Date post: | 02-Jun-2018 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | shama-chalke |
View: | 236 times |
Download: | 0 times |
of 25
8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
1/25
Indian Political Science ssociation
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU AND MODERN INDIAAuthor(s): AGARALA EASWARA REDDY and D. SUNDAR RAMSource: The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 50, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec. 1989), pp. 445-468Published by: Indian Political Science AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41855452.
Accessed: 01/11/2014 06:33
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Indian Political Science Associationis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The
Indian Journal of Political Science.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ipsahttp://www.jstor.org/stable/41855452?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/41855452?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ipsa8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
2/25
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU AND MODERN INDIA
AGARALA EASWARA
REDDY and D.
SUNDAR RAM
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is an Indian to the core but,
he
being
also
an
internationalist,
has
made
us used to
looking
at
everything
n
the
international
light,
instead
of the
parochial
...
and
he
is
a
humanitarian
in the
sense that he reacts
to
every wrong
no
matter
where
perpetrated
... when I am
no
more,
he
will
know how
to
carry
on
the
work .
-
MAHATMA GANDHI
Pandit
Jawaharlal
Nehru
was
the
sole
architect
of the
Modern
India.
The
Centenary
year
of
Jawaharlal
Nehru
has
been
instrumental
in
focussing,
our
attention
on his
towering,
multi-dimensional
personality
and has
prompted
a
reassessment
of the exact
nature and
measure
of his
splendid greatness
and
immortal
fame
and
the
invaluable
services
rendered
by
him to
the
modern
India.
As
Michael
Brecher has
pointed
out
in
his
penetrating
political
biography,
he
was
the
philosopher,
the
architect,the engineerand the voice of his Country's policy to-
wards
the outside
world .1
This
paper attempts
to
highlight
Nehru's
contribution
to the
making
of modern
India.
To
speak
the
truth,
he
planted
the
seed of
parliamentary
democracy
in
modern
India,
which
in
course
of time
became
a
full-fledged
ree.
That is
why
Jawaharlal
Nehru
may
be
regarded,
and
rightly
n-
deed,
as the
'Father
of Indian
Democracy'.
Jawaharlal
Nehru
acted as
the
Super
leader
of
the
Party ,
even
when
not
its
President
and that
the
Congress
victory
of the
polls
was
mainly
due to his charismatic
leadership.2
On the
perso-
nality
of
Nehru
and his
typical
contribution to the
world,
Arnold
Tonybee
writes:
I find
it
difficult
to
pigeon-hole
this
human
Th
ndian
ournal
f
olitical
cience,
ol.
50,
No.
4,
October
December,
989.
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
3/25
446
THE INDIAN
JOURNAL
F POLITICAL
SCIENCE
personality
in
any
of those
impersonal
categories
in which
histo-
rians deal. But, ifconstrained to
try
my
hand at this, I should
say
that
Nehru
served his fellow-men
most
fruitfully
nd most
characteristically by taking
his
place
in
a
series
of
interpreters
and
mediators between the civilization
of the
West
and
the
other
living
civilizations.
In modern
times the West
has been
making
a
revolutionary
mpact
on
the
rest of
the world.
The
impact
has
been
so
potent
that
non-Westerns
have been confronted
with
the
choice
of
coming
to
terms
with it or
being
hopelessly
overwhelm-
ed
by
it.
Conversely,
the West is now
finding
hat
it,
for
ts own
part,
has to come
to terms with the non-Western
majority
of the
human
race. We
seem,
in
fact, to be
in
the birth-throes
f
a
New
Society
embracing
the
whole human
race,
with
all the
manifold
and
contradictory
traditions
of
its
formerly egregated
sections.
This seems
to be
the
goal
towards
which the last
four
or
five
hundred
years
of the
World's
history
have been
leading.
If
the
diagnosis
is
correct,
the
role of
nterpretation
nd
mediation has
the
key
role
in
the
present age.
It
is
a
more
important
role than
the mere statements, and, in fact, some of the most effectiveof
the
interpreters
have done their
work
outside the
political
arena.
They
have
done
it
as
scholars,
writers,
rtists,
poets
and
prophets.
Nehru
was one
of
those
who have
played
this
part
on
the
politi-
cal
stage;
and
among
the
Statesmen-interpreters
of
one civiliza-
tion to
another,
one
can
distinguish
more than one
type. 3
Jawaharlal
Nehru
was
a
revolutionary
ndowed
with
a
vision
and
his
responses
went
far
beyond
the national
frontiers.
He
was
a fighter ll his life,strivingto achieve liberty nd human dignity
not
only
for
his
countrymen
but for all
peoples
of the
world.
Rasheeduddin
Khan
writes:
Jawaharlal
Nehru's most
conspicu-
ous
impact
on
the
course
of
history
-
Indian,
Asian
and
Global
-
is
probably
as
a
powerful
and
consistent articulator
of
the
historic
urges
and
suppressed
impulses
of the
people
in
struggle
against
imperialism
and
inequity
and as
a
system
builder for
a
democratic
secular
polity.
He was
not
only
an
architect of
re-
surgent
India,
but
also of an
awakened and
emanicipated
Asia,
and the emergingdecolonised world .4 About Nehru's charisma,
Lord
Mountbatten
observed that
As for
Nehru
himself,
he
was
a
many-sided
personality
of
whom
it
could
fairly
be
said
the
pre-
dominant
characteristics n
each of the
other
great
protagonists
were
all
contained
and
blended in
himself. He
was
truly
Gandhi's
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
4/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU
AND MODERN
NDIA
447
disciple
in his
emphasis
on
personal
and
moral
values. He
was
not without Patel's
toughness
of
fibre,
Jinnah's
remoteness or
Liaquas
equanimity.
But,
of course
his
individuality
was
not
simply
the sum of
their.
He had
very
rare
qualities
of
his own-
the artist's
insight
and
the
Philosopher's
wisdom .5
Nehru's life
was
woven
into
the
nation's
life. From his
early
childhood,
from
attending
the
1912
Congress
Session
at Patna
as
a
Member,
to
his
demise
in
1964,
he
was
involved
totally
with
India,
India's
development
and India's
progress.
Nehru ndFreedomMovement
Jawaharlal
Nehru,
along
with
Gandhi,
Sardar
Patel,
and
the
other
greats
of
our
freedom
struggle
-
Netaji
Subhash
Chandra
Bose,
Rajendra
Prasad,
Maulana
Azad,
Rajaji,
Govind
Ballabh
Pant
and
many
others
-
was
a
stalwart of
our
freedom
struggle
who
then
went
on to
become
a
builder of
modern
India.
