"We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell."
- Jawaharlal Nehru
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
In
1947, India declared independence in the midst of bloody sectarian violence
between Muslims and Hindus. The country suffered partition into Hindu India and
Muslim Pakistan. The divide enraged Indian nationalists who in January of 1948
assassinated the revered Mahatma Gandhi.
In
light of this, the process of nation building and reconciliation went into
Nehru’s utmost priority. Secularism became Nehru’s solution for India’s diverse
religion. His cosmopolitan upbringing led to his vision of an India open to all
religion. Moreover, he saw the freedom of worship as a main tenant in
establishing a successful democracy in India.
Part
of his secularism led to improvements in Indian society. For example, Indian
widows gained same rights as men, such as owning properties. Nehru also sought
to improve the social status of those who ranked the lowest within the strict
Hindu Caste System, which included the so-called “Untouchables.”
Then,
he also addressed the administrative and cultural issue of regional borders. In
1956, the Indian Parliament passed the State Reorganization Act that redrew
India’s map. Regions formed based on the language of the region. During its
implementation, some province were divided while others increased in size.
Under the Act, regional language flourished as it became part of the
administration of the region alongside with Hindu and English.
In
addition to division, the British also left the country impoverished which
Nehru wanted to solve immediately. He then began to realize the policies he saw
helped the Soviet Union to become an industrialized nation. He laid the
foundations in creating a planned economy for India that gave birth to the
notorious license raj – a series of bureaucratic licenses that demonstrated the
government’s supervision of the economy. In 1950, Nehru established the
Planning Commission that drafted plans for India’s industrialization. This gave
way to the inauguration of the 1st Five Year Plan in 1951. Under the Five Year
Plan, Indian government invested tremendous amounts of money in developing
India’s heavy industry – such as steel and iron.
 |
| Jawaharlal Nehru at Rihand Dam |
Nehru
also launched the Community Development Program aiming to improve the standards
of living in the countryside. Though it showed Nehru’s concerns for those who
suffered in the countryside, his program met limited success.
In
foreign affairs, Nehru played a great role. He took for himself the position of
foreign minister and shaped India’s foreign policy for decades to come. During
his tenure, he pursued the policy of non-alignment amidst intensifying rivalry
between 2 superpowers and their ideology – the United States’ capitalism and
Soviet Union’s communism. In Nehru’s view, such competition led to violence and
poverty among the population of newly independent countries.
 |
| Nehru with US President Dwight D. Eisenhower |
In
1954, he promoted the Panchsheel or 5 Principles of Peaceful Co-existence as
the cornerstone of his foreign policy. This became embodied with a treaty
between India and the People’s Republic of China with regards to Tibet in 1954.
On the same year, he also met with 4 other leaders of newly independent
countries – Burma, Ceylon, Indonesia, and Pakistan – forming the so-called
Colombo Powers.
 |
| Nehru with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai |
The
Colombo Powers decided to gather more support for the non-alignment or
neutralist foreign policy movement by organizing the first Asia-Africa Conference of 1955 held in Bandung. In the Bandung Conference, Nehru failed to
silence calls for collective defense, which in his view, a means for
superpowers to gain influence militarily. Nonetheless, the Bandung Conference
led eventually to another conference of neutralist countries in Belgrade in
1961 and the formal establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement or NAM.
 |
| Nehru during the Bandung Conference |
Nehru’s
foreign policy and prestige in the international community also had its
pitfalls. Although Nehru presented himself as a peaceful and nonviolent
politician, an extension of Gandhi’s non-violence in the international stage,
critics called him a hypocrite. In 1947, he waged war against Pakistan to get
Kashmir. Then in 1961, he surprised the west with India’s invasion of
Portuguese controlled Goa.
Another
moment of failure for Nehru’s foreign policy came in 1962. For almost a decade,
Nehru fostered a partnership between India and China even saying “Indians and
Chinese are brothers.” On that year, however, Nehru felt betrayed as China’s
People’s Liberation Army attacked Indian borders to settle a territorial dispute
between the 2 countries with force. The unresolved border issues and Nehru’s
decision to give refuge to Tibet’s Dalai Lama said to have been the cause of
the rift between the 2 countries.
In
1962, Nehru’s health deteriorated, many believed due to his shock and disbelief
of the conflict between China and India after fostering with so much effort a
partnership between the 2 countries. In 1964, he suffered a heart attack and
finally succumbing on May 27, 1964. Indian once again uttered what Nehru said
during the death of Gandhi to describe his: “The light is out, and there is
darkness everywhere.”
Nehru Legacy
Nehru
left a mixed legacy for India. He left an impression in India’s society,
economy, politics, and diplomacy that his successors worked on. It dictated
India’s history for the next decades after its independence.
For Indian society, Nehru worked to heal the
wounds of partition and establish unity among the people after centuries of
mistrust and amidst great diversity in language, culture, and religion. He made
an effort to create a secular society that welcomed all religions and improve
the welfare of India’s many oppressed and marginalized sectors.
Economically,
however, Nehru’s records also had mixed blessings as the Soviet’s case. His regime
achieved to lay down the ground work for industrialization and development of
science and technology without the pains of millions of death as the case of
the Soviet Union. But his policy of government interference in the economy left
tremendous of amount of debts and budget imbalances. Furthermore, his policy
led to a bloated bureaucracy dedicated in monitoring the economy. Government
extent of control over businesses led to difficulties in setting up new
enterprises. Thus, Nehru’s License Raj led to economic difficulties that
prevented to solve India’s acute poverty problem – a desire that first Prime
Minister wished to solve.
In
foreign policy, Nehru faced difficulties in the last years of his life and
premiership. His hope for India-China cooperation failed and culminated in a
war in 1962. His image as a peaceful leader tarnished by the west after his
invasion of Goa. Even though he faced criticisms, Nehru established India as a
leader among neutralist governments. He fought for the right of newly
independent countries to be free to establish relations and trade with any
country regardless of whether communist or capitalist. His non-alignment policy
became the cornerstone of Indian foreign policy for the next decades after his
death.
 |
| Indira Gandhi with President Richard Nixon |
In
politics, Nehru’s name gained so much respect and popularity from Indians, that
his daughter and grandson, Indira and Rajiv, became Prime Ministers –
establishing the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. The Congress Party, Nehru’s party,
remained also in power for many years.
In
summary, Nehru’s life had been a struggle. He struggled for freedom, for unity,
for prosperity, and for true independence. His intentions had been
nationalistic, but the result came mixed. Nonetheless, his efforts had been
respected by Indians, more than just because he became the first Prime
Minister, but he established the foundation from which India progressed after
it gained its independence.
See also:
Bibliography:
Websites:
"Jawaharlal Nehru." Encyclopedia of World Biography. . Encyclopedia.com. (June 3, 2018). http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/jawaharlal-nehru
Moraes, Frank et. al. “Jawaharlal Nehru.” In Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on June 10, 2018. URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jawaharlal-Nehru
Allchin, Frank et. al. “India.” In Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed on June 10, 2018. URL: https://www.britannica.com/place/India/The-transfer-of-power-and-the-birth-of-two-countries#ref486491
General References:
Sonnad, Subhash. “Nehru, Jawaharlal.” In Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Edited by Thomas Leonard. New York, New York: Routledge, 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment