THE CENTURY "THE CONSCIENCE OF THE WORLD7'

PRESIDENT RADHAKRISHKAN in a bro- SIR AI,EC DOUGLAS-HOME : "My 1947-1948, where I learned to know him. adcast to the nation on May 27 said that with colleagues and I are deeply distressed to and admire him. the death of "an epoch in learn of Mr. Nehru's death. We mourn the "He was one of the greatest figures in our country's history has came to a close". death of the architect of modern , history. The world is the poorer for his "Jawaharlal Nehru was one of the greatest a wise and far-s~ghted world statesman, passmg. figures of the generation, ao outstanding and above all an eminent and respected Commonwealth leader. "He was a most magnanimous man who statesman whose services to the cause of never showed the slightest personal resent- 1:uman freedom are unforgettable. As a "His death will be a grievous loss to the ment at being kept for many years in prison fighter for freedom he was illustrious, as Commonwealth and to the world. We send by the British. He was a great fighter for a maker of modern India his services were our heartfelt sympathy and condolences Indian freedom, and when his life's work unparallel. His life and work have had a to the Government of India on their great was crowned with success he was a big profound influence on our mental makup, loss." enough man to gra p the hand of friend- soclal structure and intellectual develop- ship held out to him by the British". mect.lt will be difficult to reconcile ourselves EARL ATTLEE, former Prime Minister to the image of Ind~awithout Nehru's active of Britain, said Mr Nehru "was agreat THE EARL OF AVON (formerely Sir and all-oervasive leadership. An epoch in world figure and perhaps might be regarded Anthony Eden) former British Prime Min~st- our co&try9s history has come to a close." as a doyen of world statesmen." er and ex-Foreign Secretary: "I deeply regret . . . ."MeRru held the office of the Prime Mr. Nehru was a man "singularly free to hear of Mr. Nehru's death which is a Minister of our country ever since the of bitterness". traglc loss for India and a grievous misfor- dawn of independence and in the long Years Mr. Nehru had been put in prison by tune for the free world." of his premiership he tried tc p~1tour Country British Governments for many years yet PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON: on a progressive, scientific, dynamic and he never showed any bitterness but with "I find it difficult to express the sense of noncommunal basis. His steadfast loyalty "wise statesmanship did all he could to pro- personal loss which I feel as a result of lo certain fundamental principles of libera- mote friendship belween the two peoples". the death of your father. His. passing has lism gave direction to our thought and left ha country and all markmd to whotn life. ,By his own powerfu! and vibrant "I, of course, knew him well and valued . . his friendship". he gave so much in word and dce3 the voice, which we ill not hear any more, he poorer. I shall always tre-sure my all created, moulded, inspired, and kindled a ANTHONY GREEN WOOD, Chair- too brief association with Prirne Ministtr whole generation of Indians, to a loyalty to man of the Labour Party, said: '.Mr. .Nehru Nehru. His conlfort at the time of the as:as- the first principles which he held so dear. was an outstanding power in work~ngfor sination of President Kennedy was a great He had a love of liberty not merely for peace and the world is much poor-r for smce of strength to me. That we should lose his own people but for all people of the his loss. Our thoughts go out to the Indian people at this tragic moment", He added that thjs great man so soon after our o\%nloss world. He therefore expressed syn~pathy grieves us more deeply than we can expect. and support for all liberation movements he had known Mr. Nehru "for more than "His leadership and wisdom were indis- in Africa, Asiaand South America. He belie- 30 years" and that his death was "a great pensable at its most critical years and his ved in the liberty of all without distinction loss" devotion to the great Indian adventure of of class, creed or country. Nehru was a great believer In world peace and the con- FENNER BROCKIVAY, Chairman freedom was unwavering", cept of one world community. No one has of the Movement for Colonial Freedom: . MRS. JACQUELINE KENNEDY: "My shown greater faith and allegiance to the "India under the leadership of Pandit Nehru d-ep?st sympathy on the death of the Prime Charter of the UN than Nehru...... Our was the first nation to achieve its indepen- Mlnlster. 1 know his loss will be felt by all thoughts today go out to h~mas a great dence after the War. His triumph people throughout the world". emancipator of the human race, one who inspired the people of rnxe than 50 nations has given all his life and energy to the freeing which have each gained their political free- DEhY RUSK: "India's loss is truly the of men's minds from political bondage, dom. As Prinie Minister, Pandit Nehru loss of all mankind. Pandit Jawahfirla1 h'ehru economic siavery, social oppression and has always been their champion. symbol~zed the ideals of freedom, human culfural stagnation. Those of us who are ''India was also the first non-aligned dignity, justice and peace which we %hare. left behind to mourn his loss could do no nation. It was Pandit Nehru who set the His leadership and inspiration will be better than wark for the ide~ls he pattern for the many Governments in- sorely missed by us al!". cherished". cluding most of the new sovereign States of Asia and Africa which now represent nearly ADLAI STEVENSON: "lndia hs PR'hlE MINISTER NAWDA appealed to one-third of the population of the earth lost its father and the whole world griekes. the nation on May 27 to ren1a:n united and and which are the greatest hope -of world Within Mr. Nehru's small frail body bur- "to work with selfless devotion, faith and freedom from fear of war". ned the fires of freedom. justice, and hope. courage". . .."The nation has to live. The At a critical time for his country and the problems before us have to be faced and world v,e have lost a towering leader whose solved. This will be assured o~iyif we keep HAROLD \.VILSON paid a trim 1:adership is sorely needed. My sympalhy together and work in faith and unity. . . . bute to Nzhru for the revolution he had goes out to his country, his daughter and one of the greates~son, of Indra has passed brought about in India and expressed con- his family." away. A life of the rarest nobility and de- fidence that his policies would be dication has suddenly come to an end. continued. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER : "The This is not the end of an individual life LORD BERTRAh?) RUSSELL: "If world will, I know, greet the news of Prime only but of an era in the life-of the neiion. we try to imagine what that means- a Minister Nehru's death with deep sadness The effulgence of this era w~llcontinue to period of the greater part of the independent and regret. Often he has disagreed with light the path of many a generation to life of India-we can b.tter unders and leaders and governments of the free world come. For 17 years Jawaharlal Nehru held the magnitude of his contribution to man- but none of them has ever doubted Mr aloft the torch of India's freedom, givlng kind. The nonalignment he formulated pre- Nehru's sincere devotion to universal peace every day and hour of his life completely vented war on more than one occasion. His or his dedication to the welfare of India's to the service of India and of humanity. disparate people are one nation. I hope those .Millions of our people and millions vast population...... who damned him while he lived will not try "For my part, I valued. every opportu- elsewhere knew and loved him. He had to embrace him in the name of things he nity to meet him on Important prob- entered into their lives and thoughts and loathed." given mearing to them. The:r vision of lems and was proud to claim his friendship. Mrs. Eisenhower joins me in expressing lndia was his vision. The values for which HAROLD MACMILLhT, former he lived were their values. He inspired them our profound sympathy to his family and British Premier: "The loss to India is to the people he served so long." and in turn their love and faith sustained hcalculable . . . .The loss to the Common- hin. H, I~vesa void which can never be wealth is almost equally great. I had the pri- filled." PREMIER MHRUSHCHEV asd Dr. Bre- vilege of close friendship and intimate rhnev, Ctairman Presidium of the Suprrme QUEEN ELIZABETH II: "I am deeply working with Mr. Nehru over many im- Soviet of the USSR. "It was with a feeling of grieved to hear of the death of Mr. Nehru, portant Commonwealth problems and was great sorrow that we learned of the death of who ~111be mourned throughout the able to see something not.only of his imm.. the outstanding statesman of our time, thc Commonwealth and among the peace- ense knowledge and skill m public matters great and sincere friend of the Soviet loving peoples of the world. but his unfailing C0urte.y and un- Union, the , "My husband and my family join me in selfishness. Mr. Nehru was a world figure Jawaharlal Nehru. and the whole world will mourn him". sending our deep and sincere sympathy "The name of Nehru enjoyed the tremen- to you and to the people of India in the EARL MOUNTBAITEN: "It was a dous respect and love of the Soviet people incparab!e loss which you have suffered." privilege to be associated with him in who knew him as a.tested and \vise leader of 12 THE CENTURY

