Chosen from over 400 letters written by Pandit Nehru, this collection reflects his high vision for India, says ANANYA BORGOHAIN
Jawaharlal Nehru’s erudite letters to his daughter Indira Gandhi are broadly read and inspired. But in this new compilation, the statesman writes to the heads of the provincial Governments of newly formed India. He begins only two months after he becomes India’s first Prime Minister in October 1947 and resumes communicating with his chief ministers till the end of 1963; five months later, he passes away.
Edited by Madhav Khosla, who is pursuing a PhD at Harvard University and is the author of The Indian Constitution, this anthology entails letters selected from among 400 of those letters, and encompasses myriad themes — war, law, policymaking, communalism, development, governance and corruption, and building India’s stature globally.
The letters also serve as an insight to the India of the past and bears testimony to the tides across the globe back then. World events and crises are mentioned, India’s struggle to establish herself as a truly independent state is covered and a Prime Minister’s — and Nehru was also India’s Foreign Minister at the same time — concerns towards faulty governance are also duly highlighted.
Nehru recognises that Governors have restricted power in the parliamentary system and urges his chief ministers to regularly update them about political developments. He expresses displeasure towards both communal, national chauvinists and the conduct of the Communist Party. He is also evocative about the complexities that a multilingual country like India faces and suggests to be “absolutely fair to every language and give it freedom of thought”. He decrees the galvanism displayed towards making one linguistic State a national linguistic identity. He also expresses concerns about the treatment meted out to the minority communities and secessionist ideologies and strategies. He writes, “The most dangerous development today is that of communalism and separatism…If separatist and sectarian ideas increase, they make it difficult to tackle that principal problem (poverty)”. Sharing similar sentiments, his letters regarding the political tensions in Kashmir, Punjab and northeast India, he recalls the need of the hour of sentimental confederation and national integration.
Nehru also attempts to stimulate the women of the country and underlines the power they have by being half of the electorates in number. He emphasises that without women empowerment and due acknowledgement of the essence of the Indian woman, the country can in no way proceed towards development.
The anthology is divided into six sections — The Citizen and the Nation, The Institutions of Democracy, National Planning and Development, War and Peace, India and the World, and Eulogies.
Nehru ostensibly believed that the West attempted to consolidate its economic liberation by vanquishing individual rights of people, which is why he directs pressing concerns towards the issue of economic emancipation for the country. Socio-economic freedom, in the traditional Nehruvian approach, is seen as the need of the hour. Ironically, in spite of disagreeing with Russia’s stern control over political liberties, Nehru seems to have imbibed similar approach towards India’s financial self-reliance. After all, a well sketched economic policymaking culture could salvage India from the brutal and strong clutches of poverty. As Khosla writes in his introduction, “Planning could not only advance Indians on vital welfare indicators but also channelise their energies. In doing so, it could rescue them from ‘the crooked paths of provincialism, communalism, casteism and all other disruptive and disintegrating tendencies’”.
The section titled ‘War and Peace’ depicts Nehru’s discontentment towards violence. He writes, “We have to save ourselves not only from what Pakistan might or might not do, but also from ourselves.” Khosla adds, “The one facet of his thinking which is most sharply revealed is his reluctance to use military power”. This did not apply to Pakistan alone. He supported the faulty 1950 agreement with liaquat Ali Khan to end violence in East and West Bengal since the other alternative was violence. likewise, Nehru would perceive China as a friend but would consider and reconsider his decisions about the China war.
The last section of the collection, ‘Eulogies’, is substantially distanced from the tone of the previous sections. As the title itself suggests, Nehru here pays tributes to figures he considers are of national interest — Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Asaf Ali and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai. He sees their deaths as opportunities to self-introspect and learn from them to fight the tribulations ahead.
It might give the impression that Nehru in his power as the Prime Minister is instructing or dictating his leaders. However, in essence, he is trying to educate them about how to place India in the world community and govern with integrity. His letters showcase the grand vision for India he had woven and propagates a culture that is educated and positive.
The very habit of letter writing and maintaining regular contact with his team shows the wisdom in Nehru’s statesmanship and his sincere interest in all aspect of young India’s democratic journey. His letters are inspiring, and “are also of great contemporary relevance for the guidance they provide for our current problems and predicaments”.