Jawaharlal Nehru (November 14, 1889-May 27, 1964) was an Indian nationalist, socialist, democratic, secular humanist, and visionary leader and statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India in 1947 until his death in 1964. He is the architect of India. He championed parliamentary democracy, secularism, technology, heavy industry and mixed economy influencing India’s arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he kept India out of the two blocs of the Cold War and was a founder of the Non-Aligned Movement. His books such as An Autobiography (1936) and Discovery of India (1646) have been read and deliberated upon around the world. In the constitution of India, adopted in 1949, he ensured legal equality between men and women, among all castes and for minorities. There was no corruption during his regime but later it increased and damaged the country. Most of the political leaders, except a few, took interest in the development of their families, relatives and friends and forgot about the country which resulted in the devaluation of the Indian Rupee. In 1964, one American dollar was equal to 4.76 Rupees and in 2024 it was equal to 85 Rupees.
Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad on November 14, 1889. He received his early education at home under private tutors. He was educated in England at Harrow School, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied law at the Inner Temple in London and came back to India in 1912 and plunged straight into politics. Even as a student, he had been interested in the struggle of all nations who suffered under foreign domination. He took a keen interest in the Seinn Fein Movement in Ireland. In 1916, by his parents' arrangement he married 17 year-old Kamla. In India he was inevitably drawn into the struggle for independence.
In 1912, he attended the Bankipore Congress as a delegate and became the secretary of the Home Rule League, Allahabad in 1919. In 1916, he had his first meeting with Mahatma Gandhi and felt immensely inspired by him. He organized the first Kisan March in Pratapgarh District of Uttar Pradesh in 1920. He was twice imprisoned in connection with the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920-22. He became the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in September 1923. He toured Italy, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Germany and Russia in 1926. In Belgium, he attended the Congress of Oppressed Nationalities in Brussels as an official delegate of the Indian National Congress. He also attended the tenth anniversary celebrations of the October Socialist Revolution in Moscow in 1927. While leading a procession against the Simon Commission, he was lathi-charged in Lucknow in 1928. On August 29, 1928 he attended the All-Party Congress and was one of the signatories to the Nehru Report on Indian Constitutional Reform, named after his father Moti Lal Nehru. The same year he also founded 'Independence for India League' which advocated for complete severance of the British connection with India, and became its General Secretary.
In 1929, Nehru was elected President of the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress, where complete independence for the country was adopted as the goal. He was imprisoned several times during 1930-35 in connection with the Salt Satyagraha and other movements launched by the Congress. He also visited Spain in July 1938 when the country was in throws of the Civil War. Just before the court-break of the Second World War, he visited China too. On October 31, 1940 Nehru was arrested for offering individual Satyagraha to protest against India’s forced participation in the World War. On August 7, 1942 Nehru moved the historic 'Quit India' resolution at the All India Congress Committee Session in Bombay. On August 8, 1942 he was arrested along with leaders and taken to Ahmednagar Fort. In all he suffered imprisonment nine times (total ~ 10 years). After his release in January 1945, he organized legal defence for those officers and men of the INA charged with treason. In March 1946, Nehru toured South East Asia. He was elected President of the Congress for the fourth time on July 6, 1946 and again for three more terms from 1951 to 1954. Nehru is the architect of India. He was appointed the Prime Minister of independent India in 1947 by selection and not by election because he proved he would be a very capable, honest and efficient Prime Minister. I have seen many people, even in the rural areas, weeping on his death (May 27, 1964). He was an avid lover of nature and was a prolific writer. He always supported other political parties to have a healthy competition. He was a wonderful leader with a responsible political team which played a significant role to place India on a firm footing after freedom in 1947.
Comments