Nehru’s enduring legacy

SN Sahu

Former press secretary to the late KR Narayanan, President of India 

A grateful nation paid rich tributes to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who was the Prime Minister and architect of modern India and an outstanding statesman of the whole humanity. Unearthing ideas from the vast collections of his writings, we learn about his vision and views on environment, gender justice and many other aspects which are assuming critical importance across the world in the 21st century. It is, therefore, important to recall that vision which is inseparable from our history and history of humanity.

Nehru predicted electronics age

Today so much is being talked about Digital India. Nehru had predicted the advent of the age of electronics or the digital age in his Discovery of India where he wrote that mankind passed through the steam age, was passing through the age of electricity and would inevitably pass through the age of electronics. The electronics age began when telecommunication revolution was started in the middle of 1980s.

Attuned to ancient wisdom

While relying on frontier areas of science and technology and laying the foundations of modern India Nehru remained tuned to the ancient wisdom of our civilisation and stressed on its deeper significance for restoring the sanity and strength of life often getting stressed by the fast-paced march for progress. In his monumental piece "Basic Approach" written in 1955 for Congress Members, he wrote that a Vedantic outlook remained a fundamental necessity to finding solutions to the mounting problems caused by modern civilisation. It is deeply relevant now as the world is confronting phobias and conflicts based on religion and other factors. In fact one gets the deep impression that now humanity is driven by diabolical forces of hatred and violence. Nehru's vision and legacy assumes critical significance to stem the tide of hatred and bigotry.

Vision for gender equality

Today the whole world is in passionate quest for gender equality. It is educative to note that Nehru had deeply reflected on these points in early 1950 and late 1950s. When a Bill was introduced by the Manmohan Singh government in the Rajya Sabha in 2009 to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, none referred to Nehru and his vision to have more women in our legislatures. In a letter to Chief Ministers on January 4, 1950, he regretted that there were a very few women members in the Constituent Assembly and wrote about the necessity of having an adequate number of women members elected to Parliament. However, on January 18, 1950 and also after the General Election of 1952, he regretted that few women were chosen for Parliament. He painfully remarked that laws were men made, women were subordinated to men and, therefore, their less representation would go against them. 

Mahatma Gandhi, too, had stressed on greater representation of women in legislature in 1931 and in 1947 he was on record saying that he would prefer women to men for increasing their representation even if such preference would lead to total displacement of men.

The large presence of women in our universities now, 50 per cent reservation of seats for women in panchayats and  call for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies represent the fruition of Nehru's vision on women’s role in India's future.

Goal of sustainable development

Another fascinating dimension of Nehru was his reflections on environment even as he was pursuing the goal of nation-building by constructing several big industrial and river valley projects. On August 15, 1957, he wrote a letter to the chief ministers in which one page was devoted to environment. We need to drive home the point that he provided leadership on such matters when rest of the world had not adequately applied mind to it.

In favour of secularism

Another matter on which Nehru assumes importance is of secularism. The Bommai judgment delivered by the nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court declared secularism as the basic structure of the Constitution. While doing so, the apex court profusely quoted Nehru. In fact when French philosopher Andre Malaraux asked Nehru as to what he would find the most difficult to do in India, Nehru in his characteristic brilliance said, "To create a just society by employing just means and to create a secular Sate in a religious society". And now the secular State has also come under pressure because of unacceptable developments arising out of hatred for religious faiths of many of our citizens.

Such a man who raised the stature of India at the global level in face of many challenges during the formative stages of our independence has left behind an enduring legacy. Such a man was not just the leader of India but also the leader and statesman of humanity.