My Science School

Though many years have passed since his death, Jawaharlal Nehru continues to be remembered as the architect of modern India. His vision of a secular, industrial and cosmopolitan nation helped transform a nation ravaged by 200 years of British rule into a modern, productive and self-sufficient one.

It must be mentioned that Gandhiji had a more traditional outlook and was not interested in industrialization or a global presence for India. Jawaharlal Nehru on the other hand, had both - a national and global vision. He pioneered the international policy of non-alignment, due to which India has benefited in matters of foreign policy, economic undertakings and educational exchanges.

Nehru incorporated many of his own ideals in India’s constitution and had a secular and democratic worldview. This shows most clearly in those parts of the Constitution that deal with human rights, where it states that the state shall not discriminate against any citizen on the grounds of religion, race, caste, or place of birth. The practice of untouchability was abolished and its practice in any form was forbidden. All people were guaranteed twelve basic freedoms which included freedom of speech, freedom of worship and freedom of peaceful assembly.

Picture Credit : Google

On the afternoon of January 30, 1948 as Gandhiji walked to his prayer meeting in Birla House (now known as Gandhi Smriti), a young man pushed his way forward from the crowd, pulled out a gun and shot him.

This unthinkable crime was committed by a fanatic, Nathuram Godse, because he disagreed with Gandhiji’s conviction that Hindus and Muslims should live together in harmony. Jawaharlal Nehru broke the tragic news to the country on radio. He said, “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere...A glory has departed and the sun that warmed and brightened our lives has set and we shiver in the cold and dark.”

Nehru’s sense of loss was intense. Gandhiji had been his guiding light throughout his political life. Prior to Gandhiji’s death, there had been some friction between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru, but this changed after they met for Gandhiji’s memorial service.

They put their differences aside and worked in harmony after the tragic event.

Picture Credit : Google

Mahatma Gandhi was heartbroken by the violence. The ‘free India’ he had envisioned was a land of peace and harmony where people from various religions would live as brothers and sisters.

The unfolding of the horror of partition filled Gandhiji with profound sorrow. He would not participate in the celebrations of 15 August, 1947 and instead spent the day fasting and praying.

At this time Bengal, which was to be partitioned into East and West, had been witnessing blood-thirsty violence for many months. Gandhiji worked day and night trying to bring peace to the Hindu-Muslim community in Bengal. Under his calming influence the violence did eventually cease.

Next he travelled to Delhi, where he announced that he was beginning an indefinite fast which would end only when the violence there ended. But unlike the other regions Gandhiji had received a death threat at Delhi and a bomb exploded at one of his prayer meetings.

Refusing all offers of protection Mahatma Gandhi continued his mission for peace. He knew the risks he was taking but he carried on.

Picture Credit : Google

When World War II broke out in 1939, Britain declared war on India’s behalf. Viceroy Linlithgow declared India at war with Germany and Japan without consulting Indian politicians. In protest all provincial Congress governments resigned.

The Congress demanded independence and leaders like Nehru insisted that India would only fight alongside Britain as a free country. The Congress launched the Quit India Movement against the British in August, 1942. Wide scale protests erupted all over India which Britain suppressed by arresting thousands of Congress supporters. Nehru was sentenced for making ‘seditious’ speeches and the British government denounced him as “the most disruptive single force in the politics of the country”.

The Indian Army was crucially involved in the Allied campaign in the Second World War. Indian troops distinguished themselves on all fronts in many countries during World War II. More than 2.5 million Indian troops fought Axis forces around the globe and over 87,000 Indian soldiers died. The British knew that they had little chance of winning the war without India’s help and refused to hand over power during this time. Key Congress leaders, including Nehru, were kept in prison till 1945 and only released after the war was over.

Picture Credit : Google

There were a series of Acts related to India passed by the British Parliament between 1773 and 1935. The first such Acts were known as East India Company Acts and the later ones were titled Government of India Acts.

Of these the 1935 Government of India Act was the longest Act of British Parliament enacted till then. Some of the most significant aspects of the Act were - granting of a large measure of autonomy to the provinces of British India, the establishment of a federation of India, the introduction of direct elections and a partial reorganization of the provinces.

