D.R.Bhagat
The nation is celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first prime minister of free India. He contributed a lot in the freedom struggle of India. He was the tallest leader in the freedom struggle after Mahatma Gandhi. He was imprisoned for nine times during the freedom struggle and remained in the Jail for more than nine years. He alone had the distinction of becoming the congress president for five terms. He went to England in 1905 for higher studies. He graduated there from Trinity college, Cambridge and also studied Law in Inner Temple. He came to India in 1912 and started his law practice but he soon became disinterested in this profession. He had a desire to see India free. So he took interest in the freedom struggle. At that time there were two nationalist groups struggling against the British rule in India.
These groups were the extremists and the moderates. The extremists were in favour of the quick action against the Britishers and for early independence while the moderates wanted to achieve the goal in stages. His father Moti Lal Nehru was an active member of the congress and was a moderate. Pt Nehru made first public speech in 1915 at Allahabad which won a praise from the public and leaders present there. During the Lucknow session of the congress in 1916, he met Mahatma Gandhi and started working closely with him. He also joined the Home Rule League started by noted freedom fighter Dr Annie Besant in the same year and became its secretary. The league demanded the immediate Dominion status for India under British empire as was being enjoyed by the colonies such as Australia, Canada and Newzealand. He formally joined the Indian National Congress in 1919 and became its general secretary in 1923. The brutal incident at Jallianwala Bagh Amritsar raged the entire nation. Pt Nehru visited the spot along with Gandhiji and heard about the cruelties committed by General Dyer on the behest of colonial rulers. This had a deep effect on Nehru which further solidified his resolve for complete independence of India.
The non cooperation movement was started in 1920 which became very popular among the youth of the country who boycotted the English schools, colleges and cloth. Jawahar Lal Nehru became very active in this movement. He came in contact with the farmers of United Provinces who told him the tale of woes of their oppression by the land lords. He inspired these about 2000 farmers to join the movement which was lead by him effectively. Gandhi withdrew the movement owing to a violent incident which took place in Chauri Chaura. Pt Nehru and some other leaders were disappointed with this announcement. He was released from the jail along with other leaders and came to Allahabad but was again arrested after some time while leading the protesters against the shops selling foreign cloth. He was imprisoned for eighteen months.
Pandit Nehru visited the Soviet Union in 1927. The Russian Revolt of 1917 gave thrust to his ideas for complete independence of his country and in the Madras session of 1927 he presented his idea. Gandhi was not convinced with his idea and termed it as non practical. In the Calcutta session of 1928 there was a difference of opinion in the old and young veterans. The old veterans were lead by Gandhi and Moti Lal Nehru while the young were lead by Jawahar Lal Nehru and Subhash Chander Bose who were more aggressive. Nehru was elected as congress president in its Lahore session on 29 December 1929 and the resolution of complete independence was passed during this session. On midnight of December 31, he declared independence and the National Flag was also unfurled. He also addressed the people of the country on this occasion. He also visited Europe, Russia and many other countries and internationalised the freedom struggle of India. At that time many countries were under colonial rule. He discussed the matter of Independence with these countries and as a result of his efforts the Conference of oppressed nations was held in Brussels. Pt. Nehru attended conference on behalf of Indian National Congress. He met various leaders of these nations including widow of Sun Yat Sen, a great leader of China and Dr Chi-Minh, a Vietnamese leader who were struggling against the French rule. He also realised that the struggle against colonial rule was going on all over the world. British appointed Simon Commission which visited India in 1928 to examine whether India was able for self rule or Swaraj. The commission was opposed tooth and nail in India as no Indian member was included in the commission. Jawahar Lal Nehru was injured while leading a protest at Lucknow. India was given the right of self governance under the Government of India Act, 1935. Congress party fought elections and came to power in many of the states. The second world war broke out in 1939 and Gandhi Ji asked the people not to cooperate the British in the war. Jawahar Lal Nehru wanted to offer Satyagrah but before he could do so he was arrested for some speeches he made in Gorakhpur. The British sent Stafford Cripps with some proposals for partially empowering Indians but the same were rejected by Gandhi who wanted complete independence. The congress passed the Quit India resolution on 8 August 1942 in its Bombay session. Gandhi and Pandit Nehru made strong speeches and next day both were arrested.
The Second World War came to an end in 1945 and in the same year the Labour Party came to power in Britain. By this time the British government had realised that they would not be able to hold India for long. The demand of separate state by Jinnah was gaining momentum in the Muslim community but Nehru was firmly opposed to partition on the basis of religion. Pt. Nehru held a meeting with Jinnah but the negotiations failed. The British government was supporting the move started for the division of the country. The preparations for granting the independence to India were started. Pandit Nehru accepted the short term proposal given by the British government as he was the president of the congress at that time. The interim government was formed and pandit Nehru became its Prime minister. The other ministers were Sardar Patel, Dr. Rajender Prasad and Maulana Azad. Lord Mountbatten who was the Viceroy at that time gave his plan on June3, 1947. As per this plan India shall get its freedom along with its division in August 1947. Accordingly India became free on 15th August 1947. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru became the first prime minister of free India as per Mahatma Gandhi he was the most suitable person for the post and remained on the post till his death on 27th May, 1964. He was so dear to the people that nobody could think about any other prime minister during his life. He was decorated with ‘Bharat Ratna ‘in 1955. Nehru was the India’s man of destiny, the maker of modern India, an apostle of world peace and an outstanding statesman with vision.
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