Skip to main content

Nehru’s legacy: Democracy, secularism, socialism, peace, non-alignment

By Bharat Dogra

It is a true mark of greatness if what a leader struggles to achieve in his lifetime is widely realized to be even more valuable in the years or decades after he has left the world. This is exactly how Jawaharlal Nehru is being remembered by more and more people of his country, despite a persistent tendency on the part of the present right-wing government to deny the greatness of his achievements and legacy. At a wider level the world also increasingly remembers the importance of his legacy of non-alignment and the highly relevant, although not perfect, efforts to combine democracy and peace with spread of socialist ideas in a country where deeply conservative ideas still held deep roots among a large number of people.
Nehru was the Prime Minister of India for the first 17 years following independence in 1947 from nearly two centuries of British rule. In fact he remained a very popular Prime Minister till his death on May 27, 1964 from a heart attack, winning three general elections for the Indian National Congress with an average of around 45% vote, peaking to 48% (much higher than ever managed by the right-wing, majoritarian BJP now ruling India despite its enormous resources raised from non-transparent election bonds, a form of systemic corruption tied to crony-capitalism).
In the course of these 17 years he firmly laid the foundation of democracy, peace and stability in a country which firmly needed this as along with independence it experienced a very tragic, violent partition which killed, injured and displaced millions of people. The roots of this violence were firmly laid by colonial rulers.
From early days the mainstream freedom movement of India led by Mahatma Gandhi had been firmly committed to inter-faith unity and harmony. In taking this forward Mahatma Gandhi received the most consistent support from leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad and Badshah Khan. However the British rulers systematically discouraged and repeatedly imprisoned such leaders while encouraging those who who opposed Hindu-Muslim unity.
This tendency of colonial rulers to divide and rule peaked after the outbreak of the Second World War. Initially Jawaharlal Nehru led the efforts in India to offer support to the Allies for the bigger fight against Hitler as long as freedom for India was assured. The British rulers did not agree to this, leading to breakdown of talks and Mahatma Gandhi’s call for independence. The British immediately unleashed one of the biggest repressions, jailing all those Congress leaders (including Gandhi, Nehru and Azad) who were also very firm advocates of Hindu-Muslim unity.
As such leaders were either in jail or on the run, those who were inclined to serve as tools of British imperialism got into governance positions and in addition were promoted by the colonial rulers in various other ways as well. A collusion of the colonial rulers and the loyal leaders placed in important positions in Bengal led to over 3 million famine deaths in the great Bengal famine.
For nearly 200 years the colonial rulers had exploited India relentlessly but what they did in the last decade was perhaps the worst. It was thus in extremely difficult conditions that Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of independent India. Things could have easily gone wrong. But his firm, non-negotiable faith in democracy, inter-faith harmony, non-discrimination, social equality, secularism and peace, together with the help and cooperation of all those colleagues who shared these commitments, saved the situation. In all these respects India made significant improvements in his time and created a strong base of democracy, stability and unity which could even withstand the shocks delivered later by less wise rulers.
In conditions of better peace and stability, together with independence, millions of people in India started getting chances of progress as had been held back by 200 years of colonial rule. This was reflected in economic development and reduction of poverty. In addition the base of future progress was being prepared in the form of development of infrastructure, science and technology, health and education.
However, Nehru did not go the entire length in unleashing his socialist vision, perhaps deliberately restraining himself from doing so. There were urgent immediate priorities like rehabilitation of millions of refugees from partition and preventing their anger from spreading. In the middle of all this, Nehru probably felt that stability and peace were more important immediately than too radical a vision of socialist changes.
Hence while the condition of millions of people improved during his time as Prime Minister, perhaps the many of millions at the lowest level did not improve as significantly as was needed. Hence legislation to ban bonded labor was introduced only over a decade after his death by his daughter Indira Gandhi, while significant efforts to help those engaged in manual scavenging came even later.
While this was one limitation of the many sided agenda of progress initiated by Nehru, its overall achievements were nevertheless very impressive. His commitment to planned economic development with a longer-term perspective and vision contributed much to the establishment of the Planning Commission as well as the initiation of five year plans. 12 such plans were ultimately prepared, till soon after becoming Prime Minister, in 2014, Narendra Modi abolished the Planning Commission as well as the five year plans.
In fact there is much that Nehru stood for-- including plurality, higher levels of equality, protection to minorities, an idea of India based on unity in diversity and an enlightened understanding of history—that India really needs today but this is increasingly neglected or violated by the present right-wing government.
In a wider context, the world is realizing with a new urgency the importance of Nehru’s vision of world peace and non-alignment. This is all the more true in 2022 in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
---
The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include ‘A Day in 2071', ‘Planet in Peril’ and ‘Protecting Earth for Children'

Comments

TRENDING

Eight years of empowering tribal communities through water initiatives in Chhattisgarh

By Gazala Paul*   In the heart of Chhattisgarh, amidst the echoes of tribal life, a transformative journey has unfolded over the past eight years. The Samerth organization has diligently worked to elevate the lives of indigenous communities in the Kawardha district through the project, "Enabling Baiga Community to access safe drinking water." 