Rajendra Prasad, along with many other moderates, welcomed the Act since it gave Indians the chance to participate in government immediately. They believed that power-sharing was the best way forward and the first step towards full ‘home rule’.

Others disagreed arguing that power-sharing was likely to slow up processes towards independence and that Britain was using it as a sop to the nationalist movement. Nehru was of the opinion that the Congress should stick to its principles and refuse to collaborate with Britain.

Finally, a compromise was worked out whereby the Congress would formally reject the 1935 Act (thus registering its dissatisfaction with the provisions of the Act), but would put up candidates in the elections to the legislative assemblies due to be held in 1937.

Although Nehru was unhappy with this decision, he immediately set to work to marshal the party into a unified force ready for the elections ahead.

Picture Credit : Google

As per the Government of India Act 1935, provincial elections were held in 11 provinces, including Madras, Bihar, Orissa, Sindh, Bengal, Punjab and the North West Frontier Province.

The three main contenders in the election were the Indian National Congress, the All India Muslim League and the Unionist Party. Jawaharlal Nehru was the leader of the Congress at the time and threw himself wholeheartedly into the election campaign. He covered around 80,000 km across the length and breadth of India, through cities and villages, jungles, deserts and plains. Over 10 million people came to hear him and his popularity grew enormously.

His campaign centred around the message that all Indians were part of the fight for freedom and should rally behind the Congress to fight poverty, unemployment and all forms of degradation. It was a message that ordinary people could understand and respond to and when the time came to vote, they swept his party to an overwhelming victory.

The Congress won 758 out of 1500 seats and went on to form 7 provincial governments. The Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, won 109 seats, and the Unionist Party, led by Sikandar Hayat Khan, won 101 seats.

Established in 1906, the Muslim League lacked popular appeal and received only five per cent of the total number of votes cast. These results, Jawaharlal Nehru pointed out, justified the Congress’s claim of representing all Indians. But this claim led Nehru into making one of his most serious errors of judgement and was a catalyst to the rise of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Picture Credit : Google

Kamala Nehru had been suffering from tuberculosis for many years and her condition worsened in 1935. She was taken to a sanatorium in Switzerland for treatment and sent back to India when she got better.

When her health deteriorated again, she was admitted in a sanatorium in Germany for treatment. Nehru, who was in prison at that time, was informed of her condition and realised that she had not much longer to live.

Upon his release, he rushed to Germany in October 1935. Her condition improved initially but deteriorated again in 1936. She was taken to Switzerland again, but this time she did not respond and died in Lausanne on 28, February 1936.

Kamala’s marriage to Jawaharlal was not a happy one to begin with, but over time their differences gave way to a deep attachment. As their relationship matured, Kamala evolved into a deeply motivated member of the freedom struggle.

She was particularly successful in championing women’s rights. Her husband watched her transition with pride. The shy teenager he had married had grown into a capable and bold woman and in their last years together a close bond of affection had grown between them. In the prologue to his autobiography, Nehru recounts that he was devastated by Kamala’s death.

Picture Credit : Google

Gandhiji said, “Next to air and water, salt is perhaps the greatest necessity of life”. Under the British Salt Act of 1882, Indians were prohibited from collecting or selling salt. They were forced to buy salt from the British, who charged a heavy salt tax on this basic commodity. This was especially burdensome for the poor.

It is no wonder then that Gandhiji chose breaking the salt tax law as his first priority after the Civil Disobedience Movement was launched.

On March 12, 1930, Gandhiji along with 78 volunteers, set out from Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad for the coastal town of Dandi in Gujarat, many kilometres away. Along the way Gandhiji addressed large crowds and many joined the march to Dandi. After 24 days, on April 5, Gandhiji along with tens of thousands of followers reached their destination. On reaching the sea, Gandhiji picked up a few crystals of salt saying, “With these crystals of salt, I am going to shake the foundations of the British Empire”.

The salt Satyagraha was taken up across the country and millions of people began to make salt in their homes. The police arrested more than 60,000 people in the aftermath.

Motilal Nehru and Jawaharlal were both arrested for their participation. Motilal died shortly after his release from prison in 1931. Jawaharlal Nehru and his family remained at the forefront of the struggle.