the Indian people's struggle for national on the history of their countryas he has. life was a torch which ill$ wco~d,.,u no independence and ,the rebirth of their coun- Responsible as he was for the policies of Asia and the world". try, as an active fighter against colonialism. one of the largest countries in the world, Mr. Nehru was the beacon light nc Nehru is known as an outstanding states- he had affected the course of world events. only for the people of India but the whole man of modem times who devoted his entire Indla should know that in her hour of grief humanity. Ms. N jsser s!d h: saluted the life to the struggle for the strengthening of her sorrow is ~haredby all of us in the soul oft :e mari whose death was a loss to friendship and cooperation between the ". humanity at large. peoples for the progiess of humanity. French Ambassador ROGER SEYDOUXy He had always valued the friendship President of the Security Council : "Nehru which had linked him with Mr. Nehru for '

THE PRESIDEST OF THE BELGIAN "Your country, your people and, indeed SENA.TE, Mr. Paul Struye, expressed the HERR WALTER WLBRTCHT, air- the whole world will miss this truly great man of the GDR State Council:"O~ behalf condolences of the Senate at the opening leader and statesman who was a man of of its afternoon session. of the population of the German Democratic extreme courage, an ardent advocate of Republic and the State Council of the Ger- peace and a &out champion of human man Democratic Republic and in .ny m THE S\WDISH PREMIER Mr. Tage liberty". name permit me, Your Excellency, to Erlander: "I am deeply touche I by the death convey my deep felt condolence a~dbeg of Jawaharlal Nehru, His life and work PRESIDENT that our feelings be made knopln to were of the greatest importance not only "It was with great emotion that I lear ed of the relatives of the departed and to the for India but also for the entire world. the death of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, a population of the Republic of ind.a. His death is a great loss to us all." statesman whose eminent qualities placed at the service of democratic, social progress and peace profoundly marked the destiny POPE P.4UL also sent a message of "The populhtion of the German Demo- of India and coosequently that of the world" cratic Republic shares the sorrow of the condolence to President Radhakrishnan. Indian people and the whole of peace-lovhg PRESIDENT TITO OF WGOSLAVIA: humanity at the demise of the eminent DR. HEINRICH LUEBKE, the Presi- "The news of the sudden death of the great statesman who tirelessly fought for the pre- dent of the Federal Republic of , leader of the Indian people, Mr. Jawaharlal servation of peace and who also clearly the Federal Chancellor, Prof. Ludwig Erhard Nehru, has deeply distressed all over. advocated a . peaceful solution to ques- and the Federal Foreign Minister, Dr. ,Ions concerntng Germany. Gerhard Schroeder offered their condole- "In his death, the Indian people suffered nces on the death of Prime Minister Nehru a great loss because he leaves the scene of in their cables to President Radhakrishnan, internal and international development right "The State Council and the population of Mr. Gulzarilal Nanda and Mrs. Indira at a time when his contribution was of the German Democratic Republic will hold Gandhi. They expressed the grief of the great significance." the memory of the great son of the Indian German pecple and of the Federal Gover- people in permanent honour." nment over India's loss and paid tributes to MR. PETAR STAMBOLIC, Yugoslav Mr. Nehru for his invaluable and life-long Prime Minister, said : 'He was not only e services to the nation and to world-wide great Indian but an outstanding figure in Other messages of condolencc Here understanding. the modern world and for world peace. addressed by Mr. U7alter Ulbricht and by It is a great loss for peace and progress in GDR Premier Otto Grotewohl,. and by PRESIDENT ABBOUD OP SUDAN the world. We were able to meet at the Vice-Premier and Forelgn Mii7tster Dr. "It is with the greatest sorrow and shock Belgrade conference. Unfortunately he Lothar Bolz.

JUNE 6, 1064 THE CENTURY THIE IL1FIE OF DEDICATION

Jawaharlales life ic the .history of it was the Home Rule moveme-t of prwn in him from his contact with tho a half century. Ever since he came Annie Besant and others which made Fabian Socialists while in ~ngland.More- back fIonl England after studies he devotcd Jawaharlal think deeply and took him to over, when Jawaharlal went to ~witzerla~d hi rntire tlme and energy to the seruice lively politics. During this period, in. 1916, and stayed there for about 21 months with of the nation and humanity as a whole. he married Kamala Kaul in 1)elhl. his wife who was undergoing treatment, he came in direct touch with the develop. Born in a w althy family on Novemberl4, . When World War $1was coming to an ments taking place in Europe and foln ed 1889, Jaw harlal had all comforts and gre, t end Tilak came out of prison. The freedom a clear opln!on of Fascism and the prospects. H s father. Motdal was rich and movement was then swinging between the significance of India's freedom stru~el~' a lead ng lawyer. Motdal was very particular Extremists and the Molerates. Then to the w~ldstruggle. Furthe?, his vlsf about his son and his future. He had engaged appeared Gandhiji on the scene. Even to the Soviet Union together w~thMot~lal an English governess to look after Jawaharlal earlier, Jawaharlal had great admiration as an official delegate to the 10th anniver-q and a European tutor to guide him in for the struggle Gandhiji had led in South sary of th: Bolshevik Revolution also played his studies. Motilal's strength and intellect Africa. But he had never met the -half- an important role in his socialist thinking. and the mother's (Swaruprani) tenderness naked.fakir.' It was at the Lucknow Cong- Later, he organised the youth movement had influenced the son in his childhood. ress, !n December 1915,. that Jawaharlal and aligned themself with the struggle of However, politics did not come Into his early came m dlrect contact wlth Gandhiji and the working class which the conservatives days, for Motilal, though he had a high since then Gandhiji's ideals and leadership inside the Congress did not appreciate. wnse of national pride, did not havemuch played a decisive role in Jawaharlal's life. But he went round the country addressing faith in the q ick plans of the then poilti- But it was not easy for one who had had several meetings and "spreading the ideoIo- cians. But the thought of his tutor, F.T. comforts and luxury to throw away every- logy of socialism especially among the Brooks, who was a theoso hist, and Annie thing and joining the movement meant an Congress workers and the intelligentsia, Besant's speeches had attracted the young insecure life including imprisonment. More- for these people, who were the backbone Jawaharlal ; and he later bee-me a theoso- over, Motilal could not think of his beloved of the national movement, thought largely phist. son undergoing such tortures. However in terms of narrow nationalism". In 1930, Jawaharlal took .the difficult path and he attended for two days the All-Ind~a In lgo4; at the age of Jawaharral joined hands w~thGandhiji who called Trade Union Congress at Jharia. It was his 'oined He ha Natural Science to give up fear and face al! difficulties with first Trade Union Congress though he had GriPoS with second dass from courage. GanEhiji had sa~dthat ha goal much earlier gained a measurable popularity Cambridge. While in Cambridge an interest was to wipe off the tears from the millions with the masses through his close contact in grew in the young mind. The in India. This dedication, of course,struck with the workers and peasantry. In the . life Garibaldi impressed him which several waves in Jawaharlal's youthful same meeting he had been elected President developed later as an urge for the freedom of his co ntry. The speeches of Tilak and heart. of the INTUC. Aurobindo attracfed him. However, he was Till 1920, Jawaharlal was not ac- In 1928 when the Sh'non canmission studying everyth~ngcarefully and comlng quainted with the problems of the workers came to India the ~onkressgave a call to his own conclusions. Even in the dis- and peasants in the country. Later he for country-wide demonstrations in protest. cussion group of Indians in the University realised, as he has stated in his autobio- Jawharlal was twice lathicharged in Luck- (known as .Majlis), where they discussed graphy, that the first aim ofa politically free now. In La ore, at the same time, Lala Indian political developments, he was only India must be to tackle the problem of Lajpat Rai was seriously injured in Lathi a listener. About many others who took poverty. In the middle of 1920 he visited charge to which he succumbed. The nation active intere tin thosed~scussion, Jawaharlal Pratapgarh to study the conditions of the grew angry and Bha at Singh emerged as later wr te in his autobiography : "Later, I peasants there. In the same year he visited the symbol of revolution. Jawaharlal travel- was to find these very persons were to Rae Bareilly where peasant troubles were led all over the country spreading the call become members of the Indian Civil Ser- developing. In 1921, after attending the of the nation and organising people for a vice, High Court judges, very sta~dand Nagpur session of the Congress he went to stronger political action against the British eober lawyers, and the like." Whereas this Akbarpur in UP to take part in the Kisan rule. During this time he attended and young boy who suffered from "shyness and movement. In the same year Congress adlressed several meeting and confer- diffidence", and who quite often paid a declared boycott of the Prince of a Wales' ences including the Punjab Provincial fine for not speaking in the college debating visit and the Governrent resorted to mass Conference and the Kerala Provinci~l eociety, took a dfferent path whlch demand- arrests and many including Jawaharlal were Confererce. He also attended the first All ed from hi n self sacrifice. Motilal had arrested. 