Nehru - Hero of his age and outcaste of ours

  

  As described by well know historian Dr. Ramachandra Guha “Nehru was the hero of his age who has become kind of outcaste in ours. No man has been so greatly revered in his lifetime, and so viciously vilified since his death.” Somehow I think time has eroded his achievements and magnified his failure. There has been so much vicious and unfair criticism of Nehru in recent times that I thought of writing this blog to make people of my generation aware of Nehru's contributions in building of our nation. I think biggest contributor to the decline of Nehru's reputation has been misrule of his next generations (primarily his daughter Indra Gandhi) and his socialist tendencies. 

  No political leader in the history had a more herculean task set up for him. He had to unite a country which was culturally, ethnically, religiously and linguistically divided. He had to unite a country which was fresh from partition on religious lines and saw bloodshed and riots. He had to protect country from becoming Hindu-Pakistan. Only Nehru was capable of doing this impossible task as he was equally respected by Hindus and Muslims, men and women and North Indians and South Indians. He laid a strong foundation for a secular India, promoted a plural ethos and was principal proponent of linguistic freedom of the nation. His work for social reforms like criminalizing caste discrimination, Hindu personal laws which ensured equal rights to women and abolishing zamidari against lots of opposition from outside and within his party laid strong foundation for modern nation.

  Nehru was also the architect of parliamentary democracy. After the death of Gandhi and Patel by 1950, Nehru was the uncrowned king. If he wanted he could have easily gone the other way (i.e. autocracy or dictatorship) like most of the heroes of other nationalist movements did. He could have used any of reasons like partition, riots or so much division in country based on caste, language, religion etc as an excuse. But he believed that institutions are greater than individuals and worked towards making them strong. He was a true democrat. Once when asked what would be his legacy, he replied hopefully, 400 million people capable of governing themselves."

 Nehru believed that science was required to solve the economic problems of a developing society like ours and to make it a strong and self-reliant country it needs scientists competent to hold their own in the world scientific community. He said, “It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty, of insanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening custom and tradition, of vast resources running to waste, of a rich country inhabited by starving people. . . . Who indeed could afford to ignore science today? At every turn we have to seek its aid.” Under his guidance institutes of scientific excellence like ISRO, CSIR, ICMR, DRDO were created. Under his vision world class institutes of  higher education like IITs, AIIMs, IIMs and NITs were created. He also oversaw creation of thousands of govt. schools and launched initiatives such as the provision of free milk and meals to children in order to fight malnutrition and get higher student enrollment. While many of us celebrate Indian IT revolution and its large pool of managerial and scientific manpower which is earning accolades world wide., we should not forget that it was Nehru’s vision which build the foundation for this Knowledge-based Economy which we all are celebrating today and bearing fruits from.

  Nehru was also architect of NAM. He gave India standing in world affairs disproportionate of its economic and military power. Some people criticize him for not taking one side (USSR or US) and reaping benefits from that position but Nehru didn’t speak for naked self interest he rather spoke for larger interest of humanity. He was a principled man after all.

 People also criticize Nehru for his socialistic intentions and mixed economic policies. But one needs to look it in perspective. Unlike European and American society where capitalism is viewed as freedom, in India it was viewed as slavery (historical factor i.e. East India company came to trade and enslaved us).  Thus he wanted no foreigner to control resources in India and had state led industrialization which was the call of the hour in 50’s. I agree that in subsequent years India should have liberalized but total blame for not doing that can’t be bestowed on Nehru only.
 
 Yes I agree Nehru can be blamed for soft foreign policy towards China which led to India’s defeat in 1962 Indo-Sino war. He can also be blamed for Kashmir issue over which India has fought 3 wars with it’s neighbor since independence. But I think if we look in totality then his contribution in shaping modern India cannot be undermined. Nehru was a great visionary who single-handedly fashioned India into a forward-looking, modern, secular, liberal democratic state.