India
was
singularly
fortunate
n
having
three
great
leaders
-
Mahatma
Gandhi,
Jawaharlal
Nehru and Vallabhbhai
Patel.
The
role
of
all
these
three
leaders
has been
unique
in
the
attainment of
nde-
pendence
for
India
and
in the
development
of
the
country.
The
three
leaders
made
supreme
sacrifices
nd
kept
the
interest
f the
people
at their
heart.
Their
policies
and
programmes
should
be
people
-
centric
rather
than self-centric.
When
we
think
of
free
India,
the
triumvirate,Gandhi,
Nehru and
Patel,
appear
simula-
taneously
before
our vision.
They
were
embodiments of a
master-
passion.
In
their
life time
they
became the
torch
bearers of
liberty.
They
claimed
liberty
as
human
prerogative
and
they
broke the chains which bound them, freed themselves first, nd
liberated
millions,
who were
in
bondage.
Hailed
as
the
saviours
of
a
race,
humanity
has
saluted them
and their
memories
are
cherished.
During
our
struggle
for
political
freedom under
the
leader-
ship
of
Gandhiji
and
Nehru,
the
whole
country
rallied
round
the
banner
of
Indian
National
Congress
and
made
history
by
fighting
the
mighty
British
Empire
in
a
non-violent
manner.
When the
dream of
free India
guided
their
struggle
and their
efforts,
o
trace of regionalism,linguismor religionismcould be seen and it
appeared
that
the nation
was
completely integrated
when
it
followed
the
lead
of
Gandhiji
and
Nehru.6
In the
national
struggle
for
freedom
Nehru
was second
only
to Mahatma
Gandhi
as a
symbol
of
Indian
aspirations.
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
5/25
448
THE
INDIAN
JOURNAL
F
POLITICAL
CIENCE
The Year
1916
was
a
landmark
in
Jawaharlal's
Life;
his
first
meeting
with
Gandhiji
who had
newly
returnedfrom outh Africa.
Mahatma
Gandhi was soon to
dominate
Indian Politics and start
a
series
of
civil disobedience movements.
The association
of these
two
greatmen
had momentous
consequences
for
history.
In 1919
Nehru
entered the
Indian
National
Congress
which
represented
the
evolution of
national
consciousness
from
its
very
inception.
Gandhi
had
joined
it
a
few
years
earlier. From
1920
onward
the
shaping
of
the
organisation
and its
policy
owed as much
to Nehru
as
Gandhi.
The
latter
advocated
non-violence
to
fight
he
British.
Nehru
agreed,
for he
saw
that in the
prevailing
extreme
poverty
of
the
masses,
the
war
against
colonial
rule could
be
waged
only
through
non-violent
means. Within
the
Congress-fold
he was
responsible
for
building up
a
sense
of
discipline
and
loyalty
to
the
Organisation.
While
taking
keen interest
n the
affairs f
the
Congress,
Nehru
devoted himself to
studying
the
problems
and
aspirations
of
the
Indian
peasantry.
He
travelled
extensively
n
the
country
and was
seen and
heard
in
all
parts
of
thisvast land.
Writingabout his visit to Kisans in 1920, Nehru wrote:
They
(Kisans)
were in
miserable
rags,
men
and
women,
but
their
faces
were
full of
excitement
and their
eyes
glittered,
and
seemed to
expect
strange happenings
which
would,
as if
by
a
miracle,
put
an end to
their
ong
misery .
They
showered
their
affection on
us
and looked on us
with
living
and
hopeful
eyes,
as
if
we were
the bearers
ofgood
tidings,
the
guides
who were to lead themto the
promised
land.
Looking
at
them and
their
misery
and
overflowinggratitude,
I
was
filled
with
shame
and sor-
row,
shame
at
my
own
easy-going
and
comfortable
life
and
our
petty
politics
of the
city
which
ignores
this
vast
multitude
of
semi-
naked
sons and
daughters
of
India,
sorrow
at
the
degradation
and
overwhelming
poverty
of
India. A
new
picture
of
India
seemed to rise before
me,
naked,
starving,
crushed
and
utterly
miserable.
And
theirfaith in
us,
embarrassed me and filledme with
a
new
responsibility
hat
brightened
me .7
From
1922
non-cooperation
and
non-violence became
two
aspects
of
the
national
struggle
which
entered a
new and
signifia
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
6/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU AND MODERN
NDIA
449
cant
phase
when
on
the banks of
the river
Ravi the
Congress
under the
leadership
of
Jawaharlal
Nehru took the
pledge
of
complete
independence
as its
goal
on
the historic
day
of 31
December
1929.
As
the
President
of
the
Indian National
Con-
gress,
he
proclaimed
at
Lahore
in December
1929:
We
stand
today
for
the
fullest
freedom
of India.
This
Congress
has
not
acknowledged
the
right
of the
British
Parliament to dictate to
us
in
any
way.
To
it we
make
no
appeal.
But
we do
appeal
to
the Parliament
and
Conscience of the World and to them we shall demonst-
rate,
I
hope,
that India
submits
no
longer
to
any
foreign
domination
If
today
we
fail and
tomorrow
brings
no
success,
the
day
after will
follow and
bring
achieve
ment .8
Like
other
leaders
of
the
national
movement Nehru em-
phasized
that
the
national issues
in
the twentieth
century
should
be viewed
in
a
proper
international
perspective,
and the
political
and economic context of freedom should be defined. This was
an
important
diffrence
between
Nehru's
approach
and
that
of
other
leaders
in
the
Congress
Movement.
Nehru
had
a
keen
sense
of
history
and he
knew that the formal
nstitutions
f
demo-
cracy
could
be
sustained
only by
providing
economic
and
social
content.9
In
his
presidential
address
to
the
Lucknow
Session
of
the
Indian
National
Congress
in
1936,
Nehru Stated:
I
work for Indian
independence
because
the
nationalist in me cannot tolerate alien domination. I
work
for
t
even more
because
for
me
it is
the
inevitable
step
to social and
economic
change.
I should
like
the
Congress
to become
a
Socialist
Organisation
and
to
join
hands with
the other
forces
n
the
World
who
are
work-
ing
for
the new
civilisation.
But
I
realise
that
the
majo-
rity
of
the
Congress
as
it
is
constituted
today,
may
not
be
prepared
to
go
thus far ...
Much
as
I wish
for
the
advancement
of
Socialism
in
this
Country
I have
no
desire to force the issue on the Congress and thereby
create
difficulties
n the
way
of
our
struggle
for
nde-
pendence.
