Nehru: An Easy Scapegoat!

Future is a pain in the neck!

Hindsight, as they say, is 6/6.

Especially when we speak of great leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru.

In the charged political landscape we inhabit today, many of our persisting problems are casually attributed to Nehru's failures or legacy. Be it Kashmir, the unresolved border dispute with China, or his alleged refusal to accept a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. Yes, let us acknowledge that Nehru made mistakes. But what deserves closer examination is not merely whether he made mistakes, but whether those mistakes were deliberate, avoidable, or even foreseeable in the circumstances in which he found himself.

Nehru inherited a nation that was virtually bankrupt, plundered by a colonial power that had left no stone unturned in extracting its wealth. Literacy levels were abysmal. Life expectancy was below 40. The country had just emerged from the trauma of Partition and the monumental task of integrating over 560 princely states, each with its own history, loyalties and political compulsions. Distrust was the currency of the times. Our military was still in its infancy, and our institutions were fragile. The police, meanwhile, seemed to have inherited little beyond the colonial administration's fondness for brute force — something that, unfortunately, has not changed quite enough.

Yet, Nehru dared to dream of a developed nation. He laid the foundations for planned economic growth, invested in education and sought to foster a scientific temper. He placed his faith in a model of state-led development, drawing inspiration from the Soviet experiment, and set the Five-Year Plans in motion. He established the public sector institutions and industrial behemoths that continue to contribute significantly to our economy. He believed that democracy could take root and flourish in a land burdened by centuries of feudalism. Above all, he believed in freedom.

Nehru was an idealist. His voluminous writings bear testimony to that, time and again. His faith in Panchsheel and his engagement with China reflected an almost unwavering belief in the possibility of peaceful coexistence. But that very idealism was also his Achilles' heel. His trusting nature, at times, came at an enormous cost to him and to the nation. His misplaced faith in Krishna Menon, among other things, contributed to the disastrous military setback India suffered at the hands of China in 1962.

But to remember Nehru today only for his follies and failures, while conveniently overlooking what he helped build, is to do history a great disservice.

The India we inhabit today — democratic, secular, institutionally grounded, forward-looking and steadily aspiring to grow — owes a considerable part of its foundation to the vision and efforts of its first Prime Minister. That does not make him infallible. It does, however, make him worthy of a more honest and nuanced assessment.

Happy Anniversary, Pandit Nehru!