stranded refugees by giving an undisturbed passage to the Muslim refugees going to Pakistan. The Sikhs who have always extended their love and consideration to me listened to the appeal, which His Highness the Maharaja of Patiala and I made on that occasion, and agreed to give that passage. You were then united, but now I see proofs of disunity in your ranks. If you feel that the danger has passed and you can indulge in the pastime of dissensions, you are grievously mistaken. Punjab's — or for that matter India's — troubles are not over; we have still to face scores of them during the troublous times ahead. Just as you agreed to make way for Muslims in compliance with my appeal, you have to make a similar way for free India to forge its course ahead; you have to give a helping hand in the same way as you did then.If I have come today, it is not only to fulfil the promise which I made to my friend and brother, the Maharaja of Patiala, but also to tell you what your duty is in the circumstances in which the country is situated today. You have not succeeded in forming a Ministry. I am neither sorry for nor disturbed over it. Those who have never undertaken the task of administration before are naturally reluctant, afraid or hesitant. But what is, therefore, necessary is to have a stout heart and a fearless mind. If you read the history of democratic countries, you will find that where there is stability, there the task of administration goes on steadily, but where a country is foundationally unsteady, it becomes a prey to all sorts of influences, feelings, sentiments and ideas.Our primary aim should, therefore, be to achieve that stability which is the surest foundation of progress. That stability can come only when there is unity in our ranks. It is true that for the foundation of a democratic Government, we must have a Government and an opposition, but today, while we have yet to stand on our legs, we have got to strengthen ourselves, and that strength cannot come by dissensions in our ranks but by unity of purpose, unity of aims and unity of endeavour.It is almost a year since the country attained freedom. No country has suffered so much within the first year of its birth as India has. Eastern Punjab States and Patiala occupy a strategic position in the new circumstances of the country. The responsibility of the Rulers and the people of this area is greater than that of any other part of the Union. That responsibility is increased manifold if we consider that we have a neighbour with whom our relations are not of friendliness, trust and confidence. In these circumstances, the responsibility of the border people is greater and, therefore, our duty of unity is heavier. I harbour no ill-will nor do I wish to hurt anyone. My only desire is that India should be well protected and that it should be for every Indian to see that there are no loopholes or weak links in the whole system of security, both external and internal. In my efforts to achieve this, the Rulers have helped me a lot. It is now for the people to extend their helping hand to me. Time is of the essence. We have to move quickly and unless we do so, we have a big stake to lose.Courtesy: Publications Division, Govt of India

At birth of PEPSU, Patel asked border states to bear greater responsibility for India's unity

That responsibility is increased manifold if we consider that we have a neighbour with whom our relations are not of friendliness, trust and confidence

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