Jawaharlal Nehru, a multifaceted personality, a dreamer and the man who molded the nation and gave it his breath of vision to make it the most powerful, force in Asia, was destined to create global influence.
Independent India’s first Prime Minister dominated domestic politics as well as the international scene for nearly seventeen years.
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Born to rich aristocratic parents, Jawaharlal Nehru lived everything and joined the freedom struggle under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. His resolute spirit and dynamic personality made him a leading figure of the national movement. He injected into the movement a bit of western philosophy and idealism.
As the president of the Indian National Congress he did a lot to steer the National Movement on its right course. Nehru was one of the most prominent members of the constituent Assembly. In his famous objective resolution introduced in the Assembly on December 13, 1948 he underlined the goals of the Indian Constitution.
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Nehru’s idealism and dreams of modern welfare state are reflected in his documents. Nehru was a socialist at heart who inspired by the concept of a planned economy declared that the foremost goals of India should be economic progress.
Under him India embarked on the Five Year Plans and industralisations. Nehru believed that these industries would be the temples of modern India. Nehru’s dynamic leadership was a phenomenal success and propelled India onto the path of self-reliance.
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Nehru was ruled by the spirit of democracy and freedom. He was the world’s greatest democrat. When his contemporaries won power and became dictators in their countries, Nehru was the only leader would follow the principles of democracy in India, a country which was in the throas of poverty, illiteracy and communal tension.
He had a mass appeal and public admiration, a phenomenon shared by a very few leaders after him. “He was held in devotion, by the breadth of his vision, generosity of spirit, sense of human dedication to duty and remarkable, vitality combined with a personal charm.”
Nehru was not a strategist. He was a dreamer. Nehru possessed the ability to dream and his achievements are innumerable and unmatched.
Nehru’s ideas are imprinted in the historic doctrine of Panchsheel and the Indian foreign policy. World peace, co-existence disarmament and equitable economic development are some of the concepts expressed by Panchsheel. Nehru gave active support to the UN but his most important contribution to world has been the Non Alignment Movement.
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He was the precursor and progenitor of, the Non Aligned Movement in the world. He became the crusader of the worlds peace in 1950’s and 1960′ when the world was in the midst of the cold war and when most of the countries were divided into two hostile camps.
Nehru visualized an era of equal status and freedom for all states and countries and freedom from the bonds of class domination.
He believed in maintaining cordial relations with India’s neighbours. He despised war and so, when India was attacked by China, he at a National broadcast declared “We have been cheated against our will we have to take up arms in the honour of India.”
He was born on 14 November 1889 in the family of eminent lawyer, Pt. Moti Lal Nehru. At 15, and was sent to London for his study. In London during his student days he was influenced by the life of the Italian patriot. Soon after his return he became interested in the upliftment of suffering Indian peasantry.
His greatest ambition in life was to extirpate war colonialism, poverty, disease and ignorance. His dynamic personality inspired the people of India to strive for the cause of freedom.
He himself was thrown into prison eleven times, and spent eighteen of the twenty five years between 1921 and 1945 in Jail. The sacrifice did not go in vain, and on the mid night of August 14, 1947, it was given to Nehru to declare “Long year ago we made a tryst with destiny and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge.”
Nehru had a vision of India, not only free from political bondage, but also ignorance, disease and poverty and he was faithful to his vision. As he loved the people so dearly he became the idol of the millions. Pt. Nehru, a great lover of Children said children are the real wealth of the nation.
To him they were the future builders of the country.” The children too reciprocated his love in calling him Chacha Nehru. His birthday November 14 is celebrated as Children Day.
As a prime minister of free India he worked continuously till the last breath. Not only he followed the same hard routine. It was he who gave the slogan ‘Aram Haraam Hai” to the nation. His noble examples always give us inspiration for hard work.
Let us not leave Nehru behind in texts, in pictures in monuments and memories. His dreams still remain dreams. Let us work together to make them reality our leaders must pick up the threads from where he left them. It is imperative that all the Indian leaders at the National Level and State Level renew the pledge taken by Nehru on the eve of Independence and abide by it for all time to come.
The basic parameter of India’s foreign policy was laid down by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Independent India laid strees on certain basic goals and principles in to foreign policy and foreign relations. These are:
(1) Promotion of International peace and security, (2) Peaceful co-existence, (3) Anti Colonialism, (4) Anti-racialism, (5) Peaceful settlement of disputes, (6) Economic development, (7) Non alignment
It was during the Nehruvian period that the principle of Panchsheela or peaceful co-existence was formally enunciated in the Sino-lndian Agreement on 29 April, 1954 concerning trade and intercourse between India and Tibet. The panchsheela agreement was based on the following five principals:
(1) Mutual respect for each others territorial integrity and sovereignty
(2) Mutual non-interference in each others’ internal affairs
(3) Mutual non-aggression.
(4) Equality and mutual benefit
(5) Peaceful co-existence.
Role of Nehru in Non-Alignment Movement:
Perhaps the most characteristic feature of India’s foreign policy has been the vigorous pursuit of non-alignment. Non alignment is simply an independent policy involving no political or military commitments to another state or group of states limiting, one’s independence of policy and action.
Specifically (and negatively) it means the rejection of political or military alliances bilateral or multilateral. Positively it means taking of act-hoc decisions on international problems as and when they come up according to the merits of each case.