1nd1a Youth Conference held at Calcutta a-tually warted Jawaharlal to join the ZCS, in the same year. The Nehru Committee which the father thought would render In his trial which took place on Decern- report on Constitution was also signed a comfortable future for his son. But Jawa- ber 21, 1921 Jawaharlal, unlike Gandhiji, in the same year. He then founded the harlal did not agree, for he thought it was refused to plead guilty and stated that he Independence of lndla League which adv* the association of Indians with the English did not recognise either the Government or cated complete severence of British which kept the nation in bondage. Jawahar- the Court and regarded the trial a farce. connections and became its General Secre- laly, rcfu.al t~ go for the ICS first In 1922, in another trial, Jawaharlal made tary. And, when the AlCC met at Calcutta displeas d the father. hut later Motilal a Statement before the Court wherein he in 1928, Jawaharlal moved an amendment agreed, and sent him to the Inner Temple rid1 uled the aprlication of various sections to Gandhiji's resolution on Dominion to study law. of the Indian Penal Code to his case and Status. In 1929 the Congress realised that maintained : "TO serve India in the battle rigorous action is needed to attain fedom On his return in 1912 after 7 years' stay of freedom is honour enough. To serve her and the Lahore Corgress met in the same in ~n~land,~awaharlal fohd the political under a leader like is year and set complete freedom as the goal. atmosphere in India dull, The storm of doubly fortunate. But to s ffer for the dear The Congress Legislators in the Centre Bengal1s partlt~ochad subsided. Tllak was country, what greater good fortune could and in the Provinces resigned. In 1930, in prison and the Extremists among the befall an Indian unless it be death for the Gandhiji called for the Civil I)iscbedknce freedom fighters leadeyless. Moderates were cause of the full realisation of 4 glorious movement. And when Gandhiji decidd to active with the Mmto-Morle~ scheme. dream." He made this po itical statement violate the Salt Law and proceeded with But Jawaharlal did not take direct interest because he knew that it would create it Jawaharlal, who was the Corgress Presi- politics. Because, for 0% Motilal was many waves throughout the country which dent then, appealed to the people to nlarch ~lmningto make hi son's good lawyer, ultimately would help to increase the mo- forward with the Mahatma holding the as he himself was, and ~awaharlalstarted mentum of the movement. The country- independence flag high. The British go- actice in th AilahabadHigh Court with wide demonstration against the Rowlatt vernment understood what was in store Es father. still,, he could not keep himself Act had moved Jawaharlal. And also the and arrested Jawaharlal and sentenced him totally off .polltlcs. Motllal himself had atrocities of the police at Jallianwala Bagh to six months. Motilal had much earlier started takug part m politics ulth the terrified him. As a result he decided to bec me,active in the movement and gave Moderates. Thus, though still w0rk-W sacrifice his life to ba i;h British rule from away ha palatial Anand Bhatan to the as a lawyer, the imist:ble desire for the India. nation. The nation-wide u surge had even country's freedom which developed influenced Kamala who had not been in him gradually drew him to the In October 1923 he was elected General taking any acfive interest in politics. But Conscss movement and he attended the Secretary of the AICC. He was also elected later Jawaharlal was surprised ,,hen he Bankipur Congress as a delegate. Later Chairman of the Municipality. h:ard in prison that his wife was taking active he became a member of the United Pro- BY then he came in constant contact with Dart in th. Civil Disobedience movement \inces congress Committee. In 1915, the workers and Peasants whose problems in Allahabad. On December 29, 1930 when Jawaharlal mde his first political speech at made him think deeply and he ped him to a public meeting in Allah-bad. But a crystalise the socialist ideals which hdd sheto thewas pressarrested which Kamala said :g \te ama message happy \ THE CENTURY

beyond mpaure and proud to follow in went to Simla where he had a I%mbte following year he demanded .from Pakistan the footsteus of my husband. I hope the blks w; 1? the Viceroy. 'n that metirg he a no-war agreement and also lnformed them people will keep the flag flying." urged upon the Vice oy the need for :hap@ : if Kashmir was attacked it would be re- of government. The British Cov-rnmcnt garded as an attack on India. He in the On February 6, 1931 Jawaharlal received then deputed Viceroy Wavel to form an meanwhile devoted great attention to the a great blow. That was the dtath of Motilal interim government as a first step towards rthabilitation of refugees from Pakistan. who till then stood by the side of his son. transfer of power. In the same year Jawaharlal was arrested He could never relish the idza of colm- during the agrarian troubles in UP and was In 1946, Jawal-arlal formed th- interim tries taking up arms to settle dis~utes. rebased in 1973. In February 1934 he government. He went to Kasbrnir In he appealed to the USA and was arrested again ar.d released n ~arol and visited NWFP Khjbcr Pass the USSR to end the Korean war. In 19;i4, to visit his wife who was seriously ill. In accompanied by the Kbxm brothers. Marshal Tito visited India. The Prime 1935, while in Almo-ah Jail. Jawaha la1 In December he made a statzmzzt .mwing Minister of China, Chou E?-lai, also came completed his autobiography' which ?as the Objectives' Resolution m the to lndia in the same year. After having published in the following year. Constituent Assembly. discussions with the Chinese Premier at Diwan-e-Khas in Delhi Jawaharlal siued Sh-i Jawabarlal received another serious In the following days comrnm--l bitred with him the five principles of co-existenm Fl~wwhen Kama'a died on F bruary 28, develoned and the Muslin League's "Direct which later came to be known as Pmch 1936. He had fovn to Switzerland soon after Action" Day caused gloom over the comtry. Sheel. he heard of ker condition and was at her The communal violence spread to different Later, in the Afro-Asian Summit held bed side in Lausanne when the sad moment areas, and massacre took ptace. The Corg- in Bsndurg in the year 1955 Jawaharld came. ress was then forced to agree to partition. upheld the slogan of ~eacefulco-eri:tencc Thus, at the stroke of midnight of August and made an historicaf speecl in whicb ha On his return from Switzerland Jawahar- 14, 1947. India, though partitioned, beatme put forward 10 points for world pace. la1 was elected President of Lucknow free, and Jawaharlal became the first Prime In the same year he went to the Soviet Congess. W'hen the Congress decided to Minister of free India. Union and signed with Prime Minister contest the gen. elect-on;. Jawaharlal became Bulganin a statement on co-existence. In extremely busy runnirg about the country Moments before the country attained the following year when an Anglo-F~ncl~ addressing e!ection meetings. He carried independence Jawaharlal spoke : "Long Israeli invasion of Egypt was in the cffing with.him vast multitude of people in every years ago we made a tq~twith ostiny, and Jawaharl~lurged swift artion in a mesaga meatrng he addressed. This trend he could now the time comes when we sb9 deem to the UN Stcretary General. maintann till the last moment of his life. our pl:dge. A moment comes, which comes 02 the assurance of the th:n Viceroy that M%nufhile, the indian Constitutior rn the Government would cooperate with the but rarely in history, when we stcout from finalised and ndia became a Republ,~id the old to*thenew, when an ag? ends. and Janu ry 26, 1950. And the first gmeral elected ministers, :he Congress decided when the soul of a nation. lag *~vpre~~ed, to form ministries in the five states where finds utteranw. It is fitting that at this solemn elections, based on aault franchise, was held they could obtain majority. But Jawaharlal moment we take a pldge of dedication to in India in 1952. It was the acid test for the was against forming a coalition ministry the services of India and to tkstill larger policies Jawaharlal's Government pasued with the Muslim 1-e in those states cause of humanitv." This dedhtion was till then. Jawaharlal drafted