| B.JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (1889 - 1964) |
| INTRODUCTION |
| A freedom fighter who spent long years behind bars in British jails, Jawaharlal Nehru is regarded as the most prominent disciple and spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. An agnostic and a liberal thinker, an idealist and a visionary, Nehru was a curious mixture of the East and the West. Totally at ease in western milieu, with a westernized approach and outlook (Malcolm Muggeridge regarded him as the ‘last British viceroy’), Nehru was quintessentially Indian as the worshipper of Mother India. He loved the people of India, most sincerely and passionately, whom he served to his last breath. Despite pronounced socialistic leanings, he did not formally join the congress socialist party though he was regarded as the inspiration behind the party. Similarly, despite his many differences with Mahatma Gandhi, he loyally and enthusiastically followed most of his programmers in larger national interests. A valiant fighter for human values and democratic rights, Nehru was almost always at the centre of the freedom movement. He provided the intellectual rationale and the driving force around which the struggle for freedom unfolded. A liberal and a staunch anti-fascist, Nehru had the courage of conviction to say that he would be the first to fact Sub has Bose if he came at the head of INA with the support of Axis powers, and at the same time, had the decency to rush to the defence of INA under trials. |
| This list was prepared by Dr. Jinadatha |