A homage to India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his forty seventh death anniversary by B.N.Singh. as flashed on the f.b. on May 27,2011.

A homage to India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on his forty seventh death anniversary by B.N.Singh.
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Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889 at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh State of India to the famous barrister and freedom fighter Motilal Nehru and Swaroop Rani in Kashmiri Pandit family. He had three sisters. His family background helped him in receiving best possible education. Jawaharlal Nehru did his schooling from Harrow and further on, completed his law degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. Because of his upbringing and solid education, he managed to acquire a rational outlook and rich understanding of political concepts. From the age of fifteen to twenty three Jawaharlal studied in England at Harrow, Cambridge and the Inner Temple returning to India in 1912. His patriotic dedication received further boost with his incomparable understanding of socialism and nationalism. He had got married to sixteen years old kamala Kaul on February 7, 1916 from whom he had a daughter named Indira Gandhi who was born on November 19, 1917.It would not be out of place to mention that Kamla Kaul was born in Allahabad on August 1,1899 Kamala had also given birth to a son in November 1924, but he was premature and died two days later. She had spent some time at Gandhi's ashram with Kasturba Gandhi where she built a close friendship with Prabhavati Devi wife of Jay Prakash Narayan,a great freedom fighter.. Kamala Nehru had died from tuberculosis in Lausanne, Switzerland on February 28,1936. Her daughter Indira and her mother-in-law were by her side when she breathed her last. Kamala was cremated at the Lasagna Crematorium One of the leading figures in the Indian independence movement, Nehru was elected by the Indian National Congress to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister, and re-elected when the Congress Party won India's first general election in 1952. As one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, he was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the 1930s and ’40s. Nehru established parliamentary government and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs.The son of the wealthy barrister and politician Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Congress when fairly young. Rising to become Congress President under the mentorship of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic and radical leader, advocating complete independence for India from the British Empire. In the long struggle for Indian independence, Nehru was eventually recognized as Gandhi's political heir. Throughout his life, Nehru was also an advocate for Fabian socialism and the public sector as the means by which long-standing challenges of economic development could be addressed by poorer nations. He was an intellectual in true sense of the word. He believed in the concepts of patriotism, unity and liberty. He was greatly influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and decided to join Indian freedom struggle. As a strong mass leader, he was imprisoned several times during his life. He spent no less than fourteen years in prisons. On January 15, 1941 Mahatma Gandhi had said, "Some say Pandit Nehru and I were estranged. It will require much more than difference of opinion to estrange us. We had differences from the time we became co-workers and yet I have said for some years and say so now that not Rajaji but Jawaharlal will be my successor”. Nehru and his colleagues were released from Prisons as the British Cabinet Mission arrived to propose plans for transfer of power. Once elected, Nehru headed an interim government, which was impaired by outbreaks of communal violence and political disorder, and the opposition of the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who were demanding a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. After failed bids to form coalitions, he had reluctantly supported the partition of India, according to a plan released by the British on June 3, 1947. He took office as the Prime Minister of India on August 15, 1947, and delivered his inaugural address titled "A Tryst With Destiny"Once the country got independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was unanimously elected as the first Prime Minister of the country. The country felt safe in the able leadership of Pandit Nehru. He had raised the flag of independent India in New Delhi on August 15,1947, the day India gained Independence. Nehru's appreciation of the virtues of parliamentary democracy, secularism and liberalism, coupled with his concerns for the poor and underprivileged, are recognised to have guided him in formulating socialist policies that influence India to this day. They also reflect the socialist origins of his worldview. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, and grandson, Rajiv Gandhi, also served as Prime Ministers of India. He had remained the Prime Minister of India for seventeen long years and can rightly be called the architect of modern India. He had set India on the path of democracy and nurtured its institution - Parliament, multi-party system, independent judiciary and free press. He encouraged Panjayati Raj institutions. With the foresight of a statesman, he had created institutions like Planning Commission, National Science Laboratories and laid the foundation of a vast public sector for developing infrastructure for industrial growth. Nehru presided over the introduction of a modified, Indian version of state planning and control over the economy. Creating the Planning commission of India, Nehru drew up the first Five-Year Plan in 1951, which charted the government's investments in industries and agriculture. Increasing business and income taxes, Nehru envisaged a mixed economy in which the government would manage strategic industries such as mining, electricity and heavy industries, serving public interest and a check to private enterprise. Nehru pursued land redistribution and launched programmes to build irrigation canals, dams and spread the use of fertilizers to increase agricultural production. He also pioneered a series of community development programs aimed at spreading diverse cottage industries and increasing efficiency into rural India. While encouraging the construction of large dams (which Nehru called the new temples of India), irrigation works and the generation of hydroelectricity, he also launched India's program to harness energy. For most of Nehru's term as Prime Minister, India would continue to face serious food shortages despite progress and increases in agricultural production. Nehru's industrial policies, summarized in the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956, encouraged the growth of diverse manufacturing and heavy industries, yet state planning, controls and regulations began to impair productivity, quality and profitability. Although the Indian economy enjoyed a steady rate of growth at 2.5% per annum, chronic unemployment amidst widespread poverty continued to plague the population.Besides, developing the public sector, he also wanted to encourage the private sector to establish a social order based on social justice he emphasized the need of planned development. He gave a clear direction to India’s role in the comity of nations with the policy of non alignment and the principle of Panchsheel, the five principles of peaceful coexistence at a time when the rivalries of cold-war were driving the humanity to its doom. His vision was that of extensive application of science and technology and industrialization for better living and liberation from the clutches of poverty, superstition and ignorance. On the international scene, he was a champion of pacifism and a strong supporter of the United Nations. He pioneered the policy of non-alignment and co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement of nations professing neutrality between the rival blocs of nations led by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Recognizing the People's Republic of China soon after its founding (while most of the Western bloc continued relations with the Republic of China), Nehru argued for its inclusion in the United Nations and refused to brand the Chinese as the aggressors in their conflict with Korea. He sought to establish warm and friendly relations with China in 1950, and hoped to act as an intermediary to bridge the gulf and tensions between the communist states and the Western bloc. In 1956 he had criticized the joint invasion of the Suez Canal by the British, French and Israelis. Suspicion and distrust cooled relations between India and the U.S., which suspected Nehru of tacitly supporting the Soviet Union. Accepting the arbitration of the UK and World Bank, Nehru signed the Indus Water Treaty in 1960 with Pakistani ruler Ayub Khan to resolve long-standing disputes about sharing the resources of the major rivers of the Punjab region.Education to him was very important for internal freedom and fearlessness. It was he who had insisted if the world was to exist at all; it must exist as one. He was generous and gracious. Emotional sensitivity and intellectual passion infused his writings, giving them unusual appeal and topicality even today. He never forgot India's great cultural heritage and liked to combine tradition with modernity.He was a prolific writer in English and wrote a number of books like ‘The Discovery of India’, ‘Glimpses of World History’, His autobiography, ‘Towards Freedom' (1936) ran nine editions in the first year alone. Emotional sensitivity and intellectual passion infused his writings, giving them unusual appeal & topicality even today. He was awarded the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1955. He loved children immensely and they in turn used to call him affectionately as Chacha ( uncle) Nehru. Keeping this point of view in mind, his birthday is observed as Children's Day. He believed that children are the future of the nation. He had guided successfully India during the times of partition, turbulence and poverty. He was instrumental in making effective and efficient social, agricultural and economic policies that we are still reaping rewards of his far reaching vision He was also one of the chief architects of nonaligned movement. The Chinese invasion in 1962 caused him severe pain and disappointment. The Indo-China war of 1962 had exposed the weaknesses of India's military, and Nehru was widely criticized for his Government's insufficient attention to defense. In response, he had sacked the Union Defense Minister of India V.K.Krishna Menon and sought U.S. military aid, but his health began declining steadily, and he spent months recuperating in Kashmir through 1963. Some historians attribute this dramatic decline to his surprise and chagrin over the Sino-Indian War, which he perceived as a betrayal of trust. Upon his return from Kashmir in May 1964, Nehru suffered a stroke and later a heart attack. He was taken ill in early hours of May 27,1964 and died in "early afternoon" on same day, and his death was announced to Lok Sabha at 2:00 P.M.( IST) cause of death is believed to be heart attack. He was cremated in accordance with Hindu rites at the Shantivana on the banks of the Yamuna River, witnessed by over billion of mourners who had flocked into the streets of Delhi and the cremation grounds. Though, physically he is not seen with us but his legacy remains intact. Let us join to offer our humble obeisance to his lotus feet and pay our respectful homage and floral tribute to him on the eve of his forty seventh death anniversary that falls today i.e on May 27,2011 and seek his bliss for well-being of our motherland!

