On
July 15th 1955, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister,
was awarded the Bharat Ratna (India’s highest civilian honour) by then
President Rajendra Prasad.
Pandit Nehru is remembered not only as India’s
first Prime Minister, but also as India’s most charismatic leader who
was greatly admired, not only in India, but across the globe, for his
idealism and statesmanship. Nehru is believed to have given Indians an
image of themselves which no other leader had succeeded in doing. Nehru
invested a lot of his energy into the emancipation of children and the
youth, who he believed to be the future of the country. Nehru was fondly
known as Chacha Nehru by young children and his birthday (November
14th) is celebrated as Children’s Day across India.
Jawaharlala Nehru played a great role in moulding
the policies and ideology of the Congress party and till today remains a
popular icon of the party. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was born on
November 14th 1889 in Allahabad to Motilal Nehru, an affluent barrister
and Swarupini Thussu. Nehru grew up in a privileged home and went on to
Trinity College, Cambridge for further education in 1907, from where he
graduated with an honours degree. After gaining his degree, Nehru lived
in London for a few years where he studied law and was admitted to the
English bar in 1912.
By 1912, Nehru returned to India and became an
advocate in the Allahabad High Court, where he was working as a
barrister, though he was not entirely interested in practicing law.
While he was in Britain, Nehru had developed a healthy interest in
Indian politics and eventually joined the Congress party to support the
Indian Civil Rights movement in South Africa. Nehru assisted in
collecting funds for the Civil Rights campaigners led by Mahatma Gandhi.
He also took part in movements against the discrimination of Indians in
British colonies.
By 1919, Nehru was an intrinsic part of the Indian
National Congress which was fighting for freedom from British rule.
Nehru drew immense inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and his policy of
non-violence and was imprisoned many times during the 1920s and 1930s by
the British on charges of civil disobedience. By 1928, Nehru had been
elected the president of the Congress party.
Soon, Nehru was being looked at as a successor of
Gandhi and was at the center of the negotiations for Independence with
the British. He also opposed the creation of a separate Muslim state of
Pakistan by the leader of the All India Muslim League, Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, even though the nation was ultimately divided into India and
Pakistan.
On August 15th 1947, Nehru became the first Prime
Minister of Independent India and served the position until his death in
May 1964. Nehru is applauded for introducing India to socialist
economic reforms and ushering in an era of industrialization. Nehru
served in various positions in the Indian cabinet and handled portfolios
such as the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs and
Ministry of Finance.
During the Cold War, Nehru maintained a “positive
neutrality” for India and became a popular agent for the non-aligned
Asian and African countries, most of which were former colonies and
wanted to avoid being dependent on any major world power.
Indo-Chinese border tension broke out in 1962,
which led to India’s defeat, which is also believed to be one of the
causes that led to the decline of Nehru’s health. He died shortly after
on May 27th 1964.
Jawahalal Nehru has left behind a strong legacy in
India and many memorials have been built for him, along with many
colleges and universities which have been named after him, including the
famous Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. Nehru is also remembered
for his preferred style of clothing and has lent his name to garments
such as the Nehru jacket and the Nehru cap, still worn by many
politicians.
Many documentaries have been made on the life of Nehru and he has been portrayed in many films, such as Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, Sardar, Shyam Benegal’s TV series, Bharat Ek Khoj and The Last Days of the Raj. Apart from this, Nehru had penned many books, such as The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History and his autobiography, Toward Freedom.
Also On This Day:
1783: Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, great Indian merchant, industrialist and philanthrophist, is born in Bombay
1903: Kumaraswamy Kamraj, great freedom fighter,
social reformer, political leader is born in a trading family at
Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu.
1997: Mahesh Chandra Mehta, environmental activist, wins the Ramon Magsaysay Award.
