JAWAHARLAL NEHRU - HISTORY
News: Governor, Ministers pay floral tributes to Nehru on birth anniversary
What's in the news?
● Governor R.N. Ravi and Ministers paid floral tributes to the portrait of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at Kathipara Junction in Chennai on November 14, on the occasion of his birth anniversary.
Nehru:
● An
influential leader in the Indian independence movement and political heir of
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru became the
Nation’s First Prime Minister in 1947.
● Although
faced with the challenge of uniting a vast population diverse in culture,
language and religion, he successfully established various economic, social and
educational reforms that earned the respect and admiration of millions of
Indians.
● His policies of Non-Alignment and Panchsheel - principles of peaceful coexistence - guided India’s international relations until the outbreak of the Sino-Indian War in 1962.
Jawaharlal Nehru - Early Life:
● Jawaharlal
Nehru was born into an affluent Kashmiri Brahman family in Allahabad on
November 14, 1889.
● After
studying law at London’s Inner Temple, he returned to India at the age of 22
where he practiced law with his father and prominent barrister, Motilal Nehru.
● In
1912, Nehru started practice at the Allahabad
High Court. However, he was disinterested in this job and soon drifted
towards the national cause.
● He attended a Congress session in 1912 in Patna and felt that the membership of the party was restricted to upper-class elites. The INC at that time was in its moderate phase.
Jawaharlal Nehru - Political Awakening:
1. Joined All India Home Rule League:
● Upon
learning of esteemed theosophist Annie Besant’s arrest in 1917, Nehru was moved
to join the All India Home Rule League, an organization devoted to obtaining
self-government within the British Empire.
● In
1919, Nehru became the secretary of the
Home rule league, Allahabad.
2. Gandhi's meet:
● In
1916, Jawaharlal Nehru met Gandhiji
for the first time in the Lucknow session of Congress. He is said to have been
inspired by the senior.
3. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre:
● The
Massacre of Amritsar, in which hundreds of Indians were killed and more than a
thousand others were wounded, outraged Nehru and further solidified his resolve
to win India’s independence.
4. First Kisan March:
● He
organized the first Kisan March in the Pratapgarh District of Uttar Pradesh.
● During
the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) led by Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru was
imprisoned for the first time for activities against the British government
and, over the course of the next two and a half decades, spent a total of nine
years in jail.
5. President of INC:
● Nehru
became the General Secretary of the All
India Congress Committee in September 1923.
● Purna Swaraj: In
1929, Jawaharlal was elected
president of the Indian National Congress - his first leadership role in
politics - whereby he promoted the goal of complete independence from Britain
as opposed to dominion status. It was the same year when Mahatma Gandhi
initiated the famous Dandi March. At
that time Pandit Nehru was also arrested because of the violation of Salt Law.
● In
1936, again Pandit Nehru got elected
as the President of Congress because of his ideology.
● Under
his leadership in 1937, Indian National Congress contested in 1937 Provincial
elections and won 8 provinces in total and lost just 2 to other parties. The
leadership of Pandit Nehru was the key player in this massive win.
● He
was elected President of the Congress for the fourth time on July 6, 1946, and again for three more terms
from 1951 to 1954.
6. Participation in Individual Satyagraha:
● To
protest against the participation of India in World War II without consulting
Indian leaders and confusion created by the August Offer, the individual
satyagraha was launched not to seek independence but to affirm the right to
speech.
● Pt.
Nehru was chosen as the second
satyagrahi in this movement after Vinoba Bhave.
7. Quit India Movement:
● The
members of Congress passed the Quit India resolution on August 8, 1942, demanding political freedom from Britain in
exchange for support in the war effort.
● The
following day, the British government arrested all Congress leaders, including
Nehru and Gandhi.
8. International support:
● Nehru
toured Italy, Switzerland, England, Belgium, Germany, and Russia in 1926.
● He
attended the Congress of Oppressed
Nationalities in Brussels, Belgium as an official delegate of the Indian
National Congress.
● He
also attended the tenth-anniversary celebrations of the October Socialist Revolution in Moscow in 1927.
9. Role in framing of Indian Constitution:
● He
was one of the pioneers of the constituent Assembly. He moved the objective
Resolution on 13 December 1946, which became the light for our preamble.
● He was the chairman of the States Committee, Union Powers Committee and Union Constitution Committee.
Literary works by Nehru:
● The
Discovery of India
● Glimpses
of the world
● An
Autobiography
● Letters from a father to his daughter.
All
through his 17 years in the prime minister’s office, he held up democratic
socialism, emphasizing that India needed to achieve both democracy and
socialism. The four pillars of his domestic policies were democracy, socialism, unity, and secularism. He successfully
integrated these pillars into the building of modern India.