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Photos: (!)Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (November 14, 1889 to May 27, 1964), the first Prime Minister of India (2)Pandit Nehru is seen behind Bars with Brother-in-Law Ranjit Pandit. (3)Pandit Jawaharlal 's childhood Photograph when he is seen with his most loving Parents.(4)Pandit Jawaharlal is seen with his wife soon after their marriage on February 7, 1916 (5)The Nehru family. Standing Jawaharlal Nehru, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Krishna Hutheesing, Indira Gandhi, and Ranjit Pandit. Seated: Swaroop Rani, Motilal Nehru and Kamala Nehru.It was taken in 1927.(6)Pandit Jawahalal Nehru is seen in this Photo conferring wirh Mahatma Gandhi on many national and international burning issues. (7)The Vice President of India Dr Zakir Husain, President of India Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Delhi Mayor, Ceylonese Premier, Vice Premier of the Soviet Union and Secretary of State of United States of America are seen standing in silence at the funeral of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, at Shanti Van in New Delhi on May 28, 1964 (8) The dead body of Pandit Nehru is being taken for his last journey.

Share: You, Momin Leopold, Amar Singh Rana, Nikhil Singh and 3 others like this..

Bishwa Nath Singh :
Indian freedom struggle is enriched with numerous heroes and great leaders. Most of the freedom fighters sacrificed their family, comfort, jobs and ultimately lives to make India Independent nation free from British colonial rule .It’s time... to remember all those national heroes and salute them who made us possible to breathe in the free air. One such legendary freedom fighter and an imminently knowledgeable person of great human values and statesman was our first prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who was one of the foremost leaders of Indian freedom struggle. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi had realized the infinite potential of Pandit Nehru at an early age. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had literally shaped the destiny of free India who is remembered as the architect of modern India. Let’s join to pay our humble obeisance to his lotus feet and homage to him on the eve of his forty seventh death anniversary and seek his bliss for well-being of our holy motherland!

Sanjay Mishra: Yes
Narayan Singh Chouhan :
good
Tushar Devendrachaudhry :
He was the greatest son of India like Gandhi and Sardar Patel .He was Oone who wrote the definition of india without him one can not imagin India .

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f.b.
May 27,2011



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