The father of modern India- left an indelible mark on history. He was truly one of the great statesmen of all time. Clement Attlee called him “a doyen of world statesmen.” To Andre Malraux, the French intellectual, he was as one of the three outstanding figures of 20th century. He said, “No other statesman, not even Churchill or De Gaulle, Mao or Stalin, held the centre of world stage so firmly, so resplendently and with such an international consensus and approval as Nehru did.”
Nehru’s foreign policy of non-alignment – of not getting entangled in power politics of the bipolar world — has not only helped India in preserving her Independence, but also in bringing about international understanding and peace among the community of nations, enabling India to play the role of a mediator in international conflicts. The non-alignment, under his tutelage, became the world’s largest peace movement. During the Cold War period when the Western powers and the Soviet Union distrusted each other, they looked to Nehru for bringing rapprochement between them. He served as a buffer and bridge between the two hostile blocs. He defused global crises like the Korean War 1950, the Suez Crisis 1956 and the Congo Crisis 1960. In the midst of the Congo Crisis, when Nikita Khrushchev threatened to withdraw from the UN and demanded the shifting of its headquarters from New York, it was Nehru who undertook a ‘rescue mission’ to save the world body. As Bertrand Russell said, Nehru had prevented world war on more than one occasion.
At a time when the West was dismissive of his experiment with parliamentary democracy, Nehru persisted on opting for the universal adult franchise – giving equal political rights to all the citizens — in a traditional, vastly diverse, socially and economically backward and massively illiterate country. It was a big leap in history. If India has emerged as the largest democracy in the world, we owe it to him.
No one understood India, its history and the rich cultural heritage better than Nehru. In his classic work, ‘The Discovery of India,’ he described India as “a cultural unity amidst diversity…a bundle of contradictions held together by strong but invisible threads… a myth and an idea, a dream and a vision…” His vision and ideals laid the foundation for a secular liberal democracy in independent India. The Objectives Resolution that he moved in the Constituent Assembly on December 13, 1946, had provided the framework for the Constitution that stood the test of time. The Resolution solemnly affirmed: “Wherein shall be guaranteed and secured to all the people of India justice, social, economic and political; equality of status, of opportunity, and before the law; freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship…“ The Preamble echoes these noble thoughts. His stirring speech, delivered on the midnight of August 14, 1947 has inspired many a generation.
Today, India is surrounded by failed states. And if we are able to showcase the success of democracy, the credit goes to Nehru’s enlightened leadership in the formative and critical years and his innate faith in the people. Without him at the helm in those crucial days, it is doubtful whether our freedom and democracy would have survived. India would have gone the Pakistan way, controlled by religious bigots and a politically ambitious army, unable to establish as a viable nation-state. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has publicly acknowledged that Pakistan didn’t have a Nehru to strengthen democracy. It is now facing an existential crisis. Nehru had nurtured democracy and democratic institutions in India. Sixteen times have the people of India elected their national government. Of the 814 million electorate, 517 million voters — larger than the population of the USA, the UK, Canada and Germany put together — have participated in the last general election in India — the biggest electoral exercise the world has ever witnessed. This is an epoch-making achievement.
To Nehru, secularism was an article of faith. Being a man of history, he was conscious of the communal politics that divided India. He believed that keeping religion out of politics and public life was the only way to prevent a multi-religious society from disintegrating.
Narendra Modi‘s ascendance to power raises apprehension that the Sangh Parivar will push its ‘Hindutva’ agenda. India has taken a sharp turn towards right-wing politics. Another disturbing development is that Modi’s antipathy for Nehru is making him drive a wedge between Nehru and Patel. He claims had Patel been the Prime Minister after Independence, India would have been different. He ignores the fact that it was Gandhi who wanted Nehru to head the national government, which Patel endorsed, to hold India together post-Partition. Perhaps Modi is not aware that Patel and Nehru had mutual admiration for each other. Patel wrote in 1949, “Contrary to the impression created by some interested persons and eagerly accepted in credulous circles, we have worked together as lifelong friends and colleagues, adjusting ourselves to each other’s point of view…it is difficult for people to imagine how much we miss each other when we are apart and unable to take counsel together in order to resolve our problems and difficulties.”
It is strange that Modi wants to appropriate Patel, who believed that the hateful speeches of the Sangh leaders created an atmosphere leading to the assassination of Gandhi and banned the RSS. Now with its political offspring, the BJP, ruling the country, the clock is turned back. The Nehru legacy is under siege.
The writer is author of the book, ‘Nehru and World Peace’, Professor of Political Science and retired Principal, Kandivali Education Society’s College, Mumbai.