I
shall
co-operate
gladly
and with
all
the
strength
n me with
all
those
who
work
for
ndepen-
dence,
even
though they
do
not
agree
with
the
Socialist
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
7/25
450 THE INDIAN
JOURNAL
F
POLITICAL CIENCE
Solution.
But
I shall do
so
stating
my
position
frankly,
and
hoping
in course of time to convert the
Congress
and the
Country
to
it,
for
only
thus
can I
see it
achiev-
ing
independence .10
Jawaharlal
Nehru
played
a
key
role in
Quit
India
Move-
ment.
On
August
8,
1942
Nehru moved
the
Quit
India Resolu-
tion,
which
sounded
the
final death-knell of the
British rule
in
India.
The
British
immediately
replied
by putting
Mahatma
Gandhi,
Jawaharlal
Nehru,
Sardar
Patel,
Dr.
Rajendra
Prasad,
Maulana Azad and other leading lights of the Indian Freedom
Movement
behind
bars.
Nehru was
put
in
Ahmednagar
Jail
where
he
remained
confined
for
nearly
three
years.
He
was
jailed
nine
times,
spending,
in
total,
more
than
one-eight
of his
living
years
in
prison.
Prison
became
a
second home
to him.
Prison
gave
him
time
for
reflection
and his
mind
brooded on
questions
of
social
reform,
economic
planning
and
democracy.
All his
great
books
acclaimed
for their
vision,
literarygrace
and brilli-
ance
were
written
n
prison
-
Autobigraphy, Glimpses
of
world
History and Discovery of India.
The
Discovery
of
India
reflectsNehru's
philosophy
of
ife.
He wrote:
India
was
in
my
blood and
there was much
in her
that
instinctively
thrilled
me.
And
yet
I
approached
her
almost
as
an alien
critic,
full of dislike for
the
present
as
well
as for
many
of
the
relics of
the
past
that I
saw.
To
some
extent,
I
came
to
her via
the
West
and looked
at her as a
friendly
Western
might
have done. I was
eagar
and
anxious
to
change
her outlook and
appear-
ance
and
give
her
the
garb
of
modernity.
And
yet
doubts
rose
within
me.
Did
I
know
India,
I who
pre-
sumed
to
scrap
much
of
her
past heritage?
There was
a
great
deal
that
had
to
be
scrapped,
that
must be
scrapp-
ed
but
surely
India
could
not have
been what she
undoubtedly
was,
and
could
not
have
continued
a
cul-
tured
existence
for
thousands
of
years,
if
she had
not
possessed
something
very
vital and
enduring
something
that
was
worthwhile.
What
was
this
something? 11
'Quit
India'
movement
decisively proved
that
the
days
of
the
British
in
India
were
numbered.
The
events
moved
fast
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
8/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU
AND
MODERN
NDIA
451
under the
leadership
of
Mahatma Gandhi
and
soon
by
1947
-
beginning,
the British decided to unhoist the Union
Jack
from
the
Red
Fort,
free
India and handover
the
Government
of
India
to
Indians.
In
1946,
Nehru,
formed the
interim Government
of
India
and
since
August
15,
1947
he had been
the
Prime
Minister
of
India till
his death on
27th
May,
1964,
Pandit
Nehru,
who
symbolised
Supreme
courage,
dedication
to
country
and service
to
the
people
of
India,
made
long
strides
during
his
17
year
ste-
wardship
of
the
country,
to consolidate
its
freedom
and
laid
foundations of
greatness
and
strength
which
has
been
its
due
ever.
On the
solemn
midnight
of
the 15th
August
1947,
when
India
became
free Nehru
declared:
Long years
ago
we made
a
tryst
with
destiny,
and
now
the
time
comes
when we
shall
redeem
our
pledge,
not
wholly
or
in
full
measure,
but
very
substantially.
At
the
stroke
of the
midnight
hour,
when
the World
sleeps,
India
will
awake
to
life and
freedom.
A moment
comes,
which
comes
but
rarely
n
history,
when
we
stepout from the old to the
new,
when an
age
ends,
and
when the
soul of
a
nation,
long
suppressed,
finds
utter-
ance. It
is
fitting
that at this solemn
movement
we
take the
pledge
of dedication
to
the Service
of
India
and
her
people
and to the
still
larger
cause
of
humanity
The
past
is over and it
is
the future
that becomes
to
us
now ... that
future s
not one of
case
or
resting
but of
incessant
striving
o that we
may
fulfil he
pledges
we
have so often taken and the one we shall take today.
The service
of India
means
the service
of
the
millions
who
suffer.
It
means
the
ending
of
poverty
and
ignor-
rance
and
disease
and
inequality
of
opportunity.
The
ambition
of
the
greatest
man
of
our
generation
has
been
to
wipe
every
tear
from
very
year.
That
may
be
beyond
us,
but so
long
as there
are
tears
and
suffering,
o
long
our workwill
not
be
over
And so we have to labour and towork, nd workhard,
to
give reality
to our dreams.
These
dreams
are
for
India,
but
they
are also
for
he
world,
for
all the nations
and
peoples
are
too
closely,
knit
together
today
for
any
one of them to
imagine
it
can
live
part peace
has
been
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
9/25
452
THE
INDIAN
JOURNAL
F POLITICAL
CIENCE
said
to be
indivisible;
so
is
freedom,
o is
prosperity
now,
and so also is disaster in this one world that can no
longer
be
split
into isolated
fragments. 12
During
the
years
of his
premiership
of
free
India
from
1947
to
1964
he laid
the
foundation
of
new India
with
his
own
hands,
as
it
were,
brick,
working
round the clock.
Under the
inspiration
of Mahatma
Gandhi
and
under
Jawaharlal
Nehru's
guidance,
India
adopted
a
Constitution
which
conferred
on its
citizens
Jus-
tice
-
Social
and
economic
and
political; liberty
of
thought,
ex-
pression,faith and worship; equality of status and opportunity
and
sought
to
promote
among
them all
fraternity
ssuring
the
dignity
of
the individual and the
unity
and
integrty
of
the
nation.13
Nehru
will thus
be
remembered
today
as
an
incipient
nationalist,
a zealous
reformer,
a
champion
of
peace,
a
man
of
letters,
an
Architect
of Indian
Planning,
a
Foundar
of
NAM,
a
Champion
of
Industrialization,
and
a
man
of
liberalism,
humanism
and modernism.