The flame of Satyagraha had been lit and the response was overwhelming. India’s freedom struggle began to be followed all over the world. The British soon realized that Gandhiji could neither be suppressed nor ignored and dreaded this new weapon - Satyagraha.

Picture Credit : Google

The Gandhi-Irwin Pact was an agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Irwin, the then British Viceroy of India, on 5 March, 1931. It marked the end of the Civil Disobedience Movement or Satyagraha that had started with the Salt March to Dandi on 5 April, 1930.

Thousands were arrested and detained during the civil disobedience that followed, including Gandhiji. The Salt March had elicited a response from the Indian public which had never been witnessed before. Millions took up the baton from Gandhiji and defied the salt tax, making salt in their homes.

British jails were overflowing with satyagrahis and the British Government had no solution to the problem. The Movement also attracted enormous attention worldwide to India’s freedom struggle and pressure was building on the British, who were desperate to reach a compromise.

As a result of this, they released Gandhiji from custody for negotiations in January 1931. After eight meetings with Lord Irwin, Gandhiji agreed to withdraw the Civil Disobedience Movement on condition that the British release political prisoners and allow Indians to collect and produce salt for commercial and private use.

Some members of the Congress, including Nehru, were unhappy at Gandhiji’s decision and the concessions that Gandhi had made. They were of the opinion that had the civil disobedience continued; it would have culminated in India’s independence. They felt that Gandhiji had given in too easily to the British.

Gandhiji offered to repudiate the Pact but Nehru, who was against anything that might cause dissension within the party, withdrew his protest. He was however, still not happy with the turn of events.

Picture Credit : Google

Most of us would imagine that the Indian tricolor was first raised on the night of 15, August 1947, when India became a free nation, but this is not true. The first time the Indian tricolor (designed by Pingali Venkayya) was raised, was at the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress on the night of 31 December, 1929.

The session had just made some landmark decisions and in a highly symbolic act to mark the event, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoisted the first tricolor flag of India upon the banks of the river Ravi in Lahore. Hundreds of people had gathered in the bitter cold to witness the event.

This was followed by a pledge of independence which outlined the reasons for Purna Swaraj and indicated the path ahead which included the launch of the civil disobedience movement and the adoption of nonviolence as its means.

A large number of people attended the ceremony and raised their hands in approval. Soon after, 172 Indian members of central and provincial legislatures resigned in support of the resolution and in accordance with Indian public sentiment.

Picture Credit : Google

Jawaharlal Nehru’s wife Kamala suffered from tuberculosis and in 1926, Nehru sailed for Europe with her in the hope that specialist medical care would help cure her. Nehru, along with his wife and daughter, travelled and lived in England, Switzerland, France and Germany during this time.

While the trip did not cure Kamala, it served as an important learning period in Nehru’s life. He was exposed to the rising currents of radical socialism in Europe. He developed strong convictions on the malaise of imperialism and understood better the importance of equality both within a country and between countries. He formed opinions on the relevance of science over religion and the importance and role of women and children in nation building.

On a visit to the Soviet Union, Nehru was impressed by the economy but was critical of Stalin’s totalitarianism. He believed that economic development should be planned and controlled by the government but the government itself must be freely elected by the people.

Picture Credit : Google

In the 1920s, Nehru’s reputation as a dynamic and rising Congress leader was established. He became the President of the Allahabad Congress Committee in 1923. Towards the end of the decade however, Nehru grew increasingly restless with the pacifist nature of the senior Congressmen. The senior leaders favoured a slower and more patient approach, while Nehru along with Subhas Chandra Bose, wanted complete freedom. They wanted an ultimatum to be given to the British Government to grant India dominion status.

The Calcutta Congress of 1928 brought the rift into the open. Nehru’s speeches became inflammatory and he openly decried the Nehru Commission framed by Motilal Nehru. It took the intervention of Mahatma Gandhi for Nehru to abandon his fiery stance for more direct action.

At the same time, Gandhiji had no doubts about Nehru’s importance to the freedom movement. It was because of Gandhiji that Nehru was elected president of the Congress in 1929, in succession to his own father.

Picture Credit : Google