Jawaharlal Nehru , First Prime Minister of India
Jawaharlal Nehru (Hindi: जवाहरलाल नेहरू, 14 November 1889–27 May 1964) was the first, and has been the longest-serving prime minister of India so far, having served from 1947 to 1964. A leading figure in the Indian independence movement, Nehru was elected by the Congress party to assume office as independent India’s first Prime Minister, and later when the Congress won India’s first general election in 1952. As one of the founders of the Non-aligned Movement, he was also an important figure in the international politics of the post-war era. He is referred to as Pandit Nehru (”pandit,” Sanskrit, “scholar”, as honorific) and in India, as Panditji (-ji, honorific suffix).
The son of a wealthy Indian barrister and politician, Motilal Nehru, Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Indian National Congress when still fairly young. Rising to become Congress President, under the mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic and radical leader, advocating complete independence from the British Empire. In the long struggle for Indian independence, in which he was a key player, Nehru was eventually recognized as Gandhi’s political heir. A life-long liberal, Nehru was also an advocate for Fabian socialism and the public sector as the means by which long-standing challenges of economic development could be addressed by poorer nations.
To Nehru was given the singular honour of raising the flag of independent India in New Delhi on 15 August 1947, when India gained Independence. Nehru’s appreciation of the virtues of parliamentary democracy, secularism and liberalism coupled with concerns for the poor and underprivileged are recognised to have guided him in formulating policies that influence India to this day. They also reflect the socialist origins of his worldview. As prime minister and as Congress’ leader Nehru pushed through India’s Parliament, which was dominated by members of his own party, a series of legal reforms intended to emancipate Hindu women and bring equality. These reforms included raising the minimum marriageable age from twelve to fifteen, empowering women to divorce their husbands and inherit property, and declaring illegal the ruinous dowry system. His long tenure was instrumental in shaping the traditions and structures of independent India. He is sometimes referred to as the ‘Architect of Modern India’. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, and grandson, Rajiv Gandhi, also served as Prime Ministers of India.
Jawahar Lal Nehru
Biography
Nehru was born the eldest child of Swarup Rani and the wealthy barrister Motilal Nehru in the city of Allahabad, now in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The Nehru family came of Kashmiri Brahmin stock . Motilal had moved to Allahabad many years before and developed a successful legal practice. He was also an active member of the fledgling Indian national movement led by the Indian National Congress. Nehru and his two sisters—Vijaya Lakshmi and Krishna— were brought up in a large mansion, Anand Bhavan, and were raised predominantly in the English custom, then thought necessary by the Indian elite. They were also taught Hindi, Sanskrit and given a grounding in the Indian classics.
Motilal Nehru wished his son to qualify for the Indian Civil Service, and duly sent young Jawaharlal to Harrow in England. Jawaharlal apparently did not enjoy his schooling at Harrow, finding the school syllabus stifling and the residency conditions far removed from home and quite unbearable. Nevertheless, after completing school, Nehru took the Cambridge entrance examinations in 1907 and went up to Trinity College, to study natural sciences. Jawaharlal stood second in his Tripos and graduated in 1910. The famously liberal atmosphere of the University also encouraged him to participate in a host of extra-curricular activities and has been noted as having been a key influence on his general outlook. He then enrolled at the Inner Temple for his legal studies in October 1910. This decision, as with studying at Harrow and Cambridge, was not apparently taken due to any fascination with the law on the part of Jawaharlal, but apparently at the behest of his father. Jawaharlal Nehru passed the final examination in 1912 and was called to the Bar later that year at the Inner Temple.. He returned to India soon after to set up a legal practice.
However, politics soon occupied him, particularly the Congress-led struggle for Indian independence. After the British massacre of protesters in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar in 1919, an outraged Nehru devoted all his energies to the freedom movement. Although initially sceptical of his son’s political views, Motilal Nehru too joined the latest Congress efforts in pursuit of Indian independence.[5] Nehru rapidly rose to became Gandhi’s trusted lieutenant. His protests, though strictly non-violent, would land him in jail for a total of nine years over the course of his life. During his time in prison Nehru wrote “Glimpses of World History” (1934), his “Autobiography” (1936), and “The Discovery of India” (1946). These works earned him some distinction as a writer, in addition to his growing reputation in the indian independence movement. Under Gandhi’s direction, Nehru led the Indian National Congress for the first time in 1929, at the Lahore session. He was again elected to the Congress presidency in 1936, 1937, and finally in 1946, at which point his political prestige in the independence movement may have been regarded as second to none but Gandhi.