Nehruand Indian Planning
Jawaharlal
Nehru was
a
great
believer
in
planned
develop-
ment.
Nehru
was
the
first
amongst
the
leaders of
Nationalist
India
to
recognise
the
importance
of
science and
technology
for
the modernization
of
Indian
Society.
The
idea
of
economic
planning
was
not
unknown
in India
before
Independence.
Nehru
had
preached
its virtues
since the
late
1920s.
In
1938,
under
his
inspiration,
the
Congress
formed a
National
Planning
Committee
of which
he also
was
the
Chairman. After
Nehru came to
powerhe renewed his interest n
Planning
forwelfareand the
Planning
Commission
was created in March
1950
with
Nehru
as
its
Chairman.
Later
he
became
the
pivot
around
which the
Cabinet,
the
Planning
Commission and
the
National
Development
Council
revolved.
Not
the least
important
was his
role
as
a
liaison
bet-
ween
the
planners
and the
people.
Nehru
was
the
most
effective
Salesman of
Planning
in
the
Country
as
a
whole. One of
his
major
contributions was
spreading
the
gospel
that
planning
was
the
key
to
welfare.14
Nehru considered
planning
as
something
dynamic,
as
a
move-
ment
in
thinking
nd
action,
from the
political
to
the Social
and
economic
plans.
And
such
a
movement
had
certain
basic
objec-
tives. As Professor
K.V.
Viswanathaiah
puts
it,
the
first
bjec-
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
10/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU
AND MODERN NDIA 453
tive
was
to
establish
a
Socialist
State
and a
democratic,
Socialist
and Secular modern
Society.
The Socialism
^that
Nehru consi-
dered was
fa
growing
dynamic
concept,
as
something
which
is
not
rigid,
as
something
which must
fitwith the
changing
conditions
of
human
life
and the achievements of this
country.'
This
meant
that
there could
be no fixed
unchanging dogma
to
his
concept
of
socialism.
Secondly,
he wanted to
make the
state
a
powerful
engine
of
production
and distribution
so
that
equitable
distribu-
tion of ncome
and
wealth could
be
assured.
But,
he
wanted
to
go
about
this
objective by stages
and
not
abruptly. Thirdly,
he
wanted
to
protect
his
concept
of
planning
by
common
consent
and
broad
understanding.
That
is
to
say,
his
concept
of
planning
was
based on
the
force
of
persuasion
rather
than
the
use of
coercion.15
V.K.R.V.
Rao
says,
Planning
for
Nehru
was
essentially
linked
up
with
an
industrialization
and
eventual
self-
reliance
for
the
country
economy
on
a
self-accelerating
basis.
There was
no doubt
in his mind
that
the
democratic
way
of
planning
was
the
only
one
that
could work
in
India. 'It
is
clear'
Nehru said in 1950 when introducingthe FirstPlan in Parliament,
that so
far
as
this
country
s
[concerned,
we
cannot
attain
this
ideal
(of
economic
democracy)
by
conflict or
violence. India
is
not
only
a
big country,
but
also
a
varied
country,
and
if
anyone
takes
to the
sword,
he
will
inevitably
be
met
by
the
sword
of
someone
else...
and
all the limited
energies
of
the
nation
required
forbetter
ends
will be
destroyed
in
the
process .16
Under
his
leadership
Zamindari
was
abolished,
far-reaching
land
reforms
were
organized,
basic industries
were
nationalised,
the
public
sec-
tor was
given
the pre-eminent position in the Five Year Plans,
the
State
encouraged
the
co-operatives
and
co-operative
farming
and
there
was
progressive
taxation.
The
Plan
became an
instru-
ment
to raise
the
standard of
living
of
the
people,
to
reduce
economic
disparity
among
the
people
and
open
out
to the
people
new
opportunities
for
a
richer,
fuller
nd
happier
life. Thus
Nehru
had set
before
the
country
the
inspiring objective
of a
Socialist
and
Democratic
Society
not
through
violence or
revolution
but
through persuasion
and
reasoning.17
Jawaharlal
Nehru
adopted
planning
not as
an
end
but
as
a
means
aiming
at the
wellbeing
and
advancement
of
the
people
as
a
whole,
at
the
opening
out
of
opportunity
to
all and
the
growth
of
freedom
and
the method
of
co-operative
organization
P-
2
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
11/25
454
THE
INDIAN
JOURNAL
F POLITICAL CIENCE
and
action. 18
As
Professor H.
K.
Paranjape rightly puts
it>
Pandit Nehru was,
together
with
persons
like Shri M. Visves-
warayya
and
Shri
Subhas
Bose,
initially
responsible
for
creating
an
awareness
in
India
of the
necessity
of
national economic
planning.
As
the Chairman
of the
Congress
National
Planning
Committee
he
was
the
first o
guide organised
effort n the
direc-
tion of
planning.
As
the
Prime
Minister
he was
responsible
for
setting
up
the
Planning
Commission.
From the time he
became
the Chairman of the
Planning
Commission
at
its
inception
to his
death,
Pandit Nehru's
stewardship
of
the
Commission
helped
to
guide
Indian
Planning
in
a
definite
direction
and his
participation
and
support
were of
great
value to it
in
fulfilling
ts functions .1*
Jawaharlal
Nehru considered
Planning
as
a
perpetual
affair
which
was
apt
to
go
on for
generations.
Thus,
Nehru
was
described,
as
the architect of
democratic
planning
in
India .
Nehru's ideas
provided
the
basic
elements
of the
objectives
and
strategy
of
Indian
Plans
to
achieve
growth
with
Social
Justice.
The
development
of science
and
technology,
nfrastruc-
ture,
social
services and a
variety
of
institutionswas also
empha-
sized
in
the
plans
along
with
stress on
balanced
regional
develop-
ment
and national
self-reliance.20
Nehru
and
Democracy
Jawaharlal
Nehru
was a
great
democrat.
He
encouraged
the
growth
of
Parliamentary
democracy
guaranteeing
to
each
indivi-
dual
the
fundamental
freedoms of
speech,
thought
and
associa-
tion. He wanted India to develop throughdemocratic processes.
Of
democracy
he
said: It
involves
certain
contemplative
ten-
dencies and a
certain
inquisitive
search for
truth,
a
search
for
right .
Rajiv
Gandhi,
Prime
Minister
of
India and
a
grand-son
of
Nehru,
said: A
believer in
political
dialogue,
he
concentrated
on
principles,
ideas and
programmes,
and
lifting
debate
well
above
personal
differences. His
attempt
was
always
to
convince,
pursue,
and
cajole
and
not
to
impose
upon,
domineer
or
silence
the
opposition.
