Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) was far ahead of his times

On the 132nd birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the country remembers the towering freedom fighter, architect of modern India, a brilliant writer and a statesman

Today when India is caught in a terrible humanitarian crisis caused by an unplanned lockdown by the Modi regime, one is reminded of Nehru’s prophetic words: “Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.”

He said so in his famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech. The indivisibility of COVID-19 disaster and the necessity to respond to it through concerted measures with humanity makes us deeply mindful of the words of Nehru for the 21st century world. It is instructive to note that Nehru was acutely conscious of recurrent disasters and natural calamities hitting India and, therefore; he used to make the chief ministers of the states of our country aware of such disasters in his fortnightly letters to them.

In one such letter dated September 1, 1950, he said, "I imagine that India has set up some kind of a new record, not a record to be proud of. It is a record of disaster and calamity, one following another in quick succession, bringing sorrow and misery to vast numbers of human beings… We do not yet know the full extent of this disaster in which millions of people are involved."

A few months later, he wrote again, "Indeed, every calamity is a challenge to our nationhood… and a nation is ultimately judged by the way this challenge is accepted." In juxtaposing the ideas of Nehru in the context of the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, we need to ask if the ruling leaders of India are ready to defend the nation in the face of this menace.

In fact, after the super cyclone of 1999 hit Odisha and caused havoc of gigantic proportions, then President of India Shri K R Narayanan, while inaugurating a seminar ‘Role of Media: Preparing People to Cope with Disasters’, extensively quoted the aforementioned observations of Nehru and remarked, “Nehru’s admission that he did not know the full extent of the disaster testifies to the dearth of information on the subject. This lack of information itself can be described as a disaster.’

‘We can avoid this disaster only if the media plays its role in disseminating information. That role is not to advertise anti-earthquake pills and then ask the skeptical consumer 'what is the alternative' as it is said to have happened in the great earthquake of Portugal, but inform and educate, and prepare the public on the question. It is said that prevention begins with information. To a large extent, the functioning of modern society depends on the fast spread of information through the media.”

The way in which information is often not being disseminated by the Government on COVID-19 makes the words and vision of Nehru more relevant for countering all measures to stifle information.

Mid Day Meal for School Children is Nehru's Idea: It is revealing to note that in 1952, the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, instructed the Government of Madras Province to provide free meal to school children. This information is available in Nehru's letters to chief ministers dated October 17, 1952. He had written that during his visit to Rayalaseema in Madras Province, he found half a million people of whom 75% were children put in a camp because of severe drought prevailing in that area.

Seeing that they were fed gruel from a kitchen, he was deeply pained and suggested that children should be separated and put in schools and each school teacher should be enabled to give them a free meal. Prime Minister Nehru also wrote that his suggestion was largely accepted by the Madras Government and free mid-day meals were served to children.

Nehru and Secular State: It is because of Nehru that our parliamentary democracy and secularism got deep foundations in our country. Answering the question of the great French philosopher Andre Malraux as to what he would find the most difficult thing to do in India Nehru with his characteristic genius replied “To create a just society by employing just means and create a secular State in a religious society”.

The secular State that we have today has withstood the test of time and now come under pressure due to upsurge of communal forces. The secular State is nothing new to our country. Nehru himself while addressing a public meeting in Goa in 1963 very perceptively stated “India has always been noted for religious tolerance and so it was quite natural for us, when we became independent, to decide to be what is called a secular State. A secular State does not mean an irreligious State, it only means that we respect and honour all religions, giving them freedom to function. This has been the basic attitude of India throughout the ages”.

The Supreme Court in Bommai judgement has declared secularism as the basic structure of the Constitution the preamble of which proclaims India as a secular country. The basic attitude of India anchored on secularism has to be carried forward in defense of the secular State which was best embodied in the vision of Nehru.

In fact, it was the secular character of India and Constitution attracted Jammu and Kashmir to join the Indian Union in 1947. Nehru as Prime Minister of India in a speech delivered on January 1, 1952 in Calcutta claimed that the people of Jammu & Kashmir and their leaders’ decision to join India by shunning Pakistan in 1947 vindicated the secular policies and Constitution of India. It clearly affirms the point that India's unity and integrity is anchored on secularism.

