Jawaharlal Nehru
Biography
Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889, in Allahabad, India. In 1919, he joined the Indian National Congress and joined Indian Nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi’s independence movement. In 1947, Pakistan was created as a new, independent country for Muslims. The British withdrew and Nehru became independent India’s first prime minister. He died on May 27, 1964, in New Delhi, India.
Childhood & Early Life
Jawaharlal Nehru was born to Motilal Nehru and Swarup Rani in Allahabad in British India. He was the first of the three children of the couple; other two were Vijaya Lakhsmi and Krishna Huthseeing.
His father was a barrister and was actively involved in the Indian independence movement and served as the President of the Indian National Congress twice.
Nehru received most of his primary education at home with the help of several tutors and governess. It was Ferdinand Brooks who was responsible for young Nehru’s indulgence and interest in science and theology. However, the same did not last long and his interest wavered after the departure of Brooks.
At the age of 16, Nehru was enrolled at the Harrow School in England after which he got admission at the Trinity College, Cambridge, where he earned his honors degree in natural science.
With his education graph was going steady, he also started developing the sense of nationalism. Writers like G. M. Trevelyan, Bernard Shaw, H.G Wells and J.M. Keynes shaped much of his political and economic thinking.
After attaining his graduate degree, Nehru relocated to London in 1910 and enrolled himself at the Inns of Court School of Law, where he studied law. In two years, he passed his bar examination and was offered to be admitted to the English bar.
Nehru returned to his homeland in 1912 and started practising law as a barrister at the Allahabad High Court. Slowly and gradually, he involved himself in national politics.
Career
Upon learning of esteemed theosophist Annie Besant’s arrest in 1917, Nehru was moved to join the All India Home Rule League, an organization devoted to obtaining self-government within the British Empire. In April 1919, British troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed civilians who had been protesting recently passed legislation that permitted the detainment of suspected political foes without trial. The Massacre of Amritsar, in which 379 Indians were killed and more than a thousand others were wounded, outraged Nehru and further solidified his resolve to win India’s independence.
During the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) led by Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru was imprisoned for the first time for activities against the British government and, over the course of the next two and a half decades, spent a total of nine years in jail.
In 1929, Jawaharlal was elected president of the Indian National Congress—his first leadership role in politics—whereby he promoted the goal of complete independence from Britain as opposed to dominion status. In response to Britain’s declaration of India’s participation in the war against Germany at the onset of World War II without consulting Indian leaders, members of Congress passed the Quit India resolution on August 8, 1942, demanding political freedom from Britain in exchange for support in the war effort. The following day, the British government arrested all Congress leaders, including Nehru and Gandhi.
On August 15, 1947, India finally gained its independence and Nehru became the nation’s first prime minister. Amid the celebration of newly acquired freedom, there was also considerable turmoil. The mass displacement that followed partition into the separate nations of Pakistan and India, along with disputes over control of Kashmir, resulted in the loss of property and lives for several hundred thousand Muslims and Hindus.
Throughout his 17-year leadership, Nehru advocated democratic socialism and secularism and encouraged India’s industrialization beginning with the implementation of the first of his five-year plans in 1951, which emphasized the importance of increasing agricultural production. He also promoted scientific and technological advancements through the establishment of higher learning, and instituted various social reforms such as free public education and meals for Indian children, legal rights for women—including the ability to inherit property and divorce their husbands—and laws to prohibit discrimination based on caste.