He
was
also
very
conscious
of
the
demands
that
would be made by democracy in termsof attitudesand behaviour
of
the
people .21
Nehru's
concept
of
democracy
was a
broad
one,
resting
on
atleast
four
main
pillars:
(1)
Individual
freedom,
the
freedom of
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
12/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU
AND MODERN
NDIA 455
the individual
to
grow
and
to
make
the
best of his
capacities
and
abilities,
and tolerance not
merely
of those who
agree
with
us,
but
of those
who
do
not
agree
with
us;
(2)
representativegovern-
ment,
based on
popular
sovereignty
and elected
representatives;
(3)
economic
and
social
equality,
calling
for
a
proper
balance
between
freedom
nd
equality
and
a
'socialist
pattern
of
society';
and
(4)
social
self-discipline.22
Democracy
to him
was
a
dyna*
mie ideal
and
he
thought
it was
impossible
to
continue to
talk
in
terms
of the
Rights
of
man and the French
Revolution.
There
can
be
no
democracy
without
economic
justice
and
economic
justice
by
itself cannot
ensure
democracy.
Nehru's
conception
of
democracy
may
be
described
as neoliberal.23
Democracy
has been
sustained
in India
to
a
significant
x-
tent
because
of the
norms
set
by Jawaharlal
Nehru.
As a
true
democrat,
he
would
have wanted
democracy
to
grow,
thrive and
continually
agreed
like
a
banyan
tree
setting
down
more
and
more
creepers
which
take root
in
the
ground
and
grow.24
His
deep
seated
humanism,
fervent
individualism and
intense faith
in
the
people developed in him a great contempt forauthoritarianism
and
subsequently
drove
him
closer
to
democracy.25
Addressing
the
First
All-India
Seminar
on
Parliamentary Democracy
in
1956,
he observed:
Democracy
as
a
speaker
just
now
said,
is a
means
to
an
end. What
is the
end
we
aim
at?
I
do not
know
if
every-
body
will
agree
with
me,
but
I would
say
that
the
end is
the
good
life
for
the
individual
......
In
the
past
democracy
has
been
taken
chiefly
to mean
political democracy, roughly represented by the idea of every
person
having
a vote. It
is obvious that
a
vote
by
itself
does
not
mean
very
much
to
a
person
who is down and out
and
starving.
Such
a
person
will be
much more interested n
food
to eat than in
a
vote.
Therefore,
political democracy
by
itself is not
enough
that it
may
be
used
to obtain
a
gradually
increasing
measure
of
economic
democracy.
The
good things
of
life
must become
available
to
more
and
more
people
and
gross
inequalities
must
be
removed.
That
process
has,
no
doubt
gone
on
for
some
time
in countries where there is political democracy. 26 After one
year
later,
Speaking
at
the
AIGG Session at
Indore
in
1957,
he
emphasised
the same
point
of view:
we
have
definitely
ccepted
the
democratic
process.
Why
have we
accepted
it?
Well,
for
a
variety
of reasons.
Because we
think
n
the final
analysis
it
pro-
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
13/25
456
THE INDIAN
JOURNAL
F POLITICAL CIENCE
motes
the
growth
of human
beings
and of
society,
because,
as
we
have said in our
Constitution,
we attach
great
value to individual
freedom;
we want the creative
and the
adventurous
spirit
of
man
to
grow.
It
is not
enough
for
us
merely
to
produce
the
material
goods
of the
world.
We
do want
to
have
high
standards
of
living,
but not at
the cost
of
man's creative
spirit,
his creative
energy,
his
spirit
of
adventure;
not at the cost
of
all those
fine
things
of
life
which have
ennobled
man
throughout
the
ages.
Democracy
is
not
merely
a
question
of
elections .27
As M.
C.
Setalvad
rightly
puts
it:
Nehru
was
a
great
lover of Civil
liberties
which
he
regarded
as of vital
importance
to
the
functioning
of
a free and
democratic
government.28
Nehru
nd
Opposition
Jawaharlal
Nehru was a
great parliamentarian
and
was
at
his best in the normal
give
and
take of debates
in the two
Houses.
He
articulated
the
people's hopes
and doubts
without
rancour
and
expostulated
with
his
parliamentary colleagues
without
fear
or favour. Indeed, he enjoyed answeringhis criticsand never let
go
of
any
opportunity
for such
exchanges
in the House
or
outside.
The
Congress
party
had a
rock-like
majority
in Parliament
and
its
leader,
Pandit
Jawaharlal
Nehru had
an
unchallengeable
authority.
During
his
period,
the
opposition
benches
were
graced
by great personalities
like
the
late Dr.
S.
P.
Mukherji,
Sri N. C*
Chatterji,
Prof. Hiren
Mukherji,
Sri Asoka
Mehta,
Dr. N. B
Khare,
Sri
H.
V.
Kamath,
Acharya
J.
B.
Kripalani,
Acharya
N.
G.
Ranga,
Dr.
Ram
Manohar
Lohia,
Dr. Lanka
Sundaram
and Sri M. R. Masani, etc Though the Indian National Congress
enjoyed
a
position
of
predominance
in the
post-
ndependent
poli-*
tical field
and Nehru
was
its beacon-
ight
yet
he
often
expressed
the
desirability
of
strong
opposition political parties.
The attitude
of
the
Government
can
best
be
described
in
the
words
of
Jawa*-
harlal
Nehru,
who
was the
leader of the
ruling party.
He
said:
We
welcome the
coming
to
this House of
the members of the
Opposition
who
ever
they
may
be,
and however much
we
might
differ
rom
them in
many
matters as
welcome
them,
because
un-
doubtedly, they represent a certain section of Indian opinion*
because it
is
good
in
a
House of this kind
to have
a
vigorous
op-
position
so
that
whether
it is
government
or
the
majority
party,
they
do
not
become
complacent.
If
I
may
strike
a
personal
note>
regardless
of
the
present differences,
when
I
see
many
faces
of
old
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
14/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU
AND
MODERN
NDIA 457
comrades who
belong
to the
Opposition
now,
some
memories
of
the
past
come to me. I do not wish to
forget
them,
and I cannot
imagine
that
ways
may
not
be found
for
a
measure of
coopera-
tion
with
those
with whom we
have
co-operated
in
the
past. 29
On
another
occasion
Nehru once
again
said:
I
invite
members of the
opposition,
not
only
members
of
the
House,
but
others outside this
House
to come
and
confer with
us in
regard
to
planning
in
general
or
in
regard
to our
Five-Year Plan
As
a
matter
of
fact, our attitude here in regard to the opposition ought
to be
appreciated
not
only
with
respect
to
organizations
which
openly
have
the
policy
of
conducting
activities
but
with
every
kind of
opposition.
