The enduring relevance of Nehru’s legacy
That each day, Indians govern themselves in a pluralist democracy is testimony to his deeds and words
Shashi Tharoor
F
our men embodied the vision
of free India in the 1940s —
Gandhi, Nehru, Patel and
Ambedkar. Gandhi’s moral recti-
tude, allied to Jawaharlal Nehru’s
political passion, fashioned both
the strategy and tactics for the
struggle against British rule. Sar-
dar Patel’s firm hand on the admi-
nistration integrated the nation
and established peace and stabili-
ty. Ambedkar’s erudition and legal
acumen helped translate the
dreams of a generation into a
working legal document that laid
the foundations for an enduring
democracy.
Setting the way
While the world was disintegrating
into fascism, violence, and war,
Gandhi taught the virtues of truth,
non-violence, and peace. While
the nation reeled from bloodshed
and communal carnage, Ambed-
kar preached the values of consti-
tutionalism and the rule of law.
While parochial ambitions threa-
tened national unity, Patel led the
nation to a vision of unity and
common purpose. While mobs
marched the streets baying for re-
venge, Nehru’s humane and non-
sectarian vision inspired India to
yearn again for the glory that had
once been hers.
Of the four, Gandhi and Nehru
stood out. Despite differences over
both tactics (Nehru wanted Inde-
pendence immediately whereas
Gandhi believed Indians had to be
made ready for their own free-
dom) and philosophy (the agnostic
Nehru had little patience for the
Mahatma’s spirituality), the two
men proved a formidable combi-
nation. Gandhi guided Nehru to
his political pinnacle; Nehru in
turn proved an inspirational cam- building, staunch pan-Indian secu- doubtedly talented Opposition, al-
paigner as President of the Indian larism, socialist economics at lowing them an importance out of
National Congress, electrifying the home, and a foreign policy of non- all proportion to their numerical
nation with his speeches and tire- alignment — all of which were inte- strength, because he was con-
less travel. gral to a vision of Indianness that is vinced that a strong Opposition
fundamentally challenged today. was essential for a healthy democ-
Keeper of the flame Of these, it is the edifice of de- racy. He took care not to interfere
THE HINDU PHOTO ARCHIVES
Upon the Mahatma’s assassination mocracy that Nehru constructed with the judicial system; on the
in 1948, just five months after In- that remains the most indispensa- one occasion that he publicly crit-
dependence, Nehru, the country’s ble pillar of his contributions to icised a judge, he apologised the
first Prime Minister, became the India. next day and wrote an abject letter
keeper of the national flame, the It was by no means axiomatic to the Chief Justice, regretting hav-
most visible embodiment of In- that a country like India, riven by ing slighted the judiciary. And he
dia’s struggle for freedom. Gand- so many internal differences and never forgot that he derived his
hi’s death could have led Nehru to diversities, beset by acute poverty authority from the people of India;
assume untrammelled power. In- ly clad in many of the trappings of and torn apart by Partition, would not only was he astonishingly ac-
stead, he spent a lifetime im- Nehruvianism steps out into the be or remain democratic. Many cessible for a person in his posi-
mersed in the democratic values 21st century, a good deal of Jawa- developing countries found them- tion, but he started the practice of
Ambedkar had codified, trying to harlal Nehru’s legacy appears in- selves turning in the opposite di- offering a daily darshan at home
instill the habits of democracy in tact — and yet hotly contested. In- rection soon after Independence, for an hour each morning to
his people — a disdain for dicta- dia has moved away from much of arguing that a firm hand was ne- anyone coming in off the street
tors, a respect for parliamentary Nehru’s beliefs, and so (in diffe- cessary to promote national unity without an appointment, a prac-
procedures, an abiding faith in the rent ways) has the rest of the deve- and guide development. With tice that continued until the dic-
constitutional system. Till the end loping world for which Nehruvian- Gandhi’s death, Nehru could have tates of security finally overcame
of the decade, his staunch ally Pa- ism once spoke. As India nears its very well assumed unlimited pow- the populism of his successors.
tel provided the firm hand on the 75th anniversary of Independence er within the county. And yet, he It was Nehru who, by his scrup-
tiller without which India might from the British Raj, a transforma- himself was such a convinced de- ulous regard for both the form and
yet have split asunder. tion — still incomplete — has taken mocrat, profoundly wary of the the substance of democracy, in-
For the first 17 years of India’s place that, in its essentials, has risks of autocracy, that, at the crest stilled democratic habits in our
Independence, the paradox-rid- changed the basic Nehruvian as- of his rise, he authored an anony- country. His respect for Parlia-
den Nehru — a moody, idealist in- sumptions of postcolonial nation- mous article warning Indians of ment, his regard for the indepen-
tellectual who felt an almost mysti- hood. Nehru himself, as a man the dangers of giving dictatorial dence of the judiciary, his courte-
cal empathy with the toiling with an open and questing mind, temptations to Jawaharlal Nehru. sy to those of different political
peasant masses; an aristocrat, ac- would have allowed his practical “He must be checked,” he wrote of convictions, his commitment to
customed to privilege, who had thinking to evolve with the times, himself. “We want no Caesars.” free elections, and his deference
passionate socialist convictions; even while remaining anchored to And indeed, his practice when to institutions over individuals, all
an Anglicized product of Harrow his core beliefs. challenged within his own party left us a precious legacy of free-
and Cambridge who spent over 10 was to offer his resignation; he dom.
years in British jails; an agnostic The pillars of his imprint usually got his way, but it was The American editor, Norman
radical who became an unlikely In my 2003 biography, Nehru: The hardly the instinct of a Caesar. Cousins, once asked Nehru what
protégé of the saintly Mahatma Invention of India, I sought to exa- he hoped his legacy to India would
Gandhi — was India. Incorruptible, mine this great figure of 20th-cen- A deference to the system be. “Four hundred million people
visionary, ecumenical, a politician tury nationalism from the vantage As Prime Minister, Nehru carefully capable of governing themselves,”
above politics, Nehru’s stature was point of the beginning of the 21st. nurtured the country’s infant de- Nehru replied. The numbers have
so great that the country he led Jawaharlal Nehru’s life is a fasci- mocratic institutions. He paid de- grown, but the very fact that each
seemed inconceivable without nating story in its own right, and I ference to the country’s ceremo- day over a billion Indians govern
him. A year before his death a tried to tell it whole, because the nial presidency and even to its themselves in a pluralist democra-
leading American journalist, privileged child, the unremarka- largely otiose vice-presidency; he cy is testimony to the deeds and
Welles Hangen, published a book ble youth, the posturing young na- never let the public forget that words of the man whose birthday
entitled After Nehru, Who? the un- tionalist, and the heroic fighter for these notables outranked him in we commemorate tomorrow.
spoken question around the world independence are all inextricable protocol terms. He wrote regular
was: “after Nehru, what?” from the unchallengeable Prime letters to the Chief Ministers of the Shashi Tharoor is a third-term Member of
Today, looking back on his Minister and peerless global sta- States, explaining his policies and Parliament (Congress Party) representing
132nd birthday and nearly six de- tesman. At the same time, I sought seeking their feedback. He subject- Thiruvananthapuram and an
cades after his death, we have so- to analyse critically the four prin- ed himself and his government to award-winning author of 22 books,
mething of an answer to the latter cipal pillars of Nehru’s legacy to cross-examination in Parliament including most recently, ‘The Battle of
question. As an India still seeming- India — democratic institution- by the small, fractious but un- Belonging’