He was married to Kamala Kaul, also a Kashmiri brahmin, on February 8, 1916. They had one daughter, Indira Priyadarshini, later Indira Gandhi. Kamala Nehru was also an active participant in the Independence movement but died in 1936 of tuberculosis. Nehru would remain single for the rest of his life. Rumours would, however, later link him to Edwina Mountbatten, Vicerine of India from 1946. In later life he would come to depend greatly on his daughter and sister, Vijaylakshmi Pandit.
India’s First Prime Minister
Nehru and his colleagues had been released as the British Cabinet Mission arrived to propose plans for transfer of power.
Once elected, Nehru headed an interim government, which was impaired by outbreaks of communal violence and political disorder, and the opposition of the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who were demanding a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. After failed bids to form coalitions, Nehru reluctantly supported the partition of India, according to a plan released by the British on 3 June 1947. He took office as the Prime Minister of India on 15 August, and delivered his inaugural address titled “A Tryst With Destiny”:
“Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.”
However, this period was marked with intense communal violence. This violence swept across the Punjab region, Delhi, Bengal and other parts of India. Nehru conducted joint tours[citation needed] with Pakistani leaders to encourage peace and calm angry and disillusioned refugees. Nehru would work with Maulana Azad and other Muslim leaders to safeguard and encourage Muslims to remain in India. The violence of the time deeply affected Nehru, who called for a ceasefire[citation needed] and UN intervention to stop the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. Fearing communal reprisals, Nehru also hesitated in supporting the annexation of Hyderabad State.
In the years following independence, Nehru frequently turned to his daughter Indira to look after him and manage his personal affairs. Under his leadership, the Congress won an overwhelming majority in the elections of 1952. Indira moved into Nehru’s official residence to attend to him. Indira would virtually become Nehru’s chief of staff and constant companion in his travels across India and the world
Economic policies
Nehru presided over the introduction of a modified, Indian version of state planning and control over the economy. Creating the Planning commission of India, Nehru drew up the first Five-Year Plan in 1951, which charted the government’s investments in industries and agriculture. Increasing business and income taxes, Nehru envisaged a mixed economy in which the government would manage strategic industries such as mining, electricity and heavy industries, serving public interest and a check to private enterprise. Nehru pursued land redistribution and launched programmes to build irrigation canals, dams and spread the use of fertilizers to increase agricultural production. He also pioneered a series of community development programs aimed at spreading diverse cottage industries and increasing efficiency into rural India. While encouraging the construction of large dams (which Nehru called the ‘new temples of India’), irrigation works and the generation of hydroelectricity, Nehru also launched India’s programme to harness nuclear energy.
For most of Nehru’s term as prime minister, India would continue to face serious food shortages despite progress and increases in agricultural production. Nehru’s industrial policies, summarised in the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956, encouraged the growth of diverse manufacturing and heavy industries, yet state planning, controls and regulations began to impair productivity, quality and profitability. Although the Indian economy enjoyed a steady rate of growth, chronic unemployment amidst widespread poverty continued to plague the population. Nehru’s popularity remained unaffected, and his government succeeded to an extent in extending water and electricity supply, health care, roads and infrastructure for India’s vast rural population.
Jawaharlal Nehru was a passionate advocate of education for India’s children and youth, believing it essential for India’s future progress. His government oversaw the establishment of many institutions of higher learning, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management. Nehru also outlined a commitment in his five-year plans to guarantee free and compulsory primary education to all of India’s children. For this purpose, Nehru oversaw the creation of mass village enrollment programmes and the construction of thousands of schools. Nehru also launched initiatives such as the provision of free milk and meals to children in order to fight malnutrition. Adult education centres, vocational and technical schools were also organised for adults, especially in the rural areas.
Under Nehru, the Indian Parliament enacted many changes to Hindu law to criminalize caste discrimination and increase the legal rights and social freedoms of women . A system of reservations in government services and educational institutions was created to eradicate the social inequalities and disadvantages faced by peoples of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Nehru also championed secularism and religious harmony, increasing the representation of minorities in government
National security and foreign policy
Nehru led newly independent India from 1947 to 1964, during its first years of freedom from British rule. Both the U.S. and th U.S.S.R competed to make India an ally throughout the cold war.