I
should
like
to
know
in
what
country
in
Asia,
America
Europe
or
Africa
op*
position
of this
type
has
greater
freedom?
The
House will
remember
that
on
a
previous
occasion
I said
that
I
would
welcome
as much
co-operation
as
possible
from members
opposite,
infact,
from
the
whole
House.
It is
very
difficult o findout a method or to
organise
a
method for
that
co-operation
And
I
mentioned
to
the
Members of
the
Opposition
that
I
would
like to con-
fer
with
them
on
any
important
matter that
arises
and
a
few
days
ago
we
had such
affairs
I
am
not
talk-
ing
of
co-operation
in
this House but
actual
consulta-
tions,
etc.
in
regard
to
important
matters .... In
admini-
stration
there
are
many
things
in
common
which
any
political party
would have to do
anyhow .30
Nehru was
fully
alive to
the
importance
of
an
opposition
to
the
adequate functioning
of
a
Parliamentary System
of Govern-
ment.
Speaking
in
Madras
in
1957,
he
said:
I
believe
completely
in
any
Government,
what
ever
it
might
be,
having
stout
critics,
having
an
opposition
to
face.
Without criticism
people
and
governments
become
complacent.
The whole
parliamentary
system
of
Government is based on such criticism. It would be a
bad
thing
for us if the
press
was not free
to
criticise,
f
people
were not allowed to
speak
and
criticise
Govern-
ment
fully
and
in
the
open,
it
would not be
parliament-
ary
government.
It
would not
be
a
proper democracy.
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
15/25
458
THE INDIAN
JOURNAL
F
POLITICAL CIENCE
I
welcome
criticism
n
Parliament.
In
fact,
we
welcome
crticismfromour own partymembers. The amount of
room
we have
in
our own
party
for
criticism of
Govern-
ment's
policy
is
great. 31
Hiren
Mukarji
an
eminent
Parliamentarian,
has
rightly
re-
marked:
There was
nobody
as
punctilious
as
Jawaharlal
Nehru
in
regard
to the courtesies of
Parliamentary
life;
the
very
manner
of his
entry
nto
the
House,
the
deep
bow to
the
chair
as he
took
his
seat,
his observance
of
Parliamentary
etiquette
in
the
best
sense of the term particularly as regards respect to the whole
House
which found vent
in
a
constant
readiness
to
answer
even
irritating
nterruptions.
He
was no
expert
when
questions
relat-
ing
to
previlege
and such
things
cropped
up,
but he
was full
of
sound
sense
in his
suggestions
regarding procedure
and
was
always
keen on
upholding
the
prestige
of
the
House
asa
whole. 32
Nehru
nd
Public Administration
As early as 1925, Nehru realised theneed forPublic Adminis-
tration.
As
a
chairman
of the Allahabad
Municipal
Board
(1924-
25),
he had
acquired
a
sensitive
understanding
of
the
administra-
tive
thought
and behaviour and
this
understanding
became
deeper
a
decade
later
through
xtensive
reading
of
administrative
literature.
Writing
n 1935
he
observed:
I am
quite
sure
that
no new order can
be built
up
in
India so
long
as
the
spirit
of
the
ICS
pervades
our administration
and
our
Public
services.
That
spirit
of authoritarianism s
the
ally
of
imperialism,
and
it
cannot
co-exist with freedom... Therefore, t seems to me quite essential
that
the
ICS
and similar services
must
disappear
completely,
as
such,
before
we
can
start real
work on
a
new
order. 33
Soon
after
becoming
the Prime Minister
n
the
Interim
Central
Govern-
ment
in
1946,
he mentioned
at
the
Meerut
Session
of
the
Indian
National
Congress:
...
The
(Civil)
Services
were
fossilised n
their
mental
outlook.
They
were
wedded to
by gone
and
obsolete
methods and refused to move with the times... It re-
mains
to
be
seen
how
long
we
can
function
n
these
cir-
cumstances.
The
experience
of
the
past
three
or
four
months
has
shown us that
the
conduct
and
attitude
of
the Officers
have
not
changed. 34
Nehru's
views
on
civil
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
16/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU
AND MODERN
NDIA
459
servant
was
very
well described
by
L. P.
Singh,
a
well
succeeded Editor of the Indian
Journal
of Public Ad-
ministration,
n the
following
words:
Nehru
considered
fundamental
changes
in
the
Civil Service
imperative
not
only
to
bring
it in
harmony
with
a
democratic
govern-
ment,
but
also
in
order
that
it
may
meet
the
needs of
a
society
exposed
to the influences of modern
Science
and
Technology
and involved
in a
process
of industrializa-
tion. He wanted
the
administration
to use
the tools and
methods
of
science and
to
recognize
that Statistics
and
research
are
essential
to modern Government.
He ex-
pected
the civil
servant to combine
a scientific
outlook
with
a
humanistic
approach .35
Nehru's
personality projected
itself in various fields
and
public
Administration was one of
them.
Nehru
helped
the
Indian
Institute of Public Administration
n
1954 of
which
he re-
mained as its
President
during
1954-1964. He
presided
over
and
addressed
every
annual
meeting
of
the Institute
whose main ob-
ject, he considered,was to fixstandards in administration nd set
tone ;
and his
presence
turned
a
business
meeting
into
a
memo-
rable
occasion.
It
became
an event
to
which those
connected
with
the Institute
looked
forward
eagerly
for
words
of wisdom
and
inspiration,
for
something
fresh nd
stimulating,
for
a
remin-
der,
in
language
of
intellectual distinction
and
exceptional
sensi-
bility,
that
at the
Centre of Public Administration
n
a
democracy
stood the
individual
human
being.36
When
he
inaugurated
the
Indian
Institute
of
Public
Administration,
Nehru observed
that:
the
administrator
may
think
n
abstract
of
the
people
he
deals
with,
come
to
conclusions
which
are
justifiable
apparently
but
which
may
miss the
human
element.
After
all
whatever
department
of
Government
you
deal
with,
it is
ultimately
a
problem
of
human
beings,
and
the
moment
we
forget
them,
we
are
driven
away
from
reality...