Public Enterprises Founded by Nehru Helped India to Withstand Financial Crisis of 2008:
It is because of Nehru again that the basic infrastructure for industrial development could be established. The Public Enterprises which were described by him as the commanding heights of economy took forward our economy and provided a solid base for private sector to grow up.

It is because of the resilience of our public enterprises that India could withstand the financial crises which originated in the USA in 2008 and which endangered the economies of many of the developed economies. This has been very candidly acknowledged on several occasions by Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was the author of full-fledged economic reforms in our country in 1990, when he was the Prime Minister of India.

Nehru Predicted Age of Electronics and promoted Science, Scientific Temper and Scientific Advancement of India: Nehru himself drafted the first two scientific policy resolutions for modern India and proudly proclaimed that a culturally rich country like ours had an inherent obligation to pursue science passionately. In doing so he linked promotion of science with culture.

It is he who stressed on cultivation of scientific temper and wrote in his world famous book "Discovery of India" that in future there would be an alliance with science and philosophy. He famously wrote that "I too have worshiped in the shrine of science". It is because of Nehru that India could invest in a big way in higher science and technology and as a result India today is a space power, nuclear power and a huge reservoir of scientific and technological talent in the world.

Today, so much is being talked about Digital India. Nehru had predicted the advent of the age of electronics or the digital age in 1943. While reading Discovery of India, I found that he had foreseen the advancement of humanity to the age of electronics. He wrote that mankind passed through the steam age, was passing through the age of electricity and would inevitably pass through the age of electronics. In fact, we are now in the age of electronics which Nehru had predicted while in jail and while writing Discovery of India. In India, the electronics age began when the telecommunication revolution was started in the middle of 1980s by [late former PM] Rajiv Gandhi and massive application of computers were undertaken across the country in different sectors of our collective life.

Nehru invoked Vendantic Approach: It is he who wrote in his "Basic Approach" that eventually the Vedantic Approach would be necessary to address the problem of mental exhaustion caused by the modern civilization. When he dedicated to the nation the atomic reactor Apsara in Mumbai he had invoked Lord Shiva and in that context referred to Elephanta Caves located near Mumbai and dedicated to the Lod Shiva.

Nehru on Greater Representation of Women in Parliament and Protection of Environment: Today the whole world is in a passionate quest for gender equality and sustainable development. It is important to note that Nehru had deeply reflected on these issues in the 1950s. When a Bill was introduced by the Manmohan Singh Government in Rajya Sabha in 2009 to reserve 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women none referred to Nehru and his vision to have more women in our legislatures.

It was however Nehru who articulated his vision for greater representation of women in legislative bodies in 1950 itself. In a letter to chief ministers on January 4, 1950, he regretted that there were very few women members in the Constituent Assembly and wrote about the necessity of having an adequate number of women members elected to Parliament.

He noted that sufficient numbers of women, at least as competent and suitable as men, were available and it was desirable from every perspective to have more women in Parliament. Such a far-reaching statement made by Prime Minister Nehru even before the adoption and enactment of the Constitution affirmed his ardent desire for gender equality and women's empowerment through adequate representation of women in legislatures.

However, on January 18, 1950, he regretted that in spite of his requests to provinces, few women were chosen for Parliament. After the general elections of 1952 when fewer women were elected to Parliament, he painfully remarked in a paragraph that laws were made by men, women were subordinated to men and, therefore, their less representation would go against them. However, at the end of that paragraph, he wrote that eventually the future of India would depend more on women than men.

Nehru on Environment: On 15th August 1957 it was he who devoted a good portion of his letter to Chief Ministers to the issue of environment and cautioned that a civilization built on too much of brick and mortar would disturb the subtle balance of nature. Therefore, in the same letter he stressed on preservation of environment and wanted environmental assessment of projects before their establishment, in this sense he was far ahead of his times.

Nehru's legacy is the legacy of humanity and of our nation and it will endure and inspire generations to come. He will remain immensely relevant beyond time and space.

(Shri SN Sahu served as Officer on Special Duty and Press Secretary to President of India late Shri K R Narayanan)