Recently was reading a lot about the initial period of India and its democracy (better known as the Nehru Era). And I came to understand that how much you criticize Nehru, you cant ever ignore that fact that he was the strongest believer in democracy till now India had. It is also true that during his time (even after stepping down as party president) he was the final word in the party, better say he was omnipotent in the party but was a democratic-omnipotent which helped him to be the unopposed leader in the party (one should not forget that at that time in Congress the said dynasty upper hand wasnt there). His action of not proclaiming Indira or any other as his successor also shows his strong faith in the electoral democracy ( and if he had, then Indian people at that time would have accepted the person with both hands, coz Nehru was the final word for any matter in or relating to India, not only in the land but also all around the globe). Even though Nehru had prejudice view (which were wrong as well) about many matters (Kashmir, China are examples) but history shows that he never let them come above the best interest of the nation. But of course some of his decisions in the second half of his tenure had been influenced by Indira and which dont have any logical or democratic reasoning, including that of the dismissal of Kerala government. I had great doubts about the decision of Gandhi to overrule the partys decision to make Sardar Patel as first PM. It was Gandhis personal decision which made Nehru the first PM. But now I understand that Gandhi did foresee the impact the first PM will have over the development of the nation in the democratic way. And one must say (never undermining the great and unmatched contribution of Sardar in making India Republic of India and not United States of India) Nehru was a more devoted worshiper of Democracy over Patel. It is also true that Nehru had a big influence over India as its growth into a democratic nation. The level of influence was so high that made international historians say If Nehru was a different person, then India altogether would have been a different nation. And no one can undermine the role of Nehru as the PM and also as the undoubted leader of India in foreign lands which made India as a strong democratic nation from the leftovers of the British Raj. And proved wrong the comment of many international political analyst that India would be a big failure. We consider Gandhi as the father of the nation, then it would be no wrong in considering Nehru as the father of Indian Democracy.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 04:56:22 +0000
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