Sardar Patel, Gandhi’s First Lieutenant in the Freedom Struggle, who was admitted to the Bar in 1913 is honoured by a Plaque in his name at the Middle Temple.
Sardar Patel was Mahatma Gandhi’s right hand man in the freedom struggle long before young Nehru joined them. He organised several Satyagrahi (Justice-Movements) campaigns with Gandhi, especially for Farmers taxes and levies which they were forced to pay even in periods of draught or have their land confiscated by the Colonial powers.
After independence Sardar Patel became the first Home Secretary and credit must go to his vision of a united India through his sole efforts to bring the Maharajah Principalities to ascend to the new India administration, he was a brilliant and astute administrator.
The Rt. Hon. Dominique Grieve QC, MP, along with the India High Commissioner Shri Ranjan Mathai, unveiled the Plaque presented by Shri Praful Patel of the Indo-British Cultural Exchange of UK, the organisation which hosted the event in partnership with Shri Rami Ranger MBE of the British Sikh Association, the Sardar Patel Memorial Society UK, the National Congress of Gujarati Organisations UK and the Society of Asian Lawyers.
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Anil Bhanot OBE