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Jawaharlal Nehru
Photo: Keystone View Company/FPG, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons24

Jawaharlal Nehru

Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964

Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Jawaharlal Nehru (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Nov 14, 1889, died May 27, 1964.1

About

Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister, holding office for 16 years and 286 days. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, he wrote books such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), that have been read around the world.

The son of Motilal Nehru, a prominent lawyer and Indian nationalist, Jawaharlal Nehru was educated in England—at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, and trained in the law at the Inner Temple. He became a barrister, returned to India, enrolled at the Allahabad High Court and gradually became interested in national politics, which eventually became a full-time occupation. He joined the Indian National Congress, rose to become the leader of a progressive faction during the 1920s, and eventually of the Congress, receiving the support of Mahatma Gandhi, who was to designate Nehru as his political heir. As Congress president in 1929, Nehru called for complete independence from the British Raj.

Nehru promoted the idea of the secular nation-state in the 1937 provincial elections, allowing the Congress to sweep the elections and form governments in several provinces. In September 1939, the Congress ministries resigned to protest Viceroy Lord Linlithgow's decision to join the war without consulting them. After the All India Congress Committee's Quit India Resolution of 8 August 1942, senior Congress leaders were imprisoned, and for a time, the organisation was suppressed. Nehru, who had reluctantly heeded Gandhi's call for immediate independence, and had desired instead to support the Allied war effort during World War II, came out of a lengthy prison term to a much altered political landscape. Under Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Muslim League had come to dominate Muslim politics in the interim. In the 1946 provincial elections, Congress won the elections, but the League won all the seats reserved for Muslims, which the British interpreted as a clear mandate for Pakistan in some form. Nehru became the interim prime minister of India in September 1946 and the League joined his government with some hesitancy in October 1946.

Upon India's independence on 15 August 1947, Nehru gave a critically acclaimed speech, "Tryst with Destiny"; he was sworn in as the Dominion of India's prime minister and raised the Indian flag at the Red Fort in Delhi. On 26 January 1950, when India became a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, Nehru became the Republic of India's first prime minister. He embarked on an ambitious economic, social, and political reform programme. Nehru promoted a pluralistic multi-party democracy. In foreign affairs, he led the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement, a group of nations that did not seek membership in the two main ideological blocs of the Cold War. Under Nehru's leadership, the Congress dominated national and state-level politics and won elections in 1951, 1957 and 1962. He died in office from a heart attack in 1964. His birthday is celebrated as Children's Day in India.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jawaharlal Nehru, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • 1910Trinity College Bachelor of Arts; natural science3 4
  • Date not recordedCity Law School Bachelor of Laws; law3 4
  • Since 1905Harrow School3 4

Birth and family background

Jawaharlal Nehru was born on 14 November 1889 in Allahabad in British India to mother Swarup Rani née Thussu (1868–1938) and father Motilal Nehru (1861–1931). Both parents belonged to the community of Kashmiri Pandits, or Brahmins originally from the Kashmir valley. Motilal, a self-made barrister of wealth, served as president of the Indian National Congress in 1919 and 1928. Swarup Rani, raised in a family settled in Lahore, was Motilal's second wife, the first having died in childbirth. Jawaharlal was the firstborn. Two sisters followed, the elder of which, Vijaya Lakshmi, became the first female president of the United Nations General Assembly. The younger, Krishna Hutheesing, became a noted writer, authoring several books on her brother.

Childhood

Nehru described his childhood as "sheltered and uneventful". He grew up in an atmosphere of privilege, which included life in the mansion Anand Bhavan in Allahabad. He was educated at home by private governesses and tutors. One of these was an Irishman, Ferdinand T. Brooks, who was interested in theosophy. The Irish Home Rule and Indian Home Rule leaguer Annie Besant initiated Jawaharlal into the Theosophical Society when he was thirteen. However, his interest in theosophy was not enduring, and he left the society shortly after Brooks departed as his tutor. Nehru was to write: "For nearly three years [Brooks] was with me and in many ways, he influenced me greatly".

Nehru's theosophical interests led him to study the Buddhist and Hindu scriptures. According to B. R. Nanda, these scriptures were Nehru's "first introduction to the religious and cultural heritage of [India]....[They] provided Nehru the initial impulse for [his] long intellectual quest which culminated...in The Discovery of India."