the election where the Congress lacked majority. This Jawaharlal's guide-light for the 17 years manifesto of the Co~gressParty and travellad disuleased Mohammed Ali Jinnah and he from one cornsr of the country to the other decided to evoke Muslim sentiments against which followed to lead the nation to the campaignirg for the Congress. Similarly, the Congress and went around the country path of soaalism, democracy, secularism, since cons9tutlon of the Planning Cornis- like a whirlwind with his programme of non-alignment and pea=. sion under his Chairmanship, Jawaharlal concentrated his attention on tsking Ftew enrofliag mre and more Muslims into the The communal hatred and the mssacF kcw. to build a wealthier nation. Many of hb took place left deq scars I> later utterances proved that he laid great In 1938, when Nazism was gaining Jawaharlal's heart. The panlntriken emphasis on aglculture. That was the basis strength in Europe, Jawaharlal went to Muslims from lndia started running for the first Five Year Plan. The river pro- Europe and vlslted together with his to Pakistan and Hindus from Pakis- jzcts India had planned, and especiafly the trust4 frizcd. Krihna Menon. In the follow. tan to India. It was a challenge to the ideals Bhakra Dam, 'had captured Jawaharlal's ing year, he visi'ed, Ceylon and China Bg of secularism which Jawakdal always im3gination. While inaugurating the Bhakrn the time be returned to India war was cherished. The premienbp of the nation Dam he compared the river projects to spreading to many parts. Nazis were going was not at all a flower bed for h.He knew temple, mosque and gurudwara, ard de+ from victo~to victory, and when France that the country wanted more service and cribzd them as the shrines of modern India. @oo was def2ated. Jawaharlal again met devotion from him. In a word, there was no fidd of danning .the Yice~oyto have a formula so that lndia which did not receke Jawaharlal's attm- could cooperate with Britain in the war. In 1948, he went to S6- and dep- tion. H: worked almost 19 hours every ?But the conditions the Congress. put for- lored Pakistan's anti-Indh propganda. day : and his Ia:t words were "I disposd -ward were not acceptable to Br~ta~nand On January 30, 1948, when Gandhiji was of all my files. Gmndhiji s'arted the individual Satyagraha assassinated by a Hindu famtic Jawaharlal movement. Jawaharlal was arrested in 1940 was taken beck. At that sad moment he He was an anti-colonialist. Hh desh said : "The light has gone out of oor lives to free India totally by eliminating all and sent to four years rlgorous imprison- and there is darkness everywhm." Actually mt.This shocked the nation and protest vestiges of colonialism was fully achieved mpetipgs were held all over the country. he felt that he was left done in mid -only when the 40D-year old Portugasa B* lat r when the British Gover ment sea. colonialism war driven off from Goa, Daman rdlised that it would create more complica- and Diu, in 1961. The Indian actron had tions if the Congress leaders were kept in In 1949, Jawaharlal gave assurance to provoked serious criticism in Western jail, they releascd ail of them including Kashmir about Inria's help, ad addressed circles. However, a few days back, the Jawaharlal. a conference on Canal Waters Dispute bet- French TV Service in a comment justified ween Inoia and Pakistan. Then, he visited Jawah rl 1's action over the Po t. guc>e On August 7, 1942, the ATCC met in US on a goodwill mission on the invitation colonies. Bombay, Jawaharlal moved the Quit India of President T u:man. Wf..il= addressirg resolrrtion. AS usual mdSS arrests the US Congress he pldgd Lndia to wo k In 1959, Jawaharlal reported. to the followed ano lawaharlal was arrested for justice, liberty and wcc. H3 also ex- Indian Parliament on Chinese mtrusions the next dav alc n: with Garldhiji, Maulana plained to the US .Gm.mt India's and firing in the Indian border, The China0 Azad, Sarcar Patel and others. He w.rs neutral policy m foretgn afhrs. Later, he attack was no doubt a blow to Pis sircera taken to tr e A'lmdnagar Fort which was w-nt to Canada and addressed the Canadian belief in peaceful co-existence aad Pan h his last and losgjit imprisonmsnt. Jawah~rldl Parliament. Sheel. And, e pecially when it cane from a de- oted this p:r13d in jail mainly for reading country with which he had signed rhe princi- and writing : the outcoms being his remark- When the refugees from Paki t m had ples of p-acefi I co-existence, its impact was abl? wo k, Discow y of India, which was stzrted flowing into West Bengzl after great. However, he never withdrew from his published in 1946. independence the situatbn became Noise war against wxrs, and went on with and many had d:macdcd direct action the call for world peace. In October 1960 Jawaharlal served a to.il term of against Pakistan. But Jawlt at la1 never he ettended the UN General Assemhly 3,262 days in jail. submitted to any such de.mds, for he Sssion where he urged the need for o orlf believed that t'le army was to prevent wars peace, and also urged upon Eisenhower a:d The Biitish Gwemm-nl graduallv realised and not to wage wars. However, when he Khrushchev to renew contacts. The massive from the nation-wide resmtment and the started talking to Fistan in. strong and aggression China made on India soil in INA m3verneot that she could not czrry clsr terms the Paklstan Prem:er agreed to October 1962 forced Jawaharlal to move 0.1 her rule over India for lorg. On his a meeting with Jawahark1 and signed an heads of nation to support India's just rela: from prison in 1945 Jawaharlal agreement on minorihes in 1950. In the stand and also to o5tain arms aid from JUNE 6, 1964 THE CENTURY

bas countries to defend the nation. wethis was going on, on the other hand, ne unres~rvedly accepted the Colombo Pro- The Man of Action posals on the Sino-Indian dispute. Again, his irresistable desire for peace definitely When Jawaharlal Nehru returned home of neacarts in January 1921 marched on was the one reason which made him ac-ept in August 1916 he found Ind~asomewhat Rai Rareill , U.P.. to protest against the the Proposals unreservedly. different from the one he had left bekind arrest of their leaders. Jawaharlal Nehru seven years earlier. His father, Motilal rushed to the scene to avoid any violence It was in January this year (1964) that Nehru, was no an active moderate in the b-cause these marchers were barrid to Jawaharlal's health deteriorated and he advance further by armed police and troo~s. became ill while attending the AICC Session Congress Party; there was the aftermath of at Bhubaneswar. But, soon he recouped his the Bengal "anti-partition" agitation and They all had gathered on the opposite health and resumed work. While addressing the clear division of the Congress in moderate bank of the river when Jawaharlal reached a news conference in New Delhi on May 22, and extremist opinions. The bar did not there, but he was prevented by the local after several months (his monthly press interest him: it was "not intelkctually sti- magidrate from crossing the bridge. The conferencs was discontinued since he fell mulating" and "the life at Anand Bhacan d:monstrators were asked to disperse and ill) he had said that his life ua; "not endi~g soon began to bore him:" The d-..ire for they agreed on condition that Mr. Nehru ve y soon". This reminds of what Motilal "a soft life and pleasant expzrience" t )o waf was allowed to appear before them. This used to say about death. Jawaharlal has now wearing thin. He had met Mahatma request w2.s turned down and the peasarts discribed it in his autobiography in the Gandhi at the Lucknow Congress in 1916 also refused to obey the orders. Police ' following words : "He had ,always laughed but was sceptical of his orthodox approach firing followed and many died and wounded. at the idea of death, made fun of it, and and appearance. He had almost given L p Jawaharlal has se-n the colour and the told us that he proposed to live for a further moving in cars and even sometimes walked warmth of human blood. long term of years". Further, Jawaharlal barefooted to attempt an identification with The impact of these two evepts and had written about himself on Febrca y 14, the peasant masses. Gandhiii'. simple and ractic ways led him 1935, again in the autobicgraphy : "Some- , his father, was not oppo- to etcer:ment with vegetalilnism, his leaving times a sense of age and weariness steals sed to his interest in the Kissn movement; smoking and reading of t.liirg)iad Gira over me, at other times I feel full of energy. what he disliked was his complete identi- afresh. This Iajted for five years before he and vitality.. . .I imagine I shall yet fication with their rustic lot. To him politics went to th. European tour. He was by survive for !:ng unless some sudden fate was the constitutional approach to social now completely spiritualised. The European overtaks me. questiors, which was also the attitude of tour gave to this spiritualism the scientific moderate politicians and to Jawaharlal content of socialism. Jawaharlal Nehru On May 23, 1964 he went to.Dehra "it offered no hope of success'. There were spoke in 1929 on his election to the position Dun for a fday rest. Before leav~ngthe the terrorists, whom "I could not accept." of the President of the Indian National Dehra Dun Circuit House he had written The J; 1 ianwalla Bagh tragedy had shaken Congress in his own voice. Jawatarlal's in the visitors' book : "I have come here his faith in British justice and liberal idealism radicalism even disturbed Gandhiji who for rest and quiet often with my daughter. ar d forced him to seek other ways than the even wrote, "differences between you and The three days I have spent here have been existing modes of political action. Gandhiji's me appear to be so vast and so radical that quiet and restful". When he returned to formation of Satyagrah Society on April 6, there seems to b: no meting ground bet- the Capital on May 26 he looked much 1919 seemed to offer an alternative. He ween us. I cannot conceal from you my refreshed, and nobody could imagine that wrote, "here at least was a wly out of the grief that I will lose a comrade so valiant, tht fatal-stroke was so near. On the mornirg tangle. a mode of action uhich was.straight so faithful, so able and so honest that you of May 27, Jawaharlal's sudden illness and open and possibly effective. I was a re always have been; but in serving a cause spread in the Canital like fire and people with enthusiasm and wanted to join.. . . comradeship have got to be sacrificed." from all walks o' life rushed to Prime immediately. I hardly thought of the conse- Jawaharlal now was the leader of the left Minister's House at Teen Murtl. At about quences-law-brelking, jail-going etc.