The Legacy of Nehru as Seen after 50 Years of his Death
Jawaharlal Nehru was India's first prime minister. In a way, he was the most important man in Indian history after independence as he was to lead India forward after 1100 years of rule by foreigners.India had almost 900 years of Muslim rule followed by 200 years of British rule.Thus, when India was freed by the English after their parliament approved the Indian Independence Act a lot depended on Nehru to lead India forward.
There is no denying that Nehru was very much loved by the Indian people and he had a charismatic personality. He never went anywhere with bodyguards as he mingled with the common people. He was chosen by Gandhi as the heir to lead India, bypassing strong nationalist leaders like Sardar Patel. Nehru thus had everything going for him and when he spoke in the Indian parliament on the midnight of independence, one assumed that Nehru would lead India forward. One expected that the ills of a thousand years would be attended to and India would emerge as the greatest power in Asia.However, after five decades of his death, we have to sadly conclude that Nehru had feet of clay and he dissipated the love of the Indian people and left India with insurmountable problems. Some of his decisions strike at the roots of a united India and woe betide that his policy does not lead to another division of India.
Nehru was a well-meaning person, but one can say he was more the philosopher than the leader. Listening to the speeches of Nehru now broadcast sometimes on All India Radio, one can see that he was a deep thinker. But thinkers do not make good political leaders and now many conclude that Nehru has because of his naivety and flawed thinking left India with problems that defy a solution. Maybe it had something to do with Hinduism in general and the age old complacency of the Hindus and what is popularly called the " inertia of the East" may have a clue to the thinking of Nehru.
Nehru's blunders are all recounted by historians like Vincent Sheen, Leonard Mosley and also by politicians like Jaswant Singh and Maulana Azad.The magnitude of the blunders awes all Indians and people of the world. He lost 30,000 square miles of Indian territory to China and India had to wash its hands of entire Aksai Chin. In addition, his supine policy on Tibet led to the enslavement of Tibet and destruction of Tibetan culture. Worse it destroyed a buffer with China. The result is that now China is in a strong position militarily in Tibet and India has one hand tied behind its back. China also claims the entire Arunachal Pradesh and does not recognize Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as parts of India.So much so that visas to Indian citizens from these areas are stapled and not printed on passports and the Indian leadership in mortal fear of China accepts it.
Who created this fear psychosis of China? The needle of suspicion points to Nehru who never realized the obvious as stated by Mao Tse Tung that " political power comes out of the barrel of a gun". Nehru neglected the army as he feared a military coup like in Burma and Pakistan. This had disastrous consequences as India was defeated by China and the Indians could not even beat Pakistan decisively in the west, despite Pakistan being 1/5th the size of India.
Nehru created the Kashmir problem and in 1948 took India's case to the UN. One wonders who advised Nehru on this sad decision as the Indian army had cleared the valley and was advancing towards Gilgit in POK. In addition, his philosophical mind took over and he promised a plebiscite in Kashmir and choice to join Pakistan. He also brought in amendments to the Indian constitution that gave a special status to Kashmir and the result is there for all to see. He refused Indian citizens from other parts of India to settle in Kashmir and even disallowed refugees thrown out of Pakistan in1947 riots to enter Kashmir. He thus ensured a Muslim majority Valley and the majority is now a thorn as India faces a full-fledged insurrection with daily attacks on Indian security forces. This insurrection is on for 25 years and all have seen that it is growing in strength.
The armed struggle is not only in Kashmir but in the central lands of India and the North East States where the Naga revolt commenced in 1955.Nehru failed in uplifting and opening Central India and the North East, concentrating on grandiose plants like steel plants and neglecting agriculture. This has been a terrible mistake by Nehru and now as per WHO reports the number of Indian below the poverty line are the greatest in number than anywhere in the world. The number of poor has increased and the disparity between rich and poor aggravated. Who is responsible if not Nehru? I recollect that things had become so bad in 1991 that India had to pawn its gold reserves to meet international obligations.
Nehru also brought in the concept of linguist states. Historians can tell us that India was never divided at any time in history on linguistic lines. Yet Nehru divided India into linguistic lines and sowed the seeds of sectarianism.We have organizations like the Shiv Sena and others that perpetually talk of a sectarian India. Probably Nehru never realized that he was opening the genie from the bottle.
Nehru also divided the nation on the basis of religion. He got the Hindu marriage act passed but allowed Muslim to practice the Sharia. as well as have their own sectarian schools. He failed to regulate the Madrasas or supervise them and thus created mini Pakistan everywhere. The situation is now so bad that the Muslim law board has even challenged the decisions and authority of the Supreme Court of India to adjudicate on any aspect of the Sharia. Again the root of the problem can be traced to Nehru. I wonder why he never took a leaf out of the book of Kemal Mustapha who abolished the Sharia and Islamic schools at one stroke in Turkey, a hundred years back.
Nehru has a lot to answer to history. He in sum total has left behind seeds for further disintegration of India in the years to come and problems like Kashmir and China as well as the North East States which defy solution. Nehru was thus a man with feet of clay and he squandered the love of the Indian people. In hindsight, he may be remembered as the man who sowed the seeds of destruction of the Indian state. Not a happy legacy
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