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Born to riches, jawaharlal
nehru was amongst the few Indians who would lose if India's colonial
masters exited. And yet he was in the very forefront of the struggle
against imperialism. Nehru's legacy is a disputed one.
Born an aristocrat and often accused of being one too, his convictions lay
towards socialism, coupled with an immense love for his land and its
peoples. A favourite of gandhi, nehru's education was liberal and
compassionate; principles he continued to retain till the very end.
His stature, vision and governance might just have saved the nascent
Indian nation in the 1950s from breaking up into pieces, say his
supporters. Not so, say the opposition, who blame India's current economic
chaos on the socialist principles his government swore by. A great
advocate of peaceful co-existence, his was one of the very few voices
respected nationally and internationally. An architect of the non-aligned
movement, his stature made India a fixture on almost any international
peace effort. A prolific writer, his discovery of India, a voluminous tome
is a remarkable look at the land's past, with hardly any academic
assistance. His immense love for children has led to his birth anniversary
being anointed as the nation's day dedicated to children.
Factfile
dob: november 14, 1889
family:
parents:
motilal and swarup rani nehru
wife:
kamla nehru
daughter:
Indira gandhi
milestones:
1910:
gets his law degree from cambridge and returns to India in 1912.
1919:
joins gandhi's satyagraha sabha.
1924-25:
appointed general secretary, all India congress committee.
1929:
is elected as the president of all India congress committee in the lahore
session.
1944:
writes the discovery of India while in prison in ahmednagar fort.
1947:
elected first prime minister of Independent India.
1962:
signs the panchsheel agreement with china, which breaks down a few months
later with the chinese aggression over Indian territory.
1964:
dies in may 1964.
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