- in the Congress. 2.70 p.m. on that day All India Rrdio from and if I thought of them I did not care". He however never led the left though Delhi announced the shocking news to the He joined Gandhiji's movement although he remained a socialist throughout his life. narion in its special news broadcast which his father was "furious.. . .Once in a rage Nor did he ever allowed his socialist ideas he (Mct'lalji) ordered (his son) ot4t of the to limit his political actio~ls,just as his said : "We announce with deep regret house." The cleavage lasted about eighteen being a follower-rather the political heir- that the Prime Minister passed away a little months : "It was a tremendous struggle for of Gandhiji has not clouded his socialist wh~leago." The light of hope of this country him(his father) to uproot himself and to way of thinking. This apparent contradiction and the world thus burnt out. fit himself into this new environment". in hisfthinking he resolved by treating these As for conversion : "it is perhaps a triangle, two as aspects of ideology. The politicat action however covered a larger field and The revolution we have started under Mr. Gandhi, my father and myself; each influencing the other to some extent. But involved greater range of values than are the expert guidance of and control of principally, I should imagine, it was Gandhi- admitted into the closed circle of the Jawaharlal is st4 unfinished. The loss of ji's amazing capacity to tone down opposi- ideolof y . Jawaharbl is a catastrophe for India, for tion by his fr~endlyapproach.. . .Secondly This concern foi the totality of politicarc action g~vehim a new insight into the the world and for world peace. At this our closer association brought out that Gandhi wls not only a very big man and medning of polltical r owr. In Gardh~~l's. moment 01 profound grief le. us take, as our a very fine man but al ,o an effxtive man. . . . ph~l~)sc.phyoi pd sive re islance hc dis- beloved leader said on the night of August (no less important) father was forced to covered the same actionist elemmts as wee 14, 1947, a pledge of dedication "to the think because of my reaction. I was his to be fo n ! in s3cizlism. P~wer,he raiid, only son ; he was much interested in me." springs up b~tween men when thry act service of India and to the still larger cause together and disappears tie moment they the of humanity," and promise to ca I y out the Gandhiji's wzs most colos:cl 2perime: t dijpzrse. The popular revolt against armed in world history and Jawaharlal was the rulers with non-violent means creates new ideals Jawaharlal cherished, holding the first to ,realise the revolutionary dimensions Bag of soii~lismand world peace high. sources of power. The non-ti~lent civil of his non-violent methods. This realisation disobedience movement was the rnost opened up a new world when in 1920 he effective mode of action ever dtvised. Such first came into contact with the peasants a movemel;t cannot be defsated bec a lse it of Partabgarh District of Oudh in U.P. cannot be countered by fighting. Ttje orly He had gone to the vlllage to enquire into way of d:feating it is by mzans of mass ' their complaints. He wrote later: "We slaughter. In which case even the victor is found the countryside afire with enthusiasm defeated since nobody can rule over dmd and full of strange excitement.. . . I was men. Tie story of Dayid and G3liath is the filled with shame and sorrow-shame at my The a pa^ illustration of thls obvious truth : the power I Century Digest is own easygoing and comfortable life and of a f:w can be greater than the power of I our petty politics of the city which ignored many. of The Century, and is this vast multitude of semi-naked sons and \ 1 daughters of India and sorrow at the de- Clearly, Jawaharlal N;hru has read gradation and overwheliming poverty of M3itesquizu c!o~ly. Mmtasquieu's thesis ( iwued free. The Digest cannati India. A new picture of India seemed to was that the foreign rule exercised its power 1 rise before m?, nakd, starving, crushed and in complete isolation of its subjrts and that utterly miserable. And their faith in us, the people to~lliving in fear and suspicion casual visitors from the distant city; emba- of each other w:re isolated. Such a rule rrassed me and filled me with a new res- generates impotence which, in other words, ponsibility that frightened me." Another develops the gmns of its own dzctruction. event that made him a firm believer in Jawaharlal despite his socialis: orienta- I non-violence was the one when thousands tion realised this Montesq~ie,ia.~truth in # THE CENTURY

Gandhiii's programme of civil disobedience. and faces and mocks at death. I am not He knew that this non-cooperation civil enamoured of death, though I do not The Rose disobedience movemert extended. to tte think it frightens me. I do not believe 1 whole of society involving the entlre publlc in the negation of or abstention from Irfe. realm of action unlike the marxian methods I have loved life and it attracts me still and the Jewel 1 of rwolutionarv violence. \'iolence, cur~ously and, in my own way, I seek to expreience enough. destroyed power more easily it, though many invisible barriers have than did the strmgth which presupposed grown up which surround me; bct tbat the existence of mutually antagonistic very desire leads me to play with life, groups. It was for this teason that he never to peep over its edges, not to bc a slave liked the marxian methods of securing to it, so that we may value each other all power. the more. Perhaos I ought to have been an aviztor, so that when the sl v:rl ness The Tndian mlitical leaders. whether of and dullness of life overcame me 1 could moderate or of extreme opinions before have rushed irto the tumult of the Gandhiii's lead-rship of the freedom struggle, clouds and said to myself have been c~ncemedu~th Questions of law and the demandc for ~rogressive partici- 'I balanced all, brought all to mind, pation and a voice in the administration The years to come seemed waste of of the country. They had comuletely over- looked the fact that the British rule was breath, characterixd by the imwtence of the sub- jects who had lost their human capacity A waste of breath the years Fehhd, to act and speak together. The soci:fy In balance with this life, this dzth.', therefore remained untouched by thelr attempts. The character of the mgvement meleader particularly when -.Jawaharb1 is changed after Gandhiji's lead-rship and known as much by his achevwnmts in the world of public realm bzame involved which many may have joined as by his cam- in the o:ganised action against the foreign city to take initiative a~dtherefore risks. Mod- rulers. errl India is a Irving monumeot of the acts of Jawaharlal. He brought a world outlook Jawaharlal's rejsction of the available to the freedom struggle, gave us the funda- modes of political action and his attemot m:ltal rights. the conce~tof planned deve- at converting his father to his way of think- lopment and taught us in the ways of ing arb iqdicative of his strong will-power democracy. All these actions that are part and intellectual prowess. He had a mind of the very structure of modem India of his own and in following Gandhiji's example of complet: identity between the disclose his identity, have the poutr to The oeople who &ore him force open all limitations and cut across Dowir to tho ~acredRojghat word and deed he kept to his own ideals all boundaries. The light .that illumhated which were the creations of conditions for The o7ople who wept by his side the establishment of humanist society. And the processes of the e asuons has already And those far away bxn experienced by many perceptibv eyes. Who wept in lheir heart of hurts therefore like the master be spoke to the The full magnitude of which will reveal whole nation ; the people in turn identified itself fully only to the historian and the The vast, loving nrultitd themselves ujth his voice so verv completely