In his first broadcast as Prime Minister, on 11 June 1964, Shastri stated: “There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the cross-roads of history and must choose which way to go. But for us there need be no difficulty or hesitation, no looking to right or left. Our way is straight and clear—the building up of a socialist democracy at home with freedom and prosperity for all, and the maintenance of world peace and friendship with all nations.” Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of India, who devoted his entire life in the service of the nation. Shastri ji was born on October 2, 1901 at Mughalsarai, a small railway town seven miles from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. His father was a school teacher who died when Lal Bahadur Shastri was only a year and half old. His mother, still in her twenties, took her three children to her father’s house and settled down there. Lal Bahadur’s small town schooling was not remarkable in any way but he had a happy enough childhood despite the poverty that dogged him. He was sent to live with an uncle in Varanasi so that he could go to high school. Nanhe, or ‘little one’ as he was called at home, walked many miles to school without shoes, even when the streets burned in the summer’s heat. As he grew up, Lal Bahadur Shastri became more and more interested in the country’s struggle for freedom from foreign yoke. He was greatly impressed by Mahatma Gandhi’s denunciation of Indian Princes for their support of British rule in India. Lal Bahadur Sashtri was only eleven at the time, but the process that was end day to catapult him to the national stage had already begun in his mind. Lal Bahadur Shastri was sixteen when Gandhiji called upon his countrymen to join the Non-Cooperation Movement. He decided at once to give up his studies in response to the Mahatma’s call. The decision shattered his mother’s hopes. The family could not dissuade him from what they thought was a disastrous course of action. But Lal Bahadur had made up his mind. All those who were close to him knew that he would never change his mind once it was made up, for behind his soft exterior was the firmness of a rock. Then onwards his life was only for his country. Lal Bahadur Shastri joined the Kashi Vidya Peeth in Varanasi, one of the many national institutions set up in defiance of the British rule. There, he came under the influence of the greatest intellectuals, and nationalists of the country. ‘Shastriji was the bachelor’s degree awarded to him by the Vidya Peeth but has stuck in the minds of the people as part of his name. Shastri, who belonged to the Kayastha caste, dropped his surname Srivastava as it indicated his caste and he was against the caste system a major principle of the Gandhian movement. Shastri also enrolled himself as a life member of the Servants of the People Society and began to work for the upliftment of the Harijans under Gandhi’s direction at Muzzafarpur and later became President of the same. He got married to Lalita Gauri in 1927. As the freedom movement intensified, Lal Bahadur took active part in it. He worked at the grass-root levels, motivating the common and ignorant people to fight for the country’s honor. In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi marched to the sea beach at Dandi and broke the imperial salt law. The symbolic gesture set the whole country ablaze. Lal Bahadur Shastri threw himself into the struggle for freedom with feverish energy. He led many defiant campaigns and spent a total of seven years in British jails. Shastriji was a man of great integrity and honesty. Even in the jail he observed the rules and discipline. During the Quit India Movement of 1942, he went underground and worked from Anand Bhavan, Pt. Nehru’s home in Allahabad. It was in the fire of this struggle that his steel was tempered and he grew into maturity. When the Congress came to power after Independence, the sterling worth of the apparently meek and unassuming Lal Bahadur Shastri had already been recognized by the leader of the national struggle. When the Congress Government was formed in 1946, this ‘little dynamo of a man’ was called upon to play a constructive role in the governance of the country. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home State of Uttar Pradesh and soon rose to the position of Home Minister. His capacity for hard work and his efficiency became a bye word in Uttar Pradesh. He moved to New Delhi in 1951 and held several portfolios in the Union Cabinet – Minister for Railways; Minister for Transport and Communications; Minister for Commerce and Industry; Home Minister; and during Nehru’s illness Minister without portfolio. He was growing in stature constantly. He resigned his post as Minister for Railways because he felt responsible for a railway accident in which many lives were lost. The unprecedented gesture was greatly appreciated by Parliament and the country. The then Prime Minister, Pt. Nehru, speaking in Parliament on the incident, extolled Lal Bahadur Shastri’s integrity and high ideals. He said he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Lal Bahadur Shastri was in any way responsible for what had happened. Replying to the long debate on the Railway accident, Lal Bahadur Shastri said; “Perhaps due to my being small in size and soft of tongue, people are apt to believe that I am not able to be very firm. Though I am not physically strong, I think I am internally not so weak.” In between his Ministerial assignments, he continued to lavish his organizing abilities on the affairs of the Congress Party. The landslide successes of the Party in the General Elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962 were in a very large measure the result of his complete identification with the cause and his organizational genius. More than thirty years of dedicated service were behind Lal Bahadur Shastri. In the course of this period, he came to be known as a man of great integrity and competence. Humble, tolerant, with great inner strength and resoluteness, he was a man of the people who understood their language. He was also a man of vision who led the country towards progress. Lal Bahadur Shastri was deeply influenced by the political teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. “Hard work is equal to prayer,” he once said, in accents profoundly reminiscent of his Master. In the direct tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri represented the best in Indian culture. After Pt. Nehru’s sudden death in 1964, Shastriji was unanimously elected as the Prime Minister of India. There were many problems facing him, mainly the hostile neighboring countries.This tiny and soft spoken man showed a will of iron at the time of Pakistan invasion in 1965. ‘Force will be met by force’, were his words. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was one of those great Indians who has left an indelible impression on our collective life. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri’s contribution to our public life were unique in that they were made in the closest proximity to the life of the common man in India. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri was looked upon by Indians as one of their own, one who shared their ideals, hopes and aspirations. His achievements were looked upon not as the isolated achievements of an individual but of our society collectively. Under his leadership India faced and repulsed the Pakistani invasion of 1965. It is not only a matter of pride for the Indian Army but also for every citizen of the country. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri’s slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” reverberates even today through the length and breadth of the country. Underlying this is the inner-most sentiments ‘Jai Hindustan’. The war of 1965 was fought and won for our self-respect and our national prestige. For using our Defence Forces with such admirable skill, the nation remains beholden to Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. He will be remembered for all times to come for his large heartedness and public service. On the suggestion of UNO, he went to Tashkent to sign a cease-fire treaty. But the strain took its toll on his frail health. After signing the treaty, he suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away at Tashkent on 11th January 1966. “Though I am not physically strong, I think I am internally not so weak- Lal Bahadur Shastri”
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 11:36:19 +0000
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