Regretful: Kapil Dev retired not leaving Indian cricket with integrity he upheld

By Harsh Thakor  Kapil Dev scaled heights as an entertainer and a player upholding the spirit of the game almost unparalleled in his era. In his time he was cricket’s ultimate mascot of sportsmanship On his day Kapil could dazzle in all departments to turn the tempo of game in the manner of a Tsunami breaking in. He radiated r energy, at a level rarely scaled in his era on a cricket field. Few ever blended aggression with artistry so comprehenisively. Although fast medium, he could be as daunting with the ball as the very best, with his crafty outswinger, offcutter, slower ball and ball that kicked from a good length. Inspite of bowling on docile tracks on the subcontinent, Kapil had 434 scalps, with virtually no assistance. I can never forget how he obtained pace and movement on flat pancakes, trapping the great Vivian Richards in Front or getting Geoff Boycott or Zaheer Abbas caught behind. No paceman carried the workload of his team’s bowling attack on his shoulders in his eras muc

Martin Crowe played instrumental role in making New Zealand a force in world cricket

By Harsh Thakor* Late Martin Crowe was the perfect manifestation of how mere figures could not convey or do justice to the true merit of a batsman. Crowe was arguably the most complete  or majestic batsmen of his era or the ultimate embodiment of batting perfection, or the classical batsmen. He perished 7 years ago, due to a rare and aggressive form of cancer, follicular lymphoma, which originated in 2012. In September, we celebrated his 60th birthday but sadly he left for his heavenly abode.

How the slogan Jai Bhim gained momentum as movement of popularity and revolution

By Dr Kapilendra Das*  India is an incomprehensible plural country loaded with diversities of religions, castes, cultures, languages, dialects, tribes, societies, costumes, etc. The Indians have good manners/etiquette (decent social conduct, gesture, courtesy, politeness) that build healthy relationships and take them ahead to life. In many parts of India, in many situations, and on formal occasions, it is common for people of India to express and exchange respect, greetings, and salutation for which we people usually use words and phrases like- Namaskar, Namaste, Pranam, Ram Ram, Jai Ram ji, Jai Sriram, Good morning, shubha sakal, Radhe Radhe, Jai Bajarangabali, Jai Gopal, Jai Jai, Supravat, Good night, Shuvaratri, Jai Bhole, Salaam walekam, Walekam salaam, Radhaswami, Namo Buddhaya, Jai Bhim, Hello, and so on.

Towards 2024: Time for ‘We the People of India’ to wake up before it is too late

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  It is Constitution Day once again! We, the people of India, gratefully remember 26 November 1949 when the Constitution of India was passed and adopted by the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly comprised women and men of distinction, who were able to represent the heart and soul of the people of India without fear or favour. They gave of their best, so that we may a visionary Constitution, which would be the mainstay for and of democracy in India!

1982-83 Bombay textile strike played major role in shaping working class movement

By Harsh Thakor  On January 18th, 1982 the working class movement commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Textile Workers Strike that lasted for 18 months, till July 1983. It was landmark event that played a major role in shaping the working class movement. With more than 2.5 lakh workers from 65 textile mills joining in this strike for almost two years, this strike became one of the most significant strikes in terms of scale and duration All democrats should applaud the mill workers’ united battle, and their unflinching resilience an death defying courage continues to serve as a model for contemporary working-class movements. Many middle class persons harboured opinions that the Textile workers were pampered or were a labour aristocracy, ignorant of how they were denied wages to provide for basic necessities. The Great Bombay Textile Strike is notably one of the most defining movements in the working class struggles in Post-independent India. Bombay’s textile industry flourished in

Ceasefire a tactical victory for Palestinian resistance, protests intensify across globe

By Harsh Thakor*  The Zionist leadership and Netanyahu’s government were compelled to concede the defeat of their first attempt after almost 50 days of daily fighting in the Gaza Strip.  Netanyahu was forced to concede that he was unsuccessful in suppressing the Palestinian Resistance; and that the release of the prisoners was only plausible because they accepted Hamas’ terms.

Odisha leadership crisis deepens: CM engages retired babus to oversee depts' work

By Sudhansu R Das  Over decades, Odisha has lost much of its crop diversity, fertile agriculture land, water bodies, employment potential, handicraft and handloom skills etc. The state has failed to strike a balance between the urban and rural sector growth; this leads to the migration of villagers to the urban areas leading to collapse of the urban infrastructures and an acute labor shortage in rural areas.  A large number of educated, skilled and unskilled Odia people have migrated to other states for higher education, quality jobs and for earning livelihood which plummet the efficiency level of government departments. Utmost transparency in the recruitment and promotion in the state government departments will improve governance mechanisms in the state.  "No near and dear one approach" in governance mechanisms can only achieve inclusive growth for the state on payment basis. This is a moral hazard. When so many educated young people seek employment outside the

Massive tropical deforestation: Big finance's $307 billion go to forest-risk commodities

A note on report by Forests & Finance coalition -- Rainforest Action Network, TuK Indonesia, Profundo, Amazon Watch, Repórter Brasil, BankTrack, Sahabat Alam Malaysia and Friends of the Earth US: *** A new report released on ‘Finance Day’ at COP28 by the Forests & Finance Coalition , provides a comprehensive look into the role big finance plays in driving deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change and human rights abuses in tropical forest regions. The report reveals that since the Paris Agreement, banks have pumped over $307 billion into high risk forestry and agriculture companies linked to tropical deforestation, proving that the policies of major global banks and investors are failing to prevent continued widespread forest and biodiversity loss.

20% of Indian businesses have no emission plan in place despite climate emergency: Report

By Jag Jivan   New research underlines urgent need for strategies and transition plans to combat climate change, remain successful and meet stakeholder expectations.