story-tsll-r wien all other panicipants have that tte$ also bec m: a nation : Jawaharlal Of his struflling land became mxe than a statesman : he was also departed. Has been deser~d. tne nation rimself. This need not be, because the story of H -w st-ange! * Jawaharlal's life had not come to an end Till the procession was mar~hing like that of Gandhiji's His is the story of After Gandhiji. Jawaharlat is the only Till the pier was lit modern independent Indie ard it will come There wrs stiN the belief man of action : to act meant to him to take to an end only when Irdia loses its freedom. an initiative, "to begin," "to Itad'' and also He is not really dead, And this is not a common story as the non- Just asleep ato set something in motion: h: wi~tein violent struggle of our fnedom mevement &is Discovery r f India: For a while perhps was not, It has Homerc grandlfur be- Taking rest *'The call of action has long been with cause it insists on tl-e 11vir.g derls ar d not As u.nral me; nor action divorced from thought, the spoken words.: they are indeed actua- Afrer a busy doy. but rather fforving from it in one conti- isations in the Arlstot lian srrsc cf ercrf its, nuous sequence. And when, rarely, and it is from the experierce of actual y Pr~tthe quietly slipping Jamm there has been full harmony between that they exhaust their full rnea~bpin tl-e The senseless Iying Rajghat the two, thoug4t leading to action and performaoce itself. This is Jawaharlal's AII speak of he loss finding its fulfilment In it, action legacy. Until cutother such a rose leading back to thought and a fuller This leads us to the poli-in of Jawaharlal Sn~iles in the garden understanding- then I have sensed a the which always ait ac ass party loyalities. And Bahar bewmes memhg/uI certain fulness of life and a vivid in- Once again. tensity in that moment of existence. '~eseemed to say :The art of politics teaches But such moments are rare, very rare, mzn how to brrrg forth wtrt is great and radiant-fa mqcl~kai lamp ra n the words Ordina-y hen we aN are and usually one outstrips the other and And ordinary we :hall be. there is a l~ckof harm?ny,. and vain of Democritus. It was only throrgh polltlcs effort to bnng the two In hne. There -because only the political activity has a Only our ( wn, contributed imqp direct reference to the public rxilm-ttat Once in a while was a time, many years ago, when I lived Becomes wht we cherished for considera le periods in a state of men can actualise their ovrn passitity not in order to effect any chsnpes in society As A ehru emotional exaltation, wrapped UD in The Jawdhar. the action which absorbed me. Those bl t for articulatirg what otherwise they suffer passively. His was. a call to end the days of my youth seem far away now, private realm of each mdivldual ard his Histo Y shall bear witness not merely because of the passage of advocacy of Pancf apti Rzj w7s directtd The kisto*y of all peoples oaf the world years but far more so because of the to enlargirg the pt blic realm. This also The Ganga, the Jamuna, and all ,he mean of experience and painful thought demonstrates his faith in the human condi- :acred rivers that separates them from today. The tion of plurality wfich he ph Id throug - That the ose of humanity old exuberance is much Iss now, the Had finully withered almost u-ncontrollable impluses have out against !he attempts that seemed to do away wlth ~t. Bur has been placed toned dwn. and oassion and feelirg As near to our hearts are more in check The bsrdcn of thought Jawaharlal Neh~therefore kept alive As i s own beating is- is often 11 hindrance, and in the mird the contact with Indian masses. There was Prernial where there was once certainty, doubt Perpetuating. creeps in. Perhaps it is" just age, or the an unusual emotiorai link tetween him and the p o 1 . "When I am in D41-i" the common temper of our day. he told a g oup of p litical workerj some Farewell Nehru then "Acd yet, even now, the call of action years ago, "a terrible feclirg comes to me Fir well to yvur mortol remah stirs strarge depths within me, and about this lack of contact w~thpeople. And welcome JawWahar. often a brief tussle with thougbt. I want When I get that feelirg f rush out and meet to ex~srie~again 'that Imely impulse peo~le." He needed the crowd as much (Poem by R. S. Yadav; Draw- of ddight' which turns to risk and dsngzr perhaps as they needed him. i ig by Dixit) ! JUNE 6, lr54 PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU

GOVERNMENT OF IXTDIA

1. Name of paper . . .. 2~indu&hgd&adad

Before independence and after, he educated us to the awareness of A Beloved the world of which we are bat a part in common with other nxions India and the world mourn stewardship as head of its govem- and to the incompatibility of empire the death of a great and good man, ment and as virtual head of the to freedom or peace. Our national Congress. movement also stood warned off a leader of people, a lover of humani- For fifty years, he served this from the excesses and narrowrmesses ty, a man of courage and integrity, of nation and wore himself out in its of nationalism. Nationalist India firmness and sense of compromise, of service. He has been through much became significant in international strong views and mind yet endowej grief, shame and humiliation, as thinking even before Independence. during the post-partition violence and In the years of Panditji's stewardship with the qualities of toleration and oftentimes clu? to the failures of our of a free India which followed, she flexibility. own people. But he never lost heart emerged not as a Great Power but as or faith or flinched from duty. a significant and often indispensible We are too near events to I factor in world affairs and contri- assess all his achievements, He administered the pledge. of buted to peace and cooperation. but the role of Panditji as a maker of Independence to us in 1930, and in history, of modern India, and as 1947 he became the first Prime Panditji has left us a rich legacy, Minister of a free though truncated a great example and many tasks. a significant figure in the modern 1. world stood assured long years past. India. Thousands of meetings at which His has been a rich and full life. millions gather recount incidents The end, though feared, almost It was also the life of the nation in Panditji's life and his manifold dreaded for some years now, came itself. His Autobiography (1935) qualities and achievements. The rather suddenly though, perhaps, is the history of India of the pQisd! nation will raise memorials to them. not unexpectedly. He leaves behind *Of few leaders can it be so, said. The only true homage and memo- a grieved and orphaned nation. In He was truly the nation's leader, rial to this great national leader and his later days he has been trying to -not alone its political head or.Prime world statesman, this lover of free- crowd into Iife and work as much and Minister. dom and peace, this redoubtable more than he could do. champion of justice, this true em- A great humanist, he has brought bodiment of integrity and dignity For several years, from various into our nation's life by his insistence quarters, mainly foreign, the ques- and this champion of liberty and and ex?mple the beginning of a equality for all his fellowmen is for tion has been asked: "After Nehru, scientific approach. Let us hope we Who?'Speculation became a habit, us to help to raise our country develop a fuller understanding of and people to the heights which some may have considered it a legi- humanism which alone can be the he timate political exercise! They tried '%reedw of the modern age. envisioned. to believe that Panditji was evading Our task and mission, our duty and avoiding the inevitable-death! He helped to develop our and priv;lege,is to endeavour tirelessly They whispered that he would not National movement into a Socialist and with courage and patience to face the issue of "succession". one, importing into our thinking the build a truly socialist India which essential truth that the real content will advance dignity, justic,, pros- No one faced the issue of "s*lcce- of liberty is equality. There has been perity and toler nce at home, and sion" more realistically, more truth- no national movement in the world. enable us to contribute effectively fully and more sensibly than the late which adopted a socialist democracy to peace and cooperation abroad. Prime Minister. Latterly, he proclai- as its objective and plans. Social justice and democracy will be med his view but not a choice. He accepted or recognised the twin pillars of our strength. It was not for him, he aid, to will the diversities which are part of India's We need to be a strong nation, in- away his office! It was a Trust he rich legacy. He sought to weave them deed, to survive. Our strength stands held on ehalf of the people and under into the essential compositeness of challenged by our internal problems the Constitution of India which the a nationhood. This is National in- and adverse factors as well as by people had given to themselves. tegration. It is the essential basis external threats and dangers. We He had the correct appreciation of of the nationalism which enabled are a nation, although an orphaned the dem~craticsentiment, he de- us to displace a mighty Empire. one. We have a rich inheritance and mocratic function and the capacity