Hinduism: Details about 'Vithalbhai Patel'
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Vithalbhai Patel (1871 - 1935) was an Indian legislator and political leader in the Indian Independence Movement, and co-founder of the Swaraj Party.
Early lifeBorn in Nadiad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, Vithalbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was the third of five Patel brothers, four years elder to Vallabhbhai Patel, raised in the village of Karamsad. Vithalbhai educated himself in Nadiad and in Bombay, and worked as a pleader (a junior lawyer) in the courts of Godhra and Borsad. At a very young age, he was married to a girl from another village, Diwaliba. His younger brother Vallabhbhai Patel had similarly studied by himself and worked as a pleader. Studying in England was a dream to both men, although they did not know this. Vallabhbhai had saved enough money and ordered his passport and travel tickets, when the postman delivered them to Vithalbhai, on account that it was addressed to a Mr. V.J. Patel, Pleader. Vithalbhai insisted on traveling on those documents actually meant for Vallabhbhai, pointing out that it would be socially criticized that an older brother followed the lead of the younger. Respecting his brother despite the obvious cruelty of fate on his own hard work, Vallabhbhai allowed him to proceed to England, and even paid for his stay. Vithalbhai entered the Middle Temple Inn in London, and completed the 36-month course in 30, emerging at the top of his class. Returning to Gujarat in 1913, Vithalbhai became an important barrister in the courts of Bombay and Ahmedabad. However, his wife died in 1915, and he remained a widower. Political careerVithalbhai entered politics before his more renowned brother, winning a seat on the Bombay Legislative Council, a body with no real functions. Although failing to achieve anything concrete in terms of the fight for national independence, self-government or public welfare, Vithalbhai grew popular and respected by his oratorical and witty mastery and belittling of the Raj's officials, winning many a battle of wit, which bore little overall significance. He rose to the presidency of the Imperial Legislative Council, a collage of pro-British elected and appointed Indians and Englishmen designated to rubber-stamp the Viceroy's decisions. Although never truly accepting the philosophy and leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Vithalbhai joined the Congress and the struggle for freedom. He had no regional base of support, yet he was an influential leader who expanded the struggle through fiery speeches and articles published. When Gandhiji aborted the struggle in 1922 following the Chauri Chaura Incident, Vithalbhai left the Congress to form the Swaraj Party with Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru, which would seek to foil the Raj by sabotaging the government after gaining entry in the councils. The party only succeeded in dividing the Congress and finally itself, but Vithalbhai and others were important voices who rebelled against the leadership of Gandhi when the nation anguished over the abortion of the Non-Cooperation Movement Last yearsVithalbhai rejoined the Congress in the early 1930s upon the launch of the Salt Satyagraha, yet later gave it up and journeyed through European countries, building up support for the national freedom cause. He became a fierce critic of Gandhi and a strong ally of Subhas Chandra Bose, and died in 1935 in Geneva, Switzerland. Although his death was widely mourned in Bombay, he left an unclear, and ultimately forgotten legacy. See also
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