Biography of V.P. Menon

Who is VP Menon?

VP Menon was born on 30 September 1893 in the Malabar region of Kerala. His father was the principal of a school. As a child, Menon ran away from home to take the burden of his studies from the family. He started his career in the Indian Administrative Service from a low level after working first as a coal miner on the railways, then as a miner and scribe in the Bangalore Tobacco Company. With the help of his hard work, VP Menon decorated the post of the highest administrative servant in the British government. VP Menon was a Pandit in the matter of the Constitution of India. He was a staunch patriot even while working under the Viceroys. His wife was Mrs. Kanakamma. They had two sons- Pangunni Ananthan Menon and Pangunni Sankaran Menon.

It was at the behest of Sardar Patel that VP Menon wrote books on the partition of India, integration of states, and transfer of power. After the independence of India, the officers of the administrative service were not seen by the leaders and ministers with good eyes. It was sitting somewhere in his mind that he used to work for the British. Even Jawaharlal Nehru kept his distance from these bureaucrats. Perhaps this was the reason why VP Menon took leave after the death of Sardar Patel.

Contribution to the integration of princely states

After years of independence, when India was about to become independent, then after centuries of slavery, the fragrance of independence was starting. The British were now about to leave the country. After centuries of fighting, now the dream of the country's independence was about to come true. But there was a big problem in front of the realization of this dream, the integration of 565 different small and big princely states settled in India. Without the merger of these princely states, the idea of ​​an independent country was meaningless. After all, it was not so easy to convince these princely states to merge with India. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel has been remembered for this unforgettable work in history. But the reality is that if the then advisor of India VP Menon had not been there, then perhaps even Vallabhbhai Patel alone would not have been able to unite India.

It is believed that the basic formula used for the constitutional independence of India was presented by Menon. But saying so much does not reveal Menon's role in the unification of India. For this one has to look at history. After the declaration of independence of India by the British rulers, when the transfer of power was going on, then the priority of most of the princely states was to remain independent states separate from India and Pakistan. With the declaration of independence, there was competition among the chiefs of the princely states to retain their power in the form of an independent state.

For India, this time was no less than a nightmare. The foundation of a unified independent India, which was laid by the martyr revolutionaries, was about to fall. At this time it was difficult for Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel to take any decision. Vallabhbhai was not in favor of partition of the country at any cost, but the situation was such that if the country has to remain independent, then it has to go through that phase of partition. But there was no idea to include all the princely states in their country. At this time any work came to the most, so it was VP Menon. Actually, VP Menon was a distinguished officer of the Indian Administrative Service. Menon may have been a loyal officer of the British Raj but was also a true patriot and Indian. After becoming an advisor in Sardar Patel's cabinet, Menon's biggest responsibility was to persuade all the princely states to merge with India. The most important thing is that if there were small pieces of India, then perhaps the country would have to face fatal consequences. In fact, Menon was also very close to Lord Mount Batten, who later became close to Sardar Patel as well. If he wanted to ask for anything through power, it would have been easy, but Menon had no such desire.

Here the problem of the merger of states in India remained in front of the country. Most of the states and princely states wanted to merge with India. But at that time all except three out of 565 princely states decided to merge with India. These three princely states were Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Junagadh. Eighty percent of Hyderabad's population was Hindu, while Muslims, despite being a minority, held important positions in the administration and the army. The integration of the country was not possible without merging all these states into India. For this, Sardar Patel and Menon, giving an unmatched introduction to their understanding, finally included them in India.

The motivational incident of V.P Menon

When VP Menon, a Hindu, reached Delhi in 1947, he found that all the money he had brought with him had been stolen. He sought the help of 15 rupees from an old Sikh. The Sikh gave money to Menon and when Menon asked that Sikh his address to return the money, he said- "No, I will not take back the money from you, thus as long as you live, you are the respect of every honest person." Keep helping whoever asks for your help." Nearly 30 years after this incident and just six weeks before Menon's death, a beggar came to Menon's residence in Bangalore. Menon asked his daughter for her wallet and took out Rs 15 and gave it to the beggar. He was still paying off that debt.

The late hour of V.P Menon

The relationship between Sardar Patel and VP Menon was priceless. Menon was like Patel's left hand and had played an important role in the unity of independent India. Every politician was sympathetic to the administrative staff working under the British government. Some Congress wanted to deprive the administrative officers of service because these officers were involved in their arrest. Even Pandit Nehru did not have much love for these employees of the administration. But VP Menon was given the position of the Governor of Odisha in 1951. He was also a member of the Finance Commission for some time. After the death of Sardar Patel, VP Menon resigned from the newly created Indian Administrative Service.

The Death of V.P. Menon

After retirement, VP Menon started living in Bangalore. He died on 31 December 1965. It is very surprising that no one has written the autobiography of VP Menon to date.

VP Menon, who assisted Sardar Patel in the integration of princely states, wrote in his book 'The Story of the Integration of Indian States' that "India is a geographical unit, yet in its entire history it has never been politically Unity could not be achieved. played a constructive role."

Sardar Patel knew that 'you will not be able to unite India if you do not have an excellent All India Service'. Sardar Patel worked tirelessly for unification through conciliation with the royal princely states. But he did not hesitate to adopt the policy of Sama, Daam, Dand, and Bhed. Sardar Patel and his colleague VP Menon prepared drafts of 'status quo agreements and deeds of annexation', which included requests and demands from various rulers.

By Moni Sinhmar