Panditji helped to make the an inspiring background and fore- of the people in this reg rd. Propa- masses significantand conclusively so. ground! We dare not fail. ganda was not going to lead him From the thirties of this century The India for which Panditji into the error of an ass y into a* when his travels among the peasants wore himself out is a socialist, testamentary succession! Further- began, he sought and found inspira- generous, free and peaceful India more, he knew that it would be no tion from them He says 'he looked c f his vision and faith! That, and answer and would create more into their eyes'. that alone is the only true problems than it sought to solve. Today, we have a Constitution, memorial of a life greatIy, tirelessly Events have proved him right.. wherein undaunted by the size of our and courageously lived. To play His faith in his Party, Parliament, prospective electors we chose to each one of us our part in building and the people has been vindicated. distribute our legacy of independence this memorial is a debt we owe to The transition has been smooth. equally among all our people without .posterity and also a debt we have to It as agreeably surprised our friends distinctions and discriminations. discharge to the memory of our and the doubting Thomases. It Our economic policies are pointed great leader. has confounded the cynics and the to the great and vast social and eco- Inspired by his humanity and his "gl~omists.'~ nomic changes which alone will humanism, by his selflessness and enable India to survive as a nation. courage, by his sense of tolerance Panditji left Tndia stronger, richer, To these Panditji led this ountry, and of the practical, equalled by more united and more hopeful than its government and its largest poli- your own determination and pa trio- at the time when he assumed the tical party. tic fervour, let us face the future. THE CENTURY scarcely be noticed in Parliamcnt. What would, especially on re-reading them, be Man of Letters noticed is their relevance, almost always and however mundane their subject, quite beyond themselves. Sometimes like this : there is darkness everywhere", and, later, the words "the light has gone out, I said, An atmosphere of approaching com- writi~gsis volum~nous, mxh biggw than and yet I was wrong. For the light that promise pervades the courtrv when, one supposed. The late Prim? Minister had shone in this country was no o:dinal y lith'. in effect, there is no ground for it. It Ion; bsen famous for his b9oks, incidental^ The light that has illumined this country is enervating and depressing because it all written in prison, Glimpses of World for these many many years will ill mine does not come out of strength but, in Hi.,rory, written for his daughter the school- this country for many more years, and a the case of many individuals, from the girl [ndira Gandhi. The Dis oyerJ1of India, thousand years later, that light will still excessive desire to avoid conflict at all a new and pzrsonal interpretatlo? of,Indlan b: seen in this country and the world wlll costs and to g:t back to the shreds of history that has been praised for 1:s tnsrght, see it and it will give solace to innumerable power which wc had previously. and the Au.obiograpl~y. These would have heartsw-what makes them surely immortal. And yet it is curious how these words could bxn more than enough for Jawaharlal Mr. Mulk Raj Anand has spoken, with Nehru to attain a place among the greatest remain great and immortal and stlll have a curlous resemr lzcce to some words w~itten reference to Nehru's writings, of "the writers, perhaps both in English and Hindi naivete of the emzrgznt Indian-English style and also p:rhaps the other Indian Ian-uages nineteen hundred and odd Tears ako by in translation of his ideas. For, .primarily, Saint John the Apostle, speakkg about Jesus of writing, the awareness of the poetry of Christ, as translated, of course. in the>even- human life," He, quite rightly but narrowly, the greatness of Nehru's wnt!ng is its considered them also as integrally patholo- thought, where Nehru dwls .lsn d~rectcom- teenth century by the authorisat~onof munication of the hard to communicate, King James the First. I would not stretch gical. "I think one can safely say that if and not m~relyir elaboration of what need the resemblance or debt that Jawaharlal Jawaharlal Nehru had not written the n t have bxn commun~cated.Such writing Nehru's way of writing has to the Autho Autobiography, he would certainly never of his is intensely personal ; and there rised Version (it is hardly singular) but I have achieved the dignity and status of a Nehru is a poet and not a poet. Only in would, now that this great man is no more, world citizen long before he was to become his Au obiography can personal be taken to draw attention to what has struck me of a Prime M~nister of India." The publicity msn the directly personal and ever. :here wonderful and historic similarity. I may be was afrer the poetry. "The sense of humanity that is not what is most important.' Nehru wrong in thinkirg it at all significant. which pervades the book, the iiaivere of cannot be said to have mastered, in the But the fact that has t ken root in my mind the ern-rgent Indian-English style of writing, final analysis, self-portrayal. That was not since apprehending such a sjmilari!~ the awareness of the poetry of human life, his intention, elther, nor h~sforte. His as the speech on Gandhiji's death has is already show tile future visionary to whom aim, and surely he succeeded in it, was to this: that just as it was recognised that action is not merely political opportunism give, as in the histor~es,a personal inter- Gandhiji loved Jawaharlal Nehru more but compulsion from the innermost depths pretation to what he deemed the most than any other of his followers, so the person of feelings and ideas." (A Study of Neltru. important and necessary. And nothing so who wrote the similar words was loved by edited by Rafia Zakaria, A Times of India much as the Freedom Movement. He was Jesus Christ, Publication, 1959). the best if not the only spokesman for it. As far as this is concerned it can be consi- Jawahlrlal Nehm may never again have Perhaps it is the izaivete and the humanity dered fortunate that he had, to put in spells spoken so moving words again. Tnere very and the em:rgent Indian Erg'ish style, in prison. To give an enduring form to his seldom was any need for him to do so, but I think that a reader woelld search in interpretation he needed such a retreat, for his words were n~ostlytaken up with vain in Nehru's writings for w iat is called where he could reflect and szarch within the mundane affairs of governing. And yet a sensc of humour. Even in Pdrliament, one himself tor the right, the most hore:tand it is true to say that in all his collected recalls, the humour, if one would like to the least bigoted Interpretation of mo- speeches there IS none that cannot be, take it that way, was incidental to his mentous matters that were even then goirg read at least with interest, with the interest losing his temper. In whatever other ways on in the outside woed. It is a measure of of meeting his personality anew and afresh. that he could make people laugh, he could his sense of respons~b~litythat he antago- This could only mean that he never allowed never make them laugh intellectually. A type nised none and enlightened all who came the affairs of state-and mo tly these were of wit that we associate with great states- across these interpretations. difficult-t 1 get him down and make him men and especially great oixtors was absent speak half truths, platitudes or eva ions, But. and this is imuortant, Panditii What pervades his speeches is at least an in Mr. N-hru. He was invariably solemn never stopped his interpretkg and,.especialjy essential apprehension of what, he is speak- in public speeches ; he treated them, in this after inteuendence, his direction of events ing about, never overbearing or dogmatic, sense, rather as lectures. In his writings. in and positions, things which he in his role an air of counselling or humility where his Autobiograplry where he is rightly reflec- was immersed in, by word of mouth and, necessary. Here is an impression recorded tive, he does tell funny episodes, and that is occasionally, very occasionally, by writing. of Nehru a a speaker by the British Secre- about all. Those eyes with depths in them. This, mostly his speeches in Parliament tary for India at the time of the handlog- made famous by photographers and painters, but also his fantastically nume ous public over of Government : could never lo2k at anything sup-rfi-ially engagements (this can be gauged from the except, cerrtainly, with children. A different number and variety of them eve11 in the Jt is an experience for a Westerner to cast of the naivete that Mr. Anand spoke days following upon Gandhiji's death), attend one of his political meetings and of and of his natural solemnity could be has been collected by the publications Divi hear him address his audience. Unlike seen in two of his letters to children published sion so far in three volumes. a European or American orator he does not comm:nce on a bold and .emphatic in the Shankar's Weekly Children's numkr, Of his speeches the most important, note or end with a carefully prepared where he speaks to children of the