THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Dr. Ramjilal, Social Scientist, Former Principal, Dyal Singh College, Karnal (Haryana, India
Highlights
Jawaharlal Nehru’s life and ideological background
• Origin and development of Nehru’s scientific outlook
• Nehru’s contribution to the creation of modern India
• Non-alignment of foreign policy and international outlook
• Nehru’s commitment to democracy and the Constitution
• Nehru’s role in the concept of secular India
• Relevance of Nehru’s thinking in the 21st century
• Nehru’s nationalism and internationalism
• Usefulness of Nehru’s ideas in solving current problems
Nehru’s message for future India
Bharat Rattan Jawaharlal Nehru’s scientific thinking is still very relevant in the 21st century. His ideas, policies and non-alignment outlook strengthen the foundation of India’s democracy, secularism and social justice.
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Bharat Rattan Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889–27 May 1964) was born on 14 November 1889 to Motilal Nehru and Mrs. Swaroop Rani in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of independent India (15 August 1947-27 May 1964), the supreme leader of the national movement under Mahatma Gandhi, a brilliant student, an excellent scholar, a journalist, the founder of the National Herald newspaper, a high-class politician, the architect and builder of modern India, a supporter of the ideology of nationalism and internationalism, the founder of India’s non-alignment policy, the father of the non-alignment movement in international politics, a supporter of constitutionalism and parliamentary democracy, a well-known politician, and a thinker of humanism and scientific ideology.
After receiving education at home for 15 years, he went to England to receive education in 1905. After receiving a law education in London, he returned to India in 1912. Due to a lack of interest in legal practice, he left it forever in 1920. Nehru first started taking an active part in the national movement by addressing a public meeting in the Allahabad session in 1915. In 1916, Nehru was elected secretary of the Home Rule League and met Mahatma Gandhi on 26 December 1916 at Charbagh Railway Station, Lucknow. At that time, Nehru was 27 years old. Mahatma Gandhi was 47 years old and was 20 years older than Nehru. Nehru’s thinking was greatly influenced by the pre planed massacre of Jallianwala Bagh (13 April 1919). In 1920, the farmer movement of Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh left an indelible mark on Nehru’s thinking. After this farmer movement, Jawaharlal Nehru’s attention was drawn towards rural life and the problems of farmers. According to Frank Morris, the year 1920 was “a decisive turning point” in Nehru’s political life.
• Bharat Rattan Jawaharlal Nehru’s scientific outlook
• Nehru’s role as a builder of modern India
• Nehru, the father of non-alignment policy
Mahatma Gandhi’s thoughts had an unprecedented imprint on Jawaharlal Nehru’s life and thinking. Mahatma Gandhi’s simple life, non-violence, truth, satyagraha, purity of means and ends, etc., impressed Nehru so much that he abandoned the life full of Western culture. Despite this, there was a fundamental difference in the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. The relationship between these two was almost the same as that between the famous Greek scholars and philosophers Plato and Aristotle. Despite the fundamental difference in thoughts, Mahatma Gandhi chose Jawaharlal Nehru as his political successor because he knew that after his death, Nehru would speak his voice.
Nehru played a leading role in all the movements mobilized under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi – the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920 to 1922), the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930 to 1934), the Individual Satyagraha (1940 to 1941), and the Quit India Movement (1942 to 1944). Nehru devoted 50 years of his 75 years of life to the service of the nation. He went to jail 9 times during the national movement and remained in jail for 3262 days. At that time, going to jail for national freedom was considered equivalent to going to a temple. After independence, Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of India from 15 August 1947 to 27 May 1964 (6131 days).
• Nehru and 21st century politics
• Jawaharlal Nehru’s thoughts and today’s India
• Nehru’s secular thinking
The essence of Jawaharlal Nehru’s thinking is found in the articles, speeches, and books written by him. He was a humanist thinker and had no belief in spiritualism, organised religion, God, the soul, the afterlife, etc. He considered the state to be an essential means for the development, security and freedom of the individual. The main objective of the state is to establish equality, justice and freedom. In the twentieth In the century, the main ideologies in the world were capitalism and communism. Capitalism was based on exploitation, and communism lacked individual freedom. Nehru adopted a middle path and tried to establish a socialist democratic and welfare system. For the building of independent India, he included the leaders of his diametrically opposite ideologues – Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee – in the first cabinet. He played an important role in establishing parliamentary democracy in India and developing parliamentary traditions.
• Nehru’s contribution to Parliament and democracy
• Nehru’s influence on India’s foreign policy
Despite having an absolute majority, Nehru always respected the opinions of the opposition leaders in the Parliament and did not hesitate to take action based on criticism from the opposition parties in the Parliament. For instance, defence minister VK Krishna Menon was removed from his position following the defeat of Indian forces in the Indo-China war (1962) because of criticism directed at him both inside and outside the Parliament. The current politicians should follow Jawaharlal Nehru’s parliamentary traditions and uphold the dignity of the Parliament.
Indian society is a multi-religious society. In such a society, the secular principle, following the principle of “unity in diversity”, proves helpful in nation- building and national unity. Although communalism was at its peak in India in 1947, Nehru still believed in the establishment of a secular state. In a secular state, the state does not have its own religion, and every person enjoys religious freedom. Following the “policy of religious coexistence” in different religions, Nehru was strongly opposed to the principle of two nations – a Hindu nation and a Muslim nation. As a secular nationalist, Nehru was strongly opposed to politics based on communalism. While addressing the public in Lucknow on 16 September 1951, he said, “I consider communalism to be India’s enemy number one.” His nationalist thinking was against capitalism, Nazism, fascism, imperialism, communism, and totalitarian dictatorship. He considered blind nationalism to be the enemy of humanity because it increases violence and war. Being a humanist, As a scientific thinker, Nehru emphasised adopting the principles of international cooperation, world peace, Panchasheel, and non-alignment. He was one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was very popular in international politics at one point, with over 100 countries having adopted the non-aligned policy. He opposed blind nationalism and all forms of parochial loyalty, arguing that nationalism is the foundation of internationalism.
Jawaharlal Nehru was the leader and architect of India’s non-aligned policy. In international politics, he did not want to be bound by communist or capitalist groups. Therefore, he adopted a non-aligned independent foreign policy for India. Because this was the inevitable need of the circumstances at the time.
Nehru’s scientific theories will remain important and relevant as long as India faces problems like poverty, the wealth- gap, ignorance, exploitation, superstitions, conservatism, unemployment, hunger, religious fanaticism, communalism, and the like.