Administration s meant
to achieve
something,
and
not
to
exist in
some kind of
an
Nory
tower'
follow-
ing certain rules of procedure and Narcissus
-
like,
looking
on itself
with
complete
satisfaction. The test
after
all
is the human
beings
and their welfare .37
Public
Administration
to
Nehru
was
not an
isolated
activity
but
a
part
of the wider
effort
f the
Indian
people
to
achieve
a
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
17/25
460
THE INDIAN
JOURNAL
F
POLITICAL
CIENCE
fuller
and better life and
a
just
and humane social
order. In one
of his addresses at I IPA, he said: ... It should beone of the
principal
functions of Public Administration n
its broader con-
text
to direct
democracy
into
right
channels .38
Again
he
said:
... In
the
modern
age,
the success of the
Public Servant
lies,
in
addition
to
ability,
efficiency
nd
integrity,
upon
his
capacity
to
co-operate
with the
public''.89
His
expectations,
and the
influence
of his
personality
have worked
in
so
many
tangible
and
intangi-
ble
ways
to
give
to
the
public
services
in India a
broader outlook
and a wider horizon.
In a
speech
delivered on
December
9,
1955
to
an audience
of Public Servants at
Kurnool,
he
said:
The
Per-
son
who
is
becoming
more and more
important
today
is
the
engi-
neer,
the
technical
man,
the Scientist. In
the old
days,
the
person
who
was most
important
was
the
administrator.
Now,
I
do
not
mean
to
say
that the
administrator has
become
less
important
.
But
the
fact remains
that the
other
types
of
specialized
workers
like
engineers
and the
Scientists
are
becoming
more
and more
important
... There
is
a
tendency, again
derived
from the
British
days, of treatingthe administrator at the top as far superiorto a
person
engaged
in
any
other
occupation
like
engineering,
cience
or
education
or
anything.
This is not a
good
tendency.
Because
today
our
country
s
becoming
more and more
technical
minded. 40
Nehru
wanted
the
Public
Servants
to
look out to the
wider
world
and to
identify
themselves with
the life and
aspirations
of the
community:
In
a
period
of
dynamic
growth
... we
want as
Civil
Servants
persons
who
are
...
people
with
minds,
people
with
a
desire
to
achieve,
who have some
initiative for
doing
a
job
and
who can thinkhow to do it .41 In order to understand his ad-
ministrative
hought
and
behaviour it
is
necessary
to recall
the
more
prominent
traits of
Nehru's
mind. Prof.
S.
R. Maheswari
has
rightly
observes
Nehru's
mind on
Public
Administration.
He
writes:
Nehru
was
basically
a
humanist.,
indignant
of
any
kind
of
injustice
and
exploitation,
and an
unflinching
upholder
of
the
human
dignity.
Secondly,
Nehru
had the
greatest
faith
in
science
and
technology,
and
regarded
these
as
of
key
importance
in
the
building
of
India's future.
As
early
as the late
thirties,
he
advo-
cated greaterattention to be given to Statistics. Thirdly,he was
deeply
socialised
in
Western liberalism and
may
even
be
regarded
as
the
last
of
the Fabians
in Indian
Politics.
Fourthly,
though
attracted
to
western
political
values,
he
made
a
distinction bet-
ween
democracy,
imperialism
and
structures of
administration.
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
18/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU
AND
MODERN NDIA
461
He
admired
British
democracy,
but
was an
arch critic
of
imperia-
lism. What is
more,
he identified Indian Administrationwith
imperialism
and
held
it
in no
high
esteem .42
Nehru
and
Non-
Alignment:
The
concept
of
non-alignment
was
born
in
the
after-math
of the Second
World-war.
India,
under the
dynamic
leadership
of
its
first
rime
Minister,
Jawaharlal
Nehru,
adopted
non-align-
ment
as the
basis
of
independent
India's
foreign policy.
The
cold-
war gripped
the world
at the end of the Second World
War,
and Nehru
took
this
factor
into consideration
when
he
defined
the
foreign olicy
of
the Government
of
India
as
a
policy
of
not
entering
nto
military
lliances with
any country, especially
with
countries
belonging
to the Western
and
Communist
blocs.
It
was also
a
policy
of
making
decisions in
the
field of
foreign
rela-
tions
according
to one's
own
judgement
and of
maintaining
friendly
elations
with
all the
countries
of the
World.43
Nehru
spelt
out the
ingredients
of his
thinking
on
Non-alignment
very
clearly in his address to the Constituent Assembly of India on
September
7,
1946,
thus:
We
propose,
as
far
as
possible,
to
keep
away
from the
power politics
of
groups,
aligned
against
one
another,
which
have led
in the
past
to
world wars and which
may again
lead
to disasters
on an even vaster scale.
We
believe
that
peace
and
freedom
are indivisible and
that
the denial
of freedom
any
where
must
endanger
freedomelsewhere and lead to conflict
and
war. We
are
particularly
nterested
n the
emanicipation
of
colo-
nial
and
dependent
countries and
peoples
and
equal
opportunities
for
all
peoples. 44
In
a
speech
at
the
Indian
Parliament on
June
12,
1952
Nehru
reaffirmed is
policy
of
Non-alignment:
I submit
again
that,
so
far as our
policy
is concerned
we
have
not swerved at
all from
our
policy
of Non-
alignment with any group. We stuck to our Policy
even
though
we had
to
deny
ourselves to
offered
help.'*4*
Nehru's
enunciation
of
Non-alignment'*
and
Panch-Sheel
which
he
sought
to
develop
into
a
world
movement
with
the
help
P
-
3
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
19/25
462 THE
INDIAN
JOURNAL
F POLITICAL
CIENCE
of
like
minded
leaders
of his time such
as
Sukarno,
Tito,
Nasser*
Nkrumah and others at International Conferences at New
Delhi,
Bandung,
Brioni,
Belgrade
and the United Nations
were
an
ex-
tention
of
'Satyagraha'
or
fight
or Truth
through
non-violence.
With
the
enthusiastic
support
of these
leaders,
Non-alignment
soon
became a
global
movement.
Nehru
would
also
make
no
compromise
with the
demon
of
aparthied
and
used
every possible
international
forum to
campaign
against
it.46
Explaining
the
non-aligned
movement,
Nehru
said:
Having attained political freedom,we are earnestlyde-
sirous
of
removing
the
many
ills
that
our
country
suffers
from,
of
eliminating
poverty,
and
raising
the standards
of
our
people,
and
giving
them full
and
equal opportunities
of
growth
and
advancement.
I
speak
of
India,
because
it is
my Country.
