LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI
THE UNRECOGNIZED BUILDER OF MODERN
INDIA
SARASIJ MAJUMDER
Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second Prime Minister of India was
a great LEADER known for his honesty, integrity and humility. He was born to
Sharada Prasad Srivastava and Ramdulari Devi in Mughal Sarai, Uttar Pradesh on
2nd October 1904.
Lal Bahadur Srivastava, or Shastri Ji as India knows him was
a humble yet a very strong-willed person, who guided India through very tough
times.
He served the country in various roles and was one of the
most down-to-earth, and honest personalities in our political history.
Shastriji
is credited for promotion of White Revolution and Green Revolution. The far-reaching
effect of that is understood today.
Lal Bahadur
Shastri led India during the India-Pakistan War of 1965 and gave the slogan
‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kishan’.
Education:
His early education was in Urdu at East Central Railway
Inter Collegiate school, Mughal Sarai till sixth class.
He then moved to Harish Chandra High
School, Varanasi for further studies.
His high school teacher Nishkameshawar Mishra’s patriotism
inspired Shastriji to take interest in the freedom struggle.
1921: He started attending public meetings in Benares
hosted by Gandhiji and Madan Mohan Malviya while in 10th
Shastri withdrew from Harish Chandra High School to
join Non-Cooperation
Movement inspired by Gandhiji’s call for students to withdraw from
government schools.
1925: He later completed his studies with
a first-class degree in philosophy and ethics from The Kashi
Vidyapeeth (which was inaugurated by Gandhi Ji in Benares in 1921).
Politics:
Soon he dropped his caste-derived surname Srivastava,
in order with his view that the caste system is derogatory.
He joined the local branch of the congress party as a
volunteer and actively took part in picketing and anti-govt demonstrations.
He was arrested and jailed but was released as he was still
a minor.
He later became a life member of the Lok Seva Mandal
(The Servants of The People Society) founded by Lala Lajpat
Rai and began to work for the betterment of Harijans at Muzaffarpur.
1928: Joined Indian National Congress as
an active member on the advice of Gandhiji
1928: He married Lalita Devi and later the couple had four
sons and two daughters.
1929: He was appointed as Secretary of
the Allahabad District Congress Committee.
1935: He was made the General
Secretary of UP Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC).
1937: He was elected to UP Legislative
Assembly and became the organizing secretary of
the parliamentary board of UP.
He served as an elected
representative for United Provinces in 1937 and 1946.
1940: He supported the individual
satyagraha movement and was prisoned for 1 year because of this.
1942: He was released from jail but jumped back into
the independence movement on the call for Quit India Movement by
Gandhiji in Bombay. He travelled to Allahabad to organize the movement there.
He was given the title of ‘Shastri’ (scholar) as
it was the norm in the institution after completion of a bachelor’s degree.
1947: Shastriji was appointed as the Parliamentary
Secretary in Uttar Pradesh.
He later became the Minister of Police and
Transport under Chief Minister Govind Ballabh Pant in 1947.
He appointed women conductors for the first time.
1951: He was made the General Secretary of
the All-India Congress Committee with Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister.
1952: He won the UP Vidhansabha seat from
Saraon North and Phulpur West and was supposed to be retained as Home
Minister of UP.
But he was rather called by Nehru to the centre
as Minister of Railways and Transport in the first
cabinet of the Republic of India.
1956: He resigned after a couple of railway accidents
that killed 144 people in Tamil Nadu; he believed he was responsible as the
topmost authority. A very rare gesture, and sense of responsibility.
1959: He was called back as Minister of Commerce and
Industry.
1961: He was made the Minister of Home Affairs.
PRIME MINISTER
1964: Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru died in May 1964 and Lal
Bahadur Shastri became the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India,
under President Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan.
He handled the portfolios of external affairs and
atomic energy initially but later transferred external affairs to Mr.
Swaran Singh.
He retained the main ministers of the Nehru cabinet and also
included Indira Gandhi as information and broadcasting minister.
Shastri was the first Prime Minister
to induct a secretary, a senior ICS officer to advise him. He thus laid the
foundation of what later became the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
1964: He gave India the White Revolution by
supporting the Amul Milk Cooperative of Anand, Gujarat.