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Youth

Nehru became an ardent nationalist during his youth. The Second Boer War and the Russo-Japanese War intensified his feelings. Of the latter he wrote, "[The] Japanese victories [had] stirred up my enthusiasm....Nationalistic ideas filled my mind.... I mused of Indian freedom and Asiatic freedom from the thraldom of Europe." Later, in 1905, when he had begun his institutional schooling at Harrow, a leading school in England where he was nicknamed "Joe", G. M. Trevelyan's Garibaldi books, which he had received as prizes for academic merit, influenced him greatly. He viewed Garibaldi as a revolutionary hero. He wrote: "Visions of similar deeds in India came before, of [my] gallant fight for [Indian] freedom and in my mind, India and Italy got strangely mixed together."

Graduation

Nehru went to Trinity College, Cambridge, in October 1907 and graduated with an honours degree in natural science in 1910. During this period, he studied politics, economics, history and literature with interest. The writings of Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, John Maynard Keynes, Bertrand Russell, Lowes Dickinson and Meredith Townsend moulded much of his political and economic thinking.

After completing his degree in 1910, Nehru moved to London and studied law at the Inner Temple (one of the four Inns of Court to which English barristers must belong). During this time, he continued to study Fabian Society scholars including Beatrice Webb. He was called to the Bar in 1912.

Education

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, the Indian Institutes of Management and the National Institutes of Technology. 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 enrolment programs and the construction of thousands of schools. Nehru also launched initiatives such as the provision of free milk and meals to children to fight malnutrition. Adult education centres and vocational and technical schools were also organised for adults, especially in the rural areas.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jawaharlal Nehru (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: freedom fighter, barrister, trade unionist, head of government, writer, autobiographer, politician.12

  • 1962Minister of Defence4 10
  • 1956Minister of Finance10
  • 1947 to 1964Prime Minister of India4 10
  • 1947 to 1964Minister of External Affairs4 10
  • Since 1947Member of the Committee on Subjects Assigned to the Union Centre10
  • Since 1946Member of the Negotiating Committee of the Constituent Assembly of India10
  • 1946 to 1950Member of the Constituent Assembly of India10 11
  • Date not recordedFounded National Herald5
  • Date not recordedFounded Indian Institutes of Technology6
  • Date not recordedFounded Seva Dal7
  • Date not recordedFounded Non-Aligned Movement8
  • Date not recordedBoard member, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan9
  • Date not recordedMember of the Lok Sabha4 10

Known for: Letters from a Father to His Daughter, Glimpses of World History, The Discovery of India.4 13

Personal life

  • BornNov 14, 1889, Prayagraj4 14
  • DiedMay 27, 1964, New Delhi15 16
  • CitizenshipBritish Raj, Dominion of India, India4 17
  • ResidenceNew Delhi, Prayagraj4 18
  • SpouseKamala Nehru Until 19364 19

Civil rights and home rule: 1912–1919

Nehru's father, Motilal, was an important moderate leader of the Indian National Congress. The moderates believed British rule was modernising, and sought reform and more participation in government in cooperation with British authorities. However, Nehru sympathised with the Congress radicals, who promoted Swaraj, Swadesh, and boycott. The two factions had split in 1907. After returning to India in 1912, Nehru attended the annual session of the Congress at Patna. The Congress was then considered a party of moderates and elites dominated by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and Nehru was disconcerted by what he saw as "very much an English-knowing upper-class affair". However, Nehru agreed to raise funds for the ongoing Indian civil rights movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa.

In 1916, Nehru married Kamala Kaul, who came from a Kashmiri Pandit family settled in Delhi. Their only daughter, Indira, was born in 1917 and would go on to become India's first and, to date, only woman Prime Minister, serving from 1966–1977 and again from 1980–1984. Kamala gave birth to a son in 1924, but the baby lived for only a few days.

The influence of moderates declined after Gokhale died in 1915. Several nationalist leaders banded together in 1916 under the leadership of Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak to voice a demand for Swaraj or self-governance. Besant and Tilak formed separate Home Rule Leagues. Nehru joined both groups, but he worked primarily with Besant, with whom he had a close relationship since childhood. He became the secretary of Besant's Home Rule League. In June 1917, the British government arrested Besant. The Congress and other organisations threatened to launch protests if she was not freed. The government was forced to release Besant in September, but the protestors successfully negotiated further concessions.

