Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889 in Allahabad. He was the first Prime Minister of India and held office for 17 years from 15 August 1947 to 27 May, 1964.
When Nehru took over as Prime Minister of India, the country had been ravaged by centuries of colonial rule. Nehru captained the shift from a deeply polarized and plundered nation towards an inclusive and self-reliant one. He was the face of the newly emerging nation on the world stage and the architect of modern India. He was a true visionary who crafted and established India’s secular and democratic identity.
Nehru’s vision of a modern India was based on the tenets of secularism, democracy, industrialization, socialism, scientific development and non-alignment. He ensured that polarizing forces were kept at bay within the nation and ensured technical and financial support for India from both the power blocs of the Soviet Union and USA, through his policy of non-alignment. His five principles of peaceful coexistence, or ‘Panchsheel’ guided India’s international relations with China until the outbreak of the Sino-Indian War in 1962.
It may be said that if Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of the Nation, then Nehru is the father of Indian Democracy.
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