Weeks before his death on Dec 15, 1950, Sardar Patel wrote two critical letters warning Pandit Nehru and G. S. Bajpai about the dangers that India faced. He mentioned everything from Communists smuggling arms in the north-east to the influence of missionaries on the Naga tribes
to India's unbalanced equation with China. He pointed out that 'there was a lack of firmness and unnecessary apology' in the attitude of the Indian ambassador to China. In fact, he pointed out that often the Indian ambassador to China sounded like the Chinese ambassador to India!
Patel warned Nehru that the prime minister's strategy of championing the cause of China's entry into the United Nations was flawed and 'the Chinese do not regard (us) as their friends'. Patel also warned that Nehru's idea that the Himalayas were a natural barrier between India
and China was wrong. 'Recent and bitter history also tells us that Communism is no shield against imperialism and Communists are as good or as bad imperialists as any other,' he wrote. #TheManWhoSavedIndia (amzn.to/2QZBqC8) #SardarPatel
