The Discovery of Nehru

It is apt to remember Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India on his 125^th birth anniversary which has elicited diverse debates ranging from the informed to the absurd perpetuated by trolls on social media. The Congress, meanwhile, tried to ring-fence the former PM by snubbing the current one with a non-invite to a function organized to commemorate the occasion. Against this background is the need to “Discover Nehru” dispassionately just as he had discovered India.

Nehru, was educated at the Trinity College, Cambridge & Inner Temple & was born & brought up in a privileged environment. That he decided to shun the silver spoon & rush into the freedom struggle knowing fully well the consequent pains is but a strong reminder of his passion for a noble cause. While Marx did impress him, it is established that his visit to the Soviet Union in 1927 on the 10^th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution, had a lasting impression on him & guided his economic

thought thereafter. Along with Subhas Bose & Maulana Azad, he formed the left of centre triumvirate of the Congress & amongst themselves served as Congress Presidents between1936-40. It is however pertinent to note that despite of their combined strengths, “socialism & Secularism” were enshrined into the preamble of the Indian constitution not in 1950 but in 1976. Bose & Nehru worked closely on international relations too before they fell apart due to ideological disparities.

Nehru was a romantic at heart & i am not referring to his amorous adventures alone. A secular state post partition is his legacy as much as his focus on industrialization. Focus on dams which he called the "temples of modern India", heavy industry & establishment of institutes of higher education like the IITs & IIM's to man such projects was his contribution as much as the Planning Commission that he chaired. His initiation of the atomic & space programs under Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai et al establishes him as a thinker par excellence & an excellent talent spotter. His love for democracy & the parliamentary debate it envisioned is part of folklore as much as his respect for the role of the opposition. It is however ironic that his legacy of parliamentary democracy & institution building was destroyed by his own daughter, Indira.

Nehru as a PM was also his foreign minister during the period 1947-64 & he initiated "Non-Alignment" as a policy that helped India punch beyond its weight in the international fora. Unfortunately, his successors neither had his calibre nor stature to maintain the same momentum in external affairs & India lost its heft in the world till economic liberalization & the consequent economic growth there-off reinforced her place in the comity of nations.

Nehru, however, was a man of contradictions. He botched up the J&K accession issue by rushing to the UN against Patel’s persuasions, before J&K was cleared, by the Indian armed forces, of Paki marauders. Expectedly, the UN ordered an immediate ceasefire which left about 1/3rd of J&K in Paki hands from where anti India activities continue to this day. Whether this was done to give political advantage to Sheikh Abdullah whose writ largely was restricted to areas under current Indian Territory or was it plain inaptitude is debateable. The unfilled promise of a “plebiscite” & imprisonment of the Sheikh in 1953 muddied the problem further. Contrast this with Patel’s blemish less integration of over 500 odd Indian states into the union.

While Foreign affairs was his forte it is surprising how he botched up the  Chinese border issue which led to an avoidable international conflagration. Nehru’s romantic notations prompted him towards a "forward post" policy that led to the Chinese invasion & the decimation of the Indian forces, in '62, which destroyed India’s image internationally & morale domestically. Any strategic expert would argue that such a policy could have been ordered after securing the modernization of the forces & building infrastructure in the border areas & only after securing a military advantage seek to gain territory. The other alternative was to seek an agreement by renouncing the claims on Aksai chin in lieu of a Chinese quid pro quo on the eastern flank in Tawang. Instead, he along with Krishna Menon living in a utopian world, reduced the size of the forces substantially post-independence convinced of their capacity to handle the Chinese diplomatically. It is debateable if the Henderson Brooks report that evaluated the reasons for the Indian debacle of ‘1962 did not view the role of Nehru kindly & that explains its non- release even after 50 years of its submission.

Nehru's frailties on the succession & dynasty issue are not beyond reproach. He paved the way for Indira by first making her the "Chief of staff" in the prime minister's office & later the president of the Congress Party in '59. Shastri followed Nehru before she took the position; his death under mysterious circumstances at Tashkent after winning a stupendous victory over Pakistan – an event that had all the makings of creating a new icon, probably replacing the old - keeps the grist of the rumour mills running.

Nehru's policy shifts away from the Congress party line post- independence is not widely discussed. While the congress' policy documents spoke 'federalism" & decentralized governance till Independence, the constituent assembly was forced to toe a "unitary spirit" line post Gandhiji's death. Later on, when Nehru dismissed a duly elected Communist govt in Kerala, critics could term his belief in "federalism' ephemeral.  While Indira called Nehru a "saint" who treaded into politics, the "Kamaraj plan" of '62 just after the Chinese war - that left Nehru politically bruised - marks him as an astute politician.

Thus in short, though Nehru was a bundle of contradictions, just like any other human, but his contribution towards germinating democracy in India has to be appreciated. After all his contemporaries like Mao, Chang kai Shek, Sukarno, Jomo Kenyatta, Nkrumah etc preferred to lapse into authoritarianism while he steadfastly struck to democracy & institution building.