If India is celebrating the Republic Day this month as a democracy, much of it is due to the contributions made by its founding fathers, notably Jawaharlal Nehru , who led the nation as Prime Minister for sixteen years, from 1947 to 1963.
The fortnightly letters that Jawaharlal Nehru wrote to chief ministers, kept them informed of the tasks that were facing the nation and, explained to them the steps that needed to be taken to build the country into a 'social democracy' and establish communal harmony.
When he faced problems, he was frank and forthright, and sought the support of the chief ministers in facing the challenges.
The letters were published three decades ago in a chronological manner, but the present publication edited by Madhav Khosla classifies them subject-wise, namely, citizen and the nation, institutions of democracy, national planning and development and war and peace.
In the very first letter that he wrote to the chief ministers, Nehru dwelt on the role of the services in the running of the government. He pointed out that the services in Pakistan had got out of hand and were not amenable to control by their government. India, he pointed out, was fortunate , and was able "generally speaking to preserve the integrity of the services against the communal virus".
He acknowledged that there have been some lapses in the then East Punjab and underlined the need for vigilance.
More From This Section
The letters share the anguish that he suffered in dealing with the refugee problem, the influx of Hindus from East Bengal into West Bengal and how the disturbances in Calcutta were brought under control. He warned against the tendency in certain areas to "demand loyalty from the Muslims in India" and underlined the need to "produce conditions which lead to this sentiment being produced."
He also dwelt on the question of Christian missionaries in his letters. While he accepted that "suitable action" needed to be taken against them when they indulged in disruptive activities, Nehru pointed out that Christianity is a religion of a large number of people in India and that it came to South of India nearly 2000 years ago.
Nehru told chief ministers in 1954, that "we must never forget that we take pride in having a secular state ....the duties and responsibilities and obligations apply far more to the majority than to the minority groups."
The letters share Nehru's concern why the government felt it necessary to bring forward the first Amendment to the Constitution passed in 1951, which removed all zamindari-related acts from the purview of courts, as also the amendment to Clause 2 of Article 19 concerning the freedom of speech and expression, which provided for "reasonable restrictions".
However, he said in his letter of 15 June 1951, that "It was not and is not our intention to curb the freedom of the press, and, we do not want state governments to take advantage of the new amendment in applying some obsolete law. "
Nehru painstakingly explained to chief ministers why it was necessary to adopt the five-year plans, and the importance of public sector enterprises . The objective , he said, was to take advantage of all types of initiatives and enterprise in the country.
He maintained that the keystone of our planning is agricultural production. In the final analysis the objective was to achieve a socialist pattern of society."
Nehru was honest in telling the chief ministers that India had referred the Kashmir issue to the Security Council of the United Nations because the country wanted to avoid a war with Pakistan. He was disappointed with the way the issue was dealt with in the United Nations, due to the attitude of United Kingdom and the United States.
Nehru was enthusiastic about the rise of Communist China. He told chief ministers that the visit of Premier Chou En Lai to India in 1954 was a "historic event".
He later explained in detail, why India could not help Tibet in any way to resist the growth of China's power in that region.
India entered into agreements with China, keeping the principles of non-aggression and non-interference, hoping that indirectly the question of the long frontier is settled.
India even told her supporters that "India is not anxious to enter the Security Council", and argued that the first step is for China to take her rightful place and then the question of India might be considered separately.
The letters bring out the fact that India, led by Nehru, played an important role in world affairs as a leader in the Non-aligned Movement, in the fight against colonialism in Africa and Asia, but was not successful in finding a solution to the Kashmir issue or in settling its border dispute with China.
Jawaharlal Nehru had a comfortable majority in the Parliament, with the Congress winning in the general elections in 1952, 1957, and 1962, and the other parties could not secure more than the quarter of the strength in Parliament.
The states were ruled by the Congress, except for Kerala which elected a Communist Government 1957.
Even so, Nehru wanted to involve all the states in the running of the country.
Truly, the book is a vivid portrait of the building of democratic India, and of the man who laid its foundations.
Book Review: Letters for a Nation from Jawaharlal Nehru to his Chief Ministers ;edited by Madhav Khosla, Penguin; pages 334. price Rs 599
Mr. I. Ramamohan Rao is a former Principal Information Officer, Government of India.