Selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vol. 6

571 Pages·5.38 MB·ENGLISH

by  Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarvepalli Gopal

Selected
Works of
Jawaharlal
Nehru
Second Series
Volume Six
A Project of the
Jawaharlal Nehru
Memorial Fund

© 1987
All rights reserved
Enquiries regarding copyright
to be addressed to the publishers
PUBLISHED BY
Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund
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General Editor
S. Gopal
FOREWORD
Jawaharlal Nehru is one of the key figures of the twentieth century. He
symbolised some of the major forces which have transformed our age.
When Jawaharlal Nehru was young, history was still the privilege of the
West; the rest of the world lay in deliberate darkness. The impression given
was that the vast continents of Asia and Africa existed merely to sustain
their masters in Europe and North America. Jawaharlal Nehru’s own edu-
cation in Britain could be interpreted, in a sense, as an attempt to secure for
him a place within the pale. His letters of the time are evidence of his sensiti-
vity, his interest in science and international affairs as well as of his pride in
India and Asia. But his personality was veiled by his shyness and a facade
of nonchalance, and perhaps outwardly there was not much to distinguish
him from the ordinary run of men. Gradually there emerged the warm and
universal being who became intensely involved with the problems of the
poor and the oppressed in all lands. In doing so, Jawaharlal Nehru gave
articulation and leadership to millions of people in his own country and in
Asia and Africa.
That imperialism was a curse which should be lifted from the brows of
men, that poverty was incompatible with civilisation, that nationalism should
be poised on a sense of international community and that it was not sufficient
to brood on these things when action was urgent and compelling—these
were the principles which inspired and gave vitality to Jawaharlal Nehru’s
activities in the years of India’s struggle for freedom and made him not only
an intense nationalist but one of the leaders of humanism.
No particular ideological doctrine could claim Jawaharlal Nehru for its
own. Long days in jail were spent in reading widely. He drew much from the
thought of the East and West and from the philosophies of the past and the
present. Never religious in the formal sense, yet he had a deep love for the
culture and tradition of his own land. Never a rigid Marxist, yet he was
deeply influenced by that theory and was particularly impressed by what
he saw in the Soviet Union on his first visit in 1927. However, he realised
that the world was too complex, and man had too many facets, to be en-
compassed by any single or total explanation. He himself was a socialist
with an abhorrence of regimentation and a democrat who was anxious to
reconcile his faith in civil liberty with the necessity of mitigating economic
and social wretchedness. His struggles, both within himself and with the
outside world, to adjust such seeming contradictions are what make his life
and work significant and fascinating.
As a leader of free India, Jawaharlal Nehru recognised that his country
could neither stay out of the world nor divest itself of its own interest in
world affairs. But to the extent that it was possible, Jawaharlal Nehru sought
to speak objectively and to be a voice of sanity in the shrill phases of the
‘cold war’. Whether his influence helped on certain occasions to maintain
peace is for the future historian to assess. What we do know is that for a
long stretch of time he commanded an international audience reaching far
beyond governments, that he spoke for ordinary, sensitive, thinking men
and women around the globe and that his was a constituency which extended
far beyond India.
So the story of Jawaharlal Nehru is that of a man who evolved, who grew
in storm and stress till he became the representative of much that was noble
in his time. It is the story of a generous and gracious human being who
summed up in himself the resurgence of the ‘third world’ as well as the
humanism which transcends dogmas and is adapted to the contemporary
context. His achievement, by its very nature and setting, was much greater
than that of a Prime Minister. And it is with the conviction that the life of
this man is of importance not only to scholars but to all, in India and else-
where, who are interested in the valour and compassion of the human spirit
that the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund has decided to publish a series
of volumes consisting of all that is significant in what Jawaharlal Nehru
spoke and wrote. There is, as is to be expected in the speeches and writings
of a man so engrossed in affairs and gifted with expression, much that is
ephemeral; this will be omitted. The official letters and memoranda will also
not find place here. But it is planned to include everything else and the whole
corpus should help to remind us of the quality and endeavour of one who
was not only a leader of men and a lover of mankind, but a completely
integrated human being.