But
many
other
countries
in
Asia
tell
the
same
Story,
for Asia
today
is
resurgent
and
these
Countries,
which
long lay
under
foreign yoke
have
won
back
their
ndependence
and are fired
by
a
new
Spirit
to strivetowards new ideals. To them, as to us, inde-
pendence
is as
vital
as
the
breath
they
take
to
sustain
life,
and
colonialsm
many
in
any
form,
or
anywhere
is
abhorrent.
The
vast strides that
technology
has made
have
brought
a
new
age,
of which the
United States of
America
is the
leader.
Today,
the whole
World
is our
neighbour
and the
old divisions
of
continents and
countries
matter
ess.
Peace and freedom
have
become
indivisible. The
preservation
of
peace
forms
the
central
aim of India's
policy.
It is in the
pursuit
of this
policy
that
we
have
chosen
the
path
of
non-alignment
n
any
military
or
like
pact
of
alliance.
Non-alignment
does not mean
passivity
of
mind
or
action,
lack of
faith
or conviction.
It
does
not
mean,
submission
to
what we consider
evil. It is
not
positive
and
dynamic
approach
to such
problems
that confront
us.
We
believe
that each
country
has
not
only
the
right
to freedom but also to decide its own policy and way of
life.
Only
this can
true freedom
flourish
and
a
people
grow
according
to their own
genius.
We
believe,
there-
fore,
n
non-aggression
nd
non-interference
y any
coun-
try
n
the
affairs
of
another,
and
the
growth
of tolerance
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
20/25
JAWAHARLAL
EHRU
AND MODERN
NDIA
463
between the
mand
the
capacity
for
peaceful
coexistence.
We think
that,
by
the free
exchange
of ideas and trade
and
other,
and truth will
prevail.
We,
therefore,
ndea-
vour
to
maintain
friendly
elations with all
countries,
even
though
we
may
disagree
with
them
n their
policies,
or
structure
of
government.
We
think
that,
by
this
ap-
proach,
we
can
sense not
only
our
country,
but
also
the
larger
causes of
peace
and
good
fellowship
n
the
world. 47
Non-alignment, in other words, is a positive assertion of
Independence
and the absence
of
the
negative
dependence
on
others. This was
Jawaharlal's
great
achievement,
both in his own
Country
and in the
new
turbulent world of
former
colonies,
deve-
loping
nations and
the Third
World
States.48
Nehru's
passionate
attachment
to the
Peace also served the
interests of the
Country.
According
to
him,
the
foremost ssue in
International
affairs
was
peace
or
War.
As
early
as
in
March 1947 in
his
inaugural
add-
ress at
the Asian Relations Conference in
New
Delhi,
he
talked
of
peace
thus.
Peace can
come
only
when nations are
free
and
also
when
human
beings
every
where
have
freedom
and
security
nd
opportunity.
Peace
and
freedom,
therefore,
have to
be
considered
both
in their
political
and
econo-
mic
aspects
... We
have
arrived
at
a
stage
in
human
affairs
when
the ideal
of one world
and some
kind of
a
World
Federation
seem
to be essential
...
We should
workforthat deal and not for ny groupingwhich comes
in the
way
of
this
larger
World
group.
We,
therefore,
*
support
the
United
Nations
structure which
is
painfully
emerging
from
its
infancy.
But in
order
to
have
one
World,
we
must
also,
in
Asia,
think
of the
countries,
of
Asia
co-operating
together
for
that
larger
ideal.
5,49
Nehru
is
still
recognised
as
a
staunch
supporter
of
World
Peace.
Lakhan
Lai
Mehrotra,
has
rightly
concluded
about
Nehru's
contribution
to
Peace:
Nehru
had
travelled
not
miles
but
centuries
before
he
went
to
sleep.
He lit the torch of
freedom
and
peace,
equality
and
justice
in
some of the
darkest
corners of
the
earth.
In some
measure
he
had
helped
to
achieve
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125 on Sat, 1 Nov 2014 06:33:21 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp8/10/2019 Jawaharlal Nehru and Modern India
21/25
464
THE INDIAN
JOURNAL
F
POLITICAL CIENCE
the
ancient
Indian
ideaFof
Vagudhaiva
Kutumba-
kam - of the Whole World
being
a
family.
He had
looked at the
panorama
of
history
from ts
very
dawn as
a
mighty
adventure.
He was not
the one who
would
stand
on
the
verge
of
it
and
stay
back.
On the
other
hand,
he
would
push
mankind
towards
new frontiers
with
all the
energy
and
dedication
at his command.
But this
movement would be
free
from violence.
Maha-
tma
Gandhi had said that after
he
was
gone,
Nehru
would
speak
his
language.
He had
learnt from
his
Master and
from
Buddha,
the
relevance of
right
means
for
right
ends,
of
the
importance
of ethics over
dogma
and
love
over hate.
Like Ashoka
two
millenia
ago,
he
spread
his
message
far and
wide
as
an
angel
of Peace
and
though
he
is
no
more with
us,
his
message
will last
for ever. 50
In
the
Seventeen
years
of
his
undisputed
leadership
in
Indepen-
dent
India,
Nehru
sought
to
build a
nation not only in terms of
Political
Institutions,
but
also in
terms of
mental
emanicipation
and
economic and
soial
progress.
With
the
sole
exception
of
Gandhi,
Nehru
was
the
only
Indian
leader
when
Independence
came
who had
thought
out
and
worked
out
for
himself a
definite
political,
economic
and
social
philosophy
for
National
Develop-
ment.
Johan
Gunther
who
met
him in
1937
described him
as
an
Indian
who
became
a
Westerner,
n
Aristocrat
who became a
Socialist,
an
individualist
who
became
a
great
mass leader .
Conclusion:
Jahwaharlal
Nehru
was a man
of
principle,
unyielding
under
pressure,
but
warmly
responsive
to
generosity,
ensitive,
but
resilient,
ogical
rather
than
intuitive,
forceful
but
reflective,
x-
plosive
but
magnanimous,
proud
but aware of his own
deficiencies.
He
provided
political
stability
to the
country, gave
plans
for
economic
development,
laid the
foundations of a Secular
State*
and
provided
impetus
to
Social
Change.
His
personality
reflected
the influence of so many traits: humanism, scientific temper*
agnosticism,
socialism,
nationalism,
internationalism,
liberalism
and
rationalism.51
In
conclusion,
it
may
be said
without
any
hesitation
that
the
contributions
of
Jawaharlal
Nehru
towards
the
modern
India
is
uncomparable.
His
political
and economic ideas
This content downloaded from 210.212.129.125