Although having promised in 1948 to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir under the auspices of the U.N., Nehru grew increasingly wary of the U.N. and declined to hold a plebiscite in 1953. He ordered the arrest of the Kashmiri politician Sheikh Abdullah, whom he had previously supported but now suspected of harbouring separatist ambitions; Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad replaced him. On the international scene, Nehru was a champion of pacifism and a strong supporter of the United Nations. He pioneered the policy of non-alignment and co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement of nations professing neutrality between the rival blocs of nations led by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Recognising the People’s Republic of China soon after its founding (while most of the Western bloc continued relations with the Republic of China), Nehru argued for its inclusion in the United Nations and refused to brand the Chinese as the aggressors in their conflict with Korea. He sought to establish warm and friendly relations with it despite the invasion of Tibet in 1950, and hoped to act as an intermediary to bridge the gulf and tensions between the communist states and the Western bloc. This policy of pacifism and appeasement with respect to China soon came unraveled when China annexed Aksai Chin, the region of Kashmir adjoining Tibet in 1962 that led to the Sino-Indian war.
Jawaharlal Nehru talks to Pakistan prime minister Muhammad Ali Bogra during his 1953 visit to Karachi.Nehru was hailed by many for working to defuse global tensions and the threat of nuclear weapons. He commissioned the first study of the human effects of nuclear explosions, and campaigned ceaselessly for the abolition of what he called “these frightful engines of destruction.” He also had pragmatic reasons for promoting de-nuclearisation, fearing that a nuclear arms race would lead to over-militarisation that would be unaffordable for developing countries such as his own.
In 1956 he had criticised the joint invasion of the Suez Canal by the British, French and Israelis. Suspicion and distrust cooled relations between India and the U.S., which suspected Nehru of tacitly supporting the Soviet Union. Accepting the arbitration of the UK and World Bank, Nehru signed the Indus Water Treaty in 1960 with Pakistani ruler Ayub Khan to resolve long-standing disputes about sharing the resources of the major rivers of the Punjab region.
Nehru had led the Congress to a major victory in the 1957 elections, but his government was facing rising problems and criticism. Disillusioned by intra-party corruption and bickering, Nehru contemplated resigning but continued to serve. The election of his daughter Indira as Congress President in 1959 aroused criticism for alleged nepotism[citation needed], although Nehru disapproved of her election, partly because he considered it smacked of “dynastism”; he said, indeed it was “wholly undemocratic and an undesirable thing”, and refused her a position in his cabinet. Indira herself was at loggerheads with her father over policy; most notably, she used his oft-stated personal deference to the Congress Working Committee to push through the dismissal of the Communist Party of India government in the state of Kerala, over his own objections. Nehru began to be frequently embarrassed by her ruthlessness and disregard for parliamentary tradition, and was “hurt” by what he saw as an assertiveness with no purpose other than to stake out an identity independent of her father
Although the Pancha Sila (Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence) was the basis of the 1954 Sino-Indian treaty over Tibet, in later years, Nehru’s foreign policy suffered through increasing Chinese antagonism over border disputes and Nehru’s decision to grant asylum to the Dalai Lama. After years of failed negotiations, Nehru authorized the Indian Army to annex Goa from Portugal in 1961. See liberation of Goa. While increasing his popularity, Nehru received criticism for opting for military action.
In the 1962 elections, Nehru led the Congress to victory yet with a diminished majority. Opposition parties ranging from the right-wing Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party, socialists and the Communist Party of India performed well.
In a matter of months, the border disputes with China turned into open conflict. Nehru assumed that as former victims of imperialism (India being a colony itself) they shared a sense of solidarity, as expressed in the phrase “Hindi-Chini bhai bhai” (Indians and Chinese are brothers). He was dedicated to the ideals of brotherhood and solidarity among developing nations. Nehru, naively, did not believe that one fellow Socialist country would attack another; and in any event, he felt secure behind the impregnable wall of ice that is the Himalayas. Both proved to be severe miscalculations of China’s intentions and military capabilities. Following reports of his intention to confront Chinese occupation of the disputed areas—summarised in a memorable statement that he had asked the Army to “throw them (Chinese) out” - China launched a pre-emptive attack.
Public viewing of Nehru’s body, which lies in state, 1964In a matter of days, a Chinese invasion of northeastern India exposed the weaknesses of India’s military as Chinese forces came as far as Assam. Widely criticised for his government’s insufficient attention to defence, Nehru was forced to sack the defence minister Krishna Menon and seek U.S. military aid. Nehru’s health began declining steadily, and he was forced to spend months recuperating in Kashmir through 1963. Some historians attribute this dramatic decline to his surprise and chagrin over the invasion of India by the Chinese, which he perceived as a betrayal of trust. Upon his return from Kashmir in May 1964, Nehru suffered a stroke and later a heart attack. He died in the early hours of 27 May 1964. Nehru was cremated in accordance with Hindu rites at the Shantivana on the banks of the Yamuna River, witnessed by hundreds of thousands of mourners who had flocked into the streets of Delhi and the cremation grounds.
Loading ...