pestering of course, is the one he broadcast (and rhetorical peroration. His voice b-gins editor that Sankar has been to him and, this can be considered writing, if that is quietly, almost imperceptibly like a nzxi:d) on the assassination of Mahatma piece of Indian music, it rises to a height. absolutely unselfconsciously, goes on to Gmdhi. It is significant how much Jawahar- of passionte pleading and fades away tell them of some of the burdens of his la1 Nshru loved and respected Gandhiji at the end into silence. and yet, even here, he was content to office. step aside from the great emotion inhere t The element of didacticism that I spoke in the opening of his address and to give of in Nehru's words is not merely found A good example of the naivete may be place to the needs of others and to consider in his courage and direction as Prime Minis- that, after saying that "grown-ups have a and reflect what he should .tell them of ter in Parliament, it is also his capacity to put Gandhiji that was of the greatest moment the simple truths in a forceful way. For strdnge way of putting themselves in com- at that particular time. example, in his convocation address to the partments and groups," and elaborating Ceylon University, he said, "All this has happened," he .said, that "there are barriers of religion, of caste, : "when there was so much more for him to There is much talk of One World and of colour, of party, of nation, of province, ' do. We could never think that he was I believe that, at some time or other, of language, of custon~and of wealth and unnecessary or that he had done his task." that talk must bear fruit or else this world will go to pieces. It may be that poverty," Chacha Nehru added : "Fortu- ' But what st ikes us most of all in such we will not see that One world in our nately, children do not know much about a speech as this is not it5 enterprise alone. generation but if you want to prepare It is a keynote of most of Nehru's words for that One orld you must at least these barries which separate." However, ' that they are sincere and it is sincerity think about it. looking at it again, Panditji was being abso- and the hardly attained solemnity of it . that has made the famous opening sentences In Parliament itself he often struck a lutely honest and realistic, even with chil- -"The light has gone out of our lives ar.d note of teaching, but then, that wouli dren. JUNE 6, 1964 THE CENTURY Friend to Children

Chacha Nehm to children. That was not a role adopted after bxoming a national NINE YEARS IN idol and the political leader. Only a child can truly say what Chacha Nehru meant. P:rhaps, most likely, it m-mt different Sentence htes of hpriso-ment Days Place things to different chifdren as indeed, - not b:ing a poseur, he must have wznted. 1. months There must, houzwr. and however unlikely, six 6 December 1921-3 March 87 Lucknow District Jail hrv: been scm: th'ldren who were in awe 1922 of Chacha Nehru from a distarrce. But one 2. Eighteen months thing seems certain :there was not and will 11 May 1922-31 January 265 Lucknow District Jail not be any ch.1d who has not heard of 1923 Cnacha Nehru. 3. Two years (suspend,od) 2? S~vtembsr1923- 12 Nabha Jail (Nabha State) It is not ~ntzndedthat this note should 4 October 1925 read a child's mird. h'or is it meant to 4. SL( months 14 April 1930-1 1 October 180 Central prison analyse Jawaharlal Nehru's attitude to 1930 Allahabad children. His bzhaviour in children's com- pany. of coune, has not lacked descr;ption. 5. TWOYears and four 19 October 1930-26 Jan- 99 Naini Central Prison Mxt. often and natunliy this was simply months uary 19 1 affect~onate. There were.. then, the other equally spontan~usactlons such as, I 6. Two years 2; December 1931- 612 Naini Central hison th~nk~t was in Trrvandnm. when there was 30 August 1933 Bareilly District Jail, Pun- a crow I and children lifted on elders' jab shoulders to get a glimpse of Cbachaji, Dehra Dun Jail, U.P. and Chachaji climbed a lamp post. But 7. Two years 12 February 1934--4 Sept- 569 Presidency Jail. Calcutta, that is hardly a singular sight uhich children ember 1935 Allwore Central Jail, could boast of as having initialed. Clownirg Calcutta seem4 to comz easy to Nehru when not Dehra Dun Jail in Parliament. There was the occasion of a Naini Central Prison, display by fencersfrom Kerala when Chacha Almora District Jail, U.P Nehru (there must have been a lot of un- politial children in the audience) rushed years 31 October 1940-3 Decem- 398 Gorakhpur Prison, U.P. Q with his salking stick. ber 1941 The only records of childhood memory 9. Indefinite detention 9 August 1942-15 June 1040 Ahmadnagar Fort, Bom- of Chacha Nehru happen to be when the 1945 bay Province Chacha w~syounger and was a 'Bhai'. - His attitt.d.2 to children could already, Total 3262 mine years less twenty with hindstght, be glirnmed negatively three days) from Mrs. Vijavalaksbmi's account of her childhood with 'Bhai' : He was 'Bhai', the beloved elder brother. but still merely a prt of the family which, in the manner of tkose days. background with awe and trepidation when stoicism. It hab, in turn, repaid us in ample was more important than any single the intruder hero 'noticed me, took me in m:asure, teaching us that we were part his arms and swung me up. kissed me, of a largcr whole, loved and cherished as member of it. (The Familv Botzd in A children, but required to respond with Study of N,hru, 1959) muttered qomethifig about the "baby sister being quite a little lady now" and put me intellig?nce and vigour to all that went on Pn the same book his younger sister, down as abruptly as he had picked me up.' around us. In such an atmosphere there was Mrs. Krishna Hutheesmg, makes it apparent no room for the timid and the self-inaulgent that 'Bhai' was far from being 'any single But very soon Shri Chacha Nehru as and we had exerted ourselves to bz as mlch m2mber' of the family and that. on the we know him was to dwelop. Hs treated as possible like Mzmu. I do not think there 1eg:ndary 'Bha's return from England, his younger sister almost as a daughter, was anvthing unusual or szntimental aboyt with the family breathless, she was in the sending her, as we know letters of advice our admiration for him. He was, qulte from prison quite the sam5 way as he sent simply, the most wonderful perwn we knew, letters of historical knowlxlge (Gliwpses and children have an unerri~ginstinct for of World Hicto y\ later to his daughter. singlirg out wonderful people for their SUBSCRIBERS Hz addressed his little sister wio was tn ctevotion". her teens, as Bctidarling or darling daughter. That r?ay not be whtt many adults But that was later. As a yo:lng law gaduate who cam3 into contact w~thhim could say. returned from Eqgland h~sidsa of gxnes But the lovalty that he commanded was a Readere who receive were peculiarlv military. MT. H l'htesi~g oopiee of THE CENTUKY real and a lasting loyalty, unchangirg to the might retort (she writes with fxling on end. However distant Mamu was and how- by p~tmay plwlrlforlu us My Bro her-Then and Now) that he had ever old his child friends grew, to quote his sufficiently In advance if aud not yet met Gandhiji. He once threw her neice again, "because we saw that he was into a.pond and left her there to learn courageous and inconuptible, we were when they intend to change swlmmmg. their ddress. ashamed when we fell short of his belief With his steps lengthening in nationalism, in us. Now, with childhood long past, we see Mamu, as Nayantara Sehg~lcalls that stardard still persists, and his belief him meanire the same thirg as ChacFa, in us ic still a gliding factor in all our actions". Any change rrho~ild be was not wholly available to children. Her A bclief that is remembered to havec harac- intimated tn UR at haat 16 account of Life wi h Lhcl~is. consequently, terised all his relations with children, even davs in advance of ita coming without the Uncle, with the Uncle in prison through the medium of unting. The last but, curiously like child friends and adult two examples as yet of this latter are pub- into effect. friends of his later years, holding sway li$hed, rightly, in Jaw9ahar[a! N hru's over their lives in his absence and in the Spee-hes, 1949-1953, among all the others m:mory of what Mamu or Chacba or on Kashmir, the Five-Year Plans, to the I Plmw attach the addrnns Press and to university students. One of Panditji or Jawaharlalji was on different \ahel from the lateat i~sueyou occasions. How he had told thm, sming th5s: two, I5ttcrs written to theshankar's receive when ~endinpthe new "from time to time our b:wilderm=t at W:?klv Children's Number in 1949 and the rapidly varyirg emotional climate of 1950, knds thus : ddrese We reqaire hoth the our childhood, for wisely he had providd I hav- tried to talk to vou in this letter old and the new ~rfrlm~.ure us with a secret and he assured us, m-gic as if you were sitting ne& me and I as well 8s the namher givm formula to be repeated in times of need so have written more than I intended. Now it is the children's turn to t;rlk cf of, the lahel to record the that we would not be upset by any unpl-a- santness around us. Thorough breds. he Chactji. Perhaps they could do so be'ter change. had told us, did not cry. So we had rem-m- than anybody else. For he was a g.,t bered our secret and taken pride in our friend of their's. JUNE 6, 1964