New Delhi Chairman
Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund
18 January 1972
EDITORIAL NOTE
The twelve weeks between 7 April and 30 June 1948, covered in this volume,
were marked by a change in the office of the Governor-General, the continu-
ing quest for communal harmony and the attempt to nourish a feeling of
responsibility for constructive nationhood. Among the many tasks confront-
ing the country were the rehabilitation of refugees, development of an indus-
trial economy, integration of States and preparation of the Constitution.
Jawaharlal Nehru believed that whatever the immediate problems sometime
or other India would tread the path of self-realisation and greatness by acting
according to the principles and example of Mahatma Gandhi. But Kashmir
and Hyderabad distracted attention from positive activities. In neither case
was there any sign of immediate solution. Beyond India* Nehru strove to
improve the country’s relations with Pakistan, develop a foreign policy of
non-alignment and build economic cooperation among Asian countries.
The Nehru Memorial Library has been good enough to provide access
to the papers of Jawaharlal Nehru and other relevant collections. Shrimati
Indira Gandhi made available to us a large number of documents in her pos-
session, and these papers have been referred to in the footnotes as the J.N.
Collection. The Broadlands Archives Trust has permitted us to reproduce
extracts from the Mountbatten Papers. The Secretariats of the President,
the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, the Ministries of Law, Home and
External Affairs and the National Archives of India have authorized the
reproduction of some notes and letters in their possession. Much of it is
classified material, and some portions have necessarily been deleted. A few
items from the volumes of Sardar Patel's Correspondence have also been
included.
The biographical footnotes in the earlier volumes of the Selected Works
are not repeated; but references to biographical footnotes in those volumes
are given in the index.
CONTENTS
1. The General Approach
1 The Opportunity and the Obligation 7 April 1948 1
2 Attaining a Vision 14 April 1948 2
3 More Production and Distribution 15 April 1948 5
4 Public Confidence in the Government 23 April 1948 7
5 Current Problems 26 April 1948 8
6 Keeping to the Path of Mahatma Gandhi 26 April 1948 13
7 The Sharing of Swaraj 3 June 1948 25
8 Responsibilities of a New Nation 6 June 1948 27
2. Communalism
1 To B. G. Kher 11 Apiil 1948 43
2 The Congress without the Mahatma 14 April 1948 43
3 To O. P Ramaswami Reddiar 16 April 1948 44
4 To Gop ichand Bhargava 16 April 1948 45
5 Healing the Wounds of the Spirit 26 April 1948 46
6 To Rajendra Prasad 26 April 1948 47
7 End Communal Politics 26 April 1948 48
8 To Rajendra Prasad 1 May 1948 50
9 To Vallabhbhai Patel 2 May 1948 51
10 To Vallabhbhai Patel 7 May 1948 51
11 To Vallabhbhai Patel 20 May 1948 52
12 To Gopichand Bhargava 20 May 1948 53
13 To Gopichand Bhargava 21 May 1948 54
14 To Gopichand Bhargava 29 May 1948 56
15 To Baldev Singh 6 June 1948 57
16 To Gopichand Bhargava 10 June 1948 58
3. Relations with Pakistan
I. The Canal Waters Dispute
1 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 16 April 1948 61
2 To Gopichand Bhargava 28 April 1948 61
3 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 29 April 1948 62
4 Nehru’s Record of an Interview with
Ghulam Mohammed 3 May 1948 63
5 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 18 May 1948 66
6 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 21 May 1948 68
7 Cable to Zafrullah Khan 23 May 1948 68
8 Cable to Zafrullah Khan 5 June 1948 69
9 Cable to Zafrullah Khan 5 June 1948 70
10 Cable to Zafrullah Khan 15 June 1948 72
11 To Sri Prakasa 16 June 1948 74
12 Cable to Zafrullah Khan 20 June 1948 76
13 Telegram to Gopichand Bhargava 20 June 1948 77
14 To Gopichand Bhargava 23 June 1948 78
2. Relations with Pakistan
II. Other Issues
1 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 8 April 1948 81
2 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 30 April 1948 81
3 To Ghazanfar Ali Khan 2 May 1948 82
4 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 8 May 1948 83
5 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 8 May 1948 83
6 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 8 May 1948 84
7 To P. C. Ghosh 20 May 1948 84
8 Cable to Ghulam Mohammed 26 May 1948 85
9 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 5 June 1948 85
10 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 5 June 1948 86
11 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 9 June 1948 86
12 Cable to Liaquat Ali Khan 11 June 1948 87
13 To Liaquat Ali Khan 20 June 1948 88
14 To C. Rajagopalachari 20 June 1948 89