1965: He established National Dairy Development
Board (NDDB) in Anand.
1965: He set in motion the start of the Green
Revolution to fight the growing food crisis in the country.
January 1965: The Agricultural Prices Commission (APC) was
set up.
Food Corporation of India (FCI) came into being.
National seeds corporation was set up
Central warehousing corporation came up.
India’s foreign relations during Shastri Ji’s
tenure:
Lal Bahadur Shastri’s tenure was marked by many important
events like the Indo-Ceylon Agreement, the Deportation of Indian families from
Burma, and the Indo-Pak war of 1965.
Indo-Ceylon Agreement/ Bandaranaike-Shastri Pact:
It was an agreement signed between the Prime Ministers of
both countries in 1964.
The agreement was significant in determining the status and
future of people of Indian origin in Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) who were
successor generations of the tea estate labourers British had taken there.
Burma
Burma had deported several Indian families in 1964 after a
military coup in 1962; this caused a strain in relations between India and
Burma.
Shastriji made an official visit to Rangoon in 1965 and
cordial relations were again established between the two countries.
Indo-Pak war of 1965:
This
was the most important incident during his tenure as P.M.
Also known as the Second Kashmir war was the
culmination of numerous skirmishes between India and Pakistan in
1965, soon to become a full-blown war.
The conflict began with Pakistan’s operation
Gibraltar to infiltrate forces to Jammu and Kashmir,
Even though a strict follower of Gandhiji’s principle of
non-violence, Shastriji led India in the war courageously.
He addressed the nation by giving the slogan “Jai
Jawan, Jai Kisan”– a tribute to the farmers fighting the food crisis and
soldiers fighting at the border.
The hostilities came to end after a ceasefire was declared
through UNSC resolution 211 by the diplomatic intervention of
the Soviet Union and the United States, leading to the Tashkent declaration.
However, he consented to a
pre-mature ceasefire on the stupid advice of General MUCHU CHOUDHURY—a blunder.
And we missed the second chance to liberate POK. I will write a blog on this
sharing all details.
The death of Lal Bahadur Shastri
11th January 1966: Lal Bahadur Shastri died
in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (then the Soviet Union) – in the same night, after
signing the peace treaty to end the 1965 war.
The official reason for his death has been given as heart
attack- the controversial circumstances such as the fact that a prime minister
of the country was not attended by a doctor on time has led to numerous
speculations.
Many controversies are surrounding his death, but all the
documents of investigations conducted are classified to date. Refer the books listed at the end.
Most of the doubts are generated due to the fact was Shastriji was not a Prime Minister
who could be controlled by the Soviet Union or western powers.
1977: Raj Narain committee was constituted to look into
the mysterious death of Shastriji by the Janata Party government.
The committee’s investigation was also riddled with
mysterious happenings as two crucial witnesses- Shastriji’s physician, Dr RN
Chugh, and personal servant, Ram Nath, were killed in accidents en- route to
their statement recording before the committee.
The report of the committee was never made public and many
petitions have been filed to declassify them.
The central information commission has directed PMO, home,
and external affairs ministries to make the records public.
Shastriji’s resting place is called the Vijay
Ghat situated in Delhi.
A book by M.L Verma, ‘Lalita Ke Aansoo’ was published in
1978, in which the tragic story of his death is narrated by his wife Lalita
Devi.
Legacy of Shastri Ji
Lal Bahadur Shastri was in true terms the most honest prime
minister and politician of India.
Despite being a Prime Minister, he did not amass any wealth
and was a true believer of Gandhian philosophy to not accumulate any wealth and
personal belongings.
He was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna in 1966 and a stamp
featuring him was also released the same year.
He was nicknamed “The man of peace” as he always
preferred maintaining cordial relations with the neighbours through peaceful
means.
The IAS training institute in Mussoorie is named in honour
of him- Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA).
Jai Hind; Jai Jawan—Jai Kishan
List of references, and for further reading: --
1.0 Your
Prime minister Died--- Anuj Dhar.
2.0 Who
Killed Shastri: Tashkent Files—Vivek Agnihotri.
3.0 Selected
Speeches of Lal Bahadur Shastri, June 11, 1964 to January 10, 1966
4.0 Politics,
and beyond: --Sandeep Shastri
Comments
Post a Comment