Nehru’s time is far away from the present and many people from the present generation tend to dismiss Nehru as either incompetent or as BJP claims today to be inferior to Patel. But is that really true? Let us examine it in detail.
It is said that Nehru’s desire to be the PM when Jinnah coveted that position is the one that led the way to partition. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The two nation theory was circulating since the 1930’s and was completely rejected by the Congress all the time as communal.
The Muslim League demanded at least one-third representation in the legislature and sizeable autonomy for the Muslim provinces. Congress stood firmly against these ideas right through and did not budge an inch to fulfill the unrealistic demands. Jinnah parted ways after his requests of an amended proposal for the same was rejected.
In the constituent assembly elections of 1946 the League won 425 out of the 496 seats reserved for Muslims and 89% of their votes on a policy of separate state of Pakistan. Jinnah stood steadfast in his demand for Pakistan and this had nothing to do with the so called desire of Nehru to become the PM. Whatever may be the reason, Indian Muslims felt discriminated against which led to the demand.
How is Nehru as a man? Motilal Nehru had a lucrative practice and the family was very rich. Nehru had the best possible education and is an avid reader. When one reads his Discovery of India and the Glimpses of World History, the extent of his knowledge as well as his idealism can be clearly seen albeit with a bias towards India.
He had a great regard for democratic values and nothing can be stronger evidence to this than the composition of his first cabinet after Independence. Despite the Congress having an absolute majority in the Parliament, his cabinet clearly shows the greatness of the man. Apart from the PM, there were 14 ministers in the cabinet. Of these 5 were non congressmen and included B.R.Ambedkar, Shanmukham Chettiar and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee who were known adversaries of Congress.
Nehru above all else was a great democrat and never interfered in the party affairs. Unlike during the time of Indira Gandhi, not a single Chief Minister was thrust upon the states and the person who had the backing of the majority of the Congress MLA’s was accepted as the CM. Even at the central level the MP candidates were chosen not by Nehru but by the party in which there were a galaxy of leaders. Nehru was secular to the core and never entertained any law based on religion. For him religion was a personal thing and it should never interfere with the matters of state.
During his time even the Congress MP’s themselves had the freedom to question the government on the floor of the parliament on issues and their opinion was never suppressed.
On the issue of corruption Nehru was very strict but there were two instances where he did turn a blind eye to it.
One was the scandal regarding purchase of jeeps for the army which took place in 1948. There were allegations against the then High Commissioner of India at London V.K.Krishna Menon but no action was taken and on top of that he was inducted into the cabinet by Nehru in 1956.
The second were the allegations of corruption that surfaced on Pratap Singh Kairon the then Chief Minister of Punjab in the early 60’s,. Nehru did not take cognizance of the allegations but when the Supreme Court indicted Kairon in the allegations and a judicial enquiry was held, the committee submitted its report only after Nehru’s death and Kairon had to resign. It is pertinent to note that Kairon was the architect of Modern Punjab and was instrumental in its rapid development.
There were more instances where Nehru stood firmly against corruption. In 1951 there were some charges of corruption against a Congress MP H.G.Mudgal. Surprisingly enough the charges were not brought about by the media as it happens today but by Nehru himself against an MP of his own party. A public hearing was held on Mudgal and he was found guilty.
In the Haridas Mundhra scandal of 1958 it was found that Mundhra has influenced the investing body of the LIC of India and made them invest in the shares of his own loss making companies which included Richardson and Cruddas, Jessops and Osler Lamps.This scandal was exposed by none other than Feroze Gandhi himself. Again a public hearing was undertaken and a report was submitted by the investigating committee in just 24 days and the Defence Minsiter T.T. Krishnamachari had to resign from his office.
K.D.Malaviya was a minister in charge of ministry of Mines and Fuel. There were allegations that the minister has received a mere Rs 10,000 from a company from Orissa with which his ministry had dealings. Malaviya was a leftist in the congress party and was known to be ideologically close to Nehru. Despite that when the allegations surfaced Nehru did not hesitate in ordering an inquiry. The commission found Malaviya guilty and he had to resign from his office. His resignation was readily accepted by Nehru.
Contrast Nehrus behavior with those that came after him (Excluding Shahstri who had a brief tenure in office).Would we ever be able to get leaders like him again? Many people have contempt for Nehru without actually reading much about him. Nothing can be a better eye opener than the book written by MO Mathai, his special assistant from 1946 to 1959. Mathai was not partisan and also describes Nehrus weaknesses, but he also says that he has not seen any greater nationalist than Nehru. His admiration for Nehru comes through in his book despite its critical nature in some aspects.
Nehru miscalculated in Kashmir by appealing to the United Nations immediately after sending in the army to push out the Pashtoon invaders. He should have done so after the Indian army pushed out the invaders which it could have done with ease in maybe 10 days time. The UN immediately called for a ceasefire. As a result more than 50% of Kashmiri territory remained in the hands of the tribal invaders and the Pakistani army.
He has grossly miscalculated the position in the 1962 war with China. He never expected China to attack India and so India was not at all prepared for warfare in the mountains then, yet Nehru believed that the Indian army can push the Chinese invaders out.
Nehru had to build from scratch in science and technology and he proved himself capable on that account. He is the person who has strongly installed democratic values in India. If Indian democracy has stood steadfast while Pakistan and Bangladesh gyrated between dictatorship and democracy, it is only because of Nehru.
Nehru overworked himself. He would get up at 4 in the morning and went on till late in the night. Of course his weakness was that he always wrote his speeches himself. For a Prime Minster of the country that much time is simply not available and it put a lot of pressure on him.
Yes Nehru committed many mistakes and had his weaknesses, but after all he is only human. The task that was set for him was gargantuan and he certainly proved himself worthy of it despite faltering in some areas.
I personally rate him as the best PM India had.
