Jawaharlal Nehru | 14 Nov 2022

Why in News?

India is celebrating Children's Day on 14^th November 2022 to commemorate the 133^rd birth anniversary of the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

• World Children’s Day is celebrated on 20^th November each year.

Who was Jawaharlal Nehru?

• About:
  • Birth: 14^th November 1889 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
  • Father’s Name: Motilal Nehru (a lawyer who held the office of Indian National Congress as President two times.)
  • Mother’s Name: Swarup Rani
• Brief Profile:
  • Author, politician, social activist, and lawyer who rose to prominence as the face of Indian national movement against British rule of India.
• Education:
  • Nehru received his education at home from English governesses and tutors until the age of 16.
  • He attended Harrow, a prestigious English school, in 1905, where he spent two years.
  • He spent three years at Trinity College in Cambridge where he earned a degree in natural science.
  • He qualified as a barrister from the Inner Temple, London.
• Return:
  • In 1912, when he returned to India, he immediately entered in to politics.
• Contribution in Indian Freedom Movement:
  • Nehru participated in the Bankipore Congress as a delegate in 1912.
  • In 1916, he joined Annie Besant’s Home Rule League.
    • He became Secretary of the Home Rule League, Allahabad in 1919.
  • When the Non-Cooperation Movement began in 1920, he interacted with Mahatma Gandhi and joined the national independence movement.
  • In 1921, he was detained on suspicion of engaging in anti-government activity.
  • Nehru was appointed as General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee in September 1923.
  • Since 1927, he has twice served as the general secretary of the Congress party.
  • Nehru was lathi-charged in Lucknow in 1928 while leading a protest against the Simon Commission.
  • Nehru was elected as president of the Lahore Session of Indian National Congress in 1929.
    • Nehru advocated for India's complete independence in this session.
  • In 1929-31, he drafted a resolution called Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy, which outlined the congress's main goals and the nation's future.
    • The resolution was ratified by the Congress party during the Karachi Session in 1931, which was presided over by Saradar Vallabhai Patel.
  • He participated in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 and was put in jail.
  • Nehru became a more prominent leader within the Congress and grew close to Mahatma Gandhi.
  • In 1936, he presided over the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress.
  • Nehru was arrested for attempting to organize an individual satyagraha to oppose India's forced participation in the war.
  • He took part in the civil disobedience movement in 1940, for which he received a four-year jail term.
  • Nehru introduced the historic 'Quit India' movement at the All-India Congress Committee session in Bombay in 1942.
  • Nehru along with other leaders was arrested on August 8, 1942 and taken to Ahmednagar Fort.
  • He was released in 1945 and went on to arrange legal defence for officers and troops accused with disloyalty in the Indian National Army (INA).
  • He was chosen to serve as the president of Indian National Congress fourth time in 1946.
  • To recommend a strategy for the transfer of power, the Cabinet Mission was dispatched to India in 1946.
    • An interim government headed by Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister was formed.
  • On August 15, 1947, India attained independence but also suffered the pain of partition.
• First Prime Minister of India:
  • A princely state must join in the constituent assembly, according to Nehru, who also affirms that there would be no princely states in an independent India.
  • He assigned Vallabhbai Patel to oversee the effective integration of the states.
  • India became a sovereign democratic republic on January 26, 1950, when the new Indian Constitution came into effect.
  • In order to divide up states according to languages, Jawaharlal Nehru created the states reorganization committee in 1953.
  • In addition to promoting democratic socialism, he promoted India's industrialization by carrying out the first five-year plans.
  • The Non-alignment movement (NAM) is regarded as his greatest geopolitical accomplishment.
    • India decided to not align with any superpower during the cold war era after World War II.
  • His final term as prime minister was troubled by the Sino-Indian War, 1962.
  • He promoted democratic socialism during his 17 years as prime minister, highlighting the necessity for India to attain both democracy and socialism.
  • His internal policies were founded on the four tenets of democracy, socialism, unification, and secularism. He was able to incorporate these pillars into the construction of new independent India.
• Books Written: The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, An Autobiography, Letters from a Father to His Daughter.
• Death: 27^th May 1964.

Source: HT