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Hindu code bills and marriage laws

Under Nehru, the Indian Parliament enacted many changes to Hindu law through the Hindu code bills to criminalise caste discrimination and increase the legal rights and social freedoms of women. The Nehru administration saw such codification as necessary to unify the Hindu community, which ideally would be a first step towards unifying the nation. They succeeded in passing four Hindu code bills in 1955–56: the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, and Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act. Those who practise Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism are categorised as Hindus under the jurisdiction of the Code Bill.

Nehru specifically wrote Article 44 of the Indian constitution under the Directive Principles of State Policy which states: "The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India." The article has formed the basis of secularism in India. However, Nehru has been criticised for the inconsistent application of the law. Most notably, he allowed Muslims to keep their personal law in matters relating to marriage and inheritance. In the small state of Goa, a civil code based on the old Portuguese Family Laws was allowed to continue, and Nehru prohibited Muslim personal law. This resulted from the annexation of Goa in 1961 by India, when Nehru promised the people that their laws would be left intact. This has led to accusations of selective secularism.

While Nehru exempted Muslim law from legislation and they remained unreformed, he passed the Special Marriage Act in 1954. The idea behind this act was to give everyone in India the ability to marry outside the personal law under a civil marriage. In many respects, the act was almost identical to the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, demonstrating how secularised the law regarding Hindus had become. The Special Marriage Act allowed Muslims to marry under it and keep the protections, generally beneficial to Muslim women, that could not be found in the personal law. Under the act, polygamy was illegal, and inheritance and succession would be governed by the Indian Succession Act, rather than the respective Muslim personal law. Divorce would be governed by secular law, and maintenance of a divorced wife would be along the lines set down in civil law.

The Commonwealth

After independence, Nehru wanted to maintain good relations with Britain and other British Commonwealth countries. As prime minister of the Dominion of India, he acquiesced only after Krishna Menon's redrafting of the 1949 London Declaration, under which India agreed to remain within the Commonwealth of Nations after becoming a republic in January 1950, and to recognise the British monarch as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth". The other nations of the Commonwealth recognised India's continuing membership of the association.

Described as a Hindu agnostic, and styling himself as a "scientific humanist", Nehru thought that religious taboos were preventing India from moving forward and adapting to modern conditions: "No country or people who are slaves to dogma and dogmatic mentality can progress, and unhappily our country and people have become extraordinarily dogmatic and little-minded."

The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organised religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled me with horror and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it. Almost always it seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition, exploitation and the preservation of vested interests.

As a humanist, Nehru considered that his afterlife was not in some mystical heaven or reincarnation but in the practical achievements of a life lived fully with and for his fellow human beings: "...Nor am I greatly interested in life after death. I find the problems of this life sufficiently absorbing to fill my mind," he wrote. In his Last Will and Testament, he wrote: "I wish to declare with all earnestness that I do not want any religious ceremonies performed for me after my death. I do not believe in such ceremonies, and to submit to them, even as a matter of form, would be hypocrisy and an attempt to delude ourselves and others."

In his autobiography, he analysed Abrahamic and Indian religions and their impact on India. He wanted to model India as a secular country; his secularist policies remain a subject of debate mainly by the Hindutva proponents.

Nehru also believed that a world government needs to be formed for the sake of world peace.

The Committee is of the opinion that future peace, security and ordered progress of the world demand a world federation of free nations, and on no other basis can the problems of the world be solved. Such a world federation would ensure the freedom of its constituent nations, the prevention of aggression and exploitation of one nation over another, the protection of national minorities, the advancement of all backward areas and peoples, and the pooling of the world’s resources for the common good of all. On the establishment of such a world federation, disarmament would be practicable in all countries, national armies, navies and air forces would no longer be necessary, and a world federal defence force would keep the peace and prevent aggression. …The Committee regretfully realizes, however, despite the tragic and overwhelming lessons of the war and the perils that overhang the world, the Governments of few countries are yet prepared to take this inevitable step towards world federation.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jawaharlal Nehru (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • 1955Bharat Ratna4 20
  • Date not recordedBintang Jasa20 21
  • Date not recordeddoctor honoris causa of Keiō University20
  • Date not recordedhonorary citizen of Belgrade20

Sources

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