Prime Minister Narendra Modi bestowed tribute to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his 56th death anniversary.
Modi tweeted, “Tributes to our first PM, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Ji on his death anniversary”.
The Congress also paid its tribute to Nehru. “The ‘architect of Modern India’, first & longest-serving Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s vision, intellectual caliber, commitment & high ideals have made India the republic it is today. We strive to uphold his inspirational legacy, today & always,” the party tweeted on Twitter.
India’s first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who is also considered to be the architect of the modern Indian nation-state: a sovereign, socialist, secular, and democratic republic.
A brief sight into Nehru Ji’s life:–
1. Nehru was born on 14 November 1889 at Allahabad (now Prayagraj) in Colonized India. His father Motilal Nehru who was a barrister belonged to the Kashmiri Pandit community.
2. Until the age of 16, Nehru was educated at home by a series of tutors and governesses. In 1907, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge for his graduation. Later, in 1910, he moved to London and studied law at Inner Temple Inn.
3. After returning in 1912, Nehru enrolled himself as an advocate of Allahabad High Court and tried to settle in as a barrister. But, lesser did he know that he was destined to build India’s political fabrication.
4. During his journey of Indian Independence, he was imprisoned 9 times. He spent around 3,259 days of his life behind the bars.
5. He was an active leader during the freedom struggle and had an incredible political journey, both, before and after independence. Nehru is the longest-serving prime minister of India.
6. Nehru took office as the Prime Minister of India on 15 August and delivered his inaugural address, ‘Tryst with Destiny’.
7. Throughout his life span, Jawaharlal Nehru penned down his experiences and vision. Some of his best writing works include The Discovery of India, Letters from a Father to his Daughter, An autobiography, and Glimpses of World History.
8. There were four reported failed assassination attempts on Nehru during his tenure as the PM. Despite perils to his life, Nehru loathed having too much security around him and did not like to obstruct traffic due to his movement.
9. Nehru’s secular approach to politics contrasted with Gandhi’s religious and traditionalist attitude. The real difference between Nehru and Gandhi was not in their attitudes toward religion but their attitudes toward civilization. While Nehru talked in an increasingly modern idiom, Gandhi was harkening back to the glories of ancient India.
10. Nehru’s health began weakening steadily after 1962. His death was announced to Lok Sabha at 14:00 local time on 27 May 1964, the cause of death is believed to be a heart attack.
