(Dr Pentapati Pullarao)
Stop abusing Pandit Nehru. Praising or defending Nehru does not mean praising his descendants. The opposition says that Nehru made many mistakes. Nehru made Article 370 for Special Status to Kashmir. Nehru also lost a war to China. Nehru did not treat Ambedkar well. Nehru was very partial to Minorities. Many also say that Sardar Patel would have made a better Prime minister than Nehru.
Nehru might have made errors. But India cannot forget some great contributions of Nehru. One cannot say whether in future Indians will be kind to Nehru. But Winston Churchill, a wartime great Prime Minister of England said, “History will be very kind to me, because I propose to write it”. Winston Churchill wrote many books and glorified himself. Nehru did not write after 1947 and hence, unlike Winston Churchill did not glorify himself.
The greatest Indian of recent history was Mahatma Gandhi. So great was Gandhi that when he died the most famous scientist Albert Einstein, Father of the atomic bomb, said “Future generations will not believe that such a man as Mahatma Gandhi ever lived on the earth “. What a tribute the great Einstein paid to Mahatma Gandhi on his death!! Such a man selected Nehru to be Prime minister of India.
Nehru’s role in independent India:
Nehru became prime Minister on August 15, 1947, and died as prime minister in May 1964. The Congress party under Nehru was at the height of its popularity under Nehru. The biggest question those days used to be “After Nehru who? The question meant what will happen to India when Nehru died.
Big erroneous issues regarding Nehru:
- Nehru created Kashmir problems
Frequently, political parties criticize Nehru for giving Special Status to Kashmir through Article 370 and that un-wisely took Kashmir to the United Nations.
Reality: On 22 October 1947, Pakistani army attacked Kashmir. Britain and other European countries supported Pakistan, since they were furious that India led the fight against colonialism of European countries. They wanted to teach India a lesson. India had a very small army then. Britain, USA and other countries had just won a war and were ready to teach India a lesson.
Nehru then bought time by going to the United Nations. In the United Nations, Nehru made a brilliant offer. Nehru said ‘We will have a Referendum in Kashmir to determine whether Kashmiris want to stay in India or not “and the UN agreed. But till now, there is no Referendum. By going to the United Nations, Nehru bought time. Nehru saved Kashmir or England was ready to take Kashmir by force.
- Nehru and Article 370 of Kashmir :
Kashmir was a Muslim majority state. Though Maharajah Hari Singh of Kashmir choose India in October 1947, Pakistan was raising religious feelings. Nehru convinced the popular leader Sheikh Abdullah to support India and assured him that Kashmir would have Special status. That is why Article 370 was passed. For the critical first 15 years, Sheikh Abdullah supported India. Nehru saved Kashmir by his brilliant thinking. The only one whom Sheikh Abdullah trusted was Nehru.
- Nehru and his friendship with Viceroy Mountbatten
All kinds of stories are floated about Nehru and Lord Mountbatten. Lord Mountbatten was the last Viceroy of India and first Governor General from February 1947 to June 1948. Nehru, through his friendship with Lord Mountbatten, obtained many concessions against Pakistan. Mountbatten helped India get Kashmir in 1947. Mountbatten could have created problems for India. But Mountbatten’s presence convinced Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir to choose India.
There were countless issues before Independence, where Mountbatten supported India against Jinnah’s demands.
One must remember that before 1947 Indians were not even allowed into English clubs. At that time, Nehru had enough confidence and charm to have the Viceroy of British empire to become a confidential friend. We should respect Nehru that he could persuade a Viceroy, who was the first cousin of the Emperor of the British Empire. Other societies would have worshipped Nehru for such a friendship with the Viceroy. But we abuse Nehru for that!
- Nehru and Dalai lama
Dalai Lama was the traditional ruler of Tibet for thousands of years. China grabbed Tibet in 1951. Dalai Lama refused to accept China as the ruler. On March 20, 1959, Dalai Lama sent a message to Nehru that he wanted to escape to India. Without thinking of future problems with China, Nehru immediately agreed, and Dalai Lama fled Tibet and reached India on March 31, 1959.Nehru gave Dalai Lama shelter. India’s big problems started with China since then.
Even today, Dalai Lama and lakhs of Tibetans are in India. Did Nehru do a wrong thing?
Today, we have Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina taking refuge in India. Though Sheikh Hasina had friendly relations with dozens of countries, not one country agreed to give her refuge. India is only following the courage of Nehru.
Nehru, Patel and Nizam of Hyderabad
In September 1948, the Indian Army did a ‘Police action and Hyderabad came into the Indian union. The great thing that Nehru and Patel did was to appoint the Nizam of Hyderabad as the first governor of Hyderabad.
Praising Nehru does not mean demoting Sardar Patel or praising Nehru’s descendants. There are dozens of other issues like Chinas’ membership in UN Security Council to discuss. Every action of Nehru had a reason. That decision might have been wrong. But there was a reason.
Importantly, steered India in the first initial 17 years of freedom. Another time, we should go into other Nehru successes. The Great Mahatma Gandhi was never wrong.
(The author is a Politico and Economic Analyst based in New Delhi)
