Episode 34 India Under Nehru

A History of India

Michael Fisher (2016)

Film Review

Jawahadal Nehru, who died in 1964, was the country’s longest serving prime minister. Gandhi who disagreed with Nehru’s vision of a strong central government, refused to accept any post under his administration. Both favored a secular government for India with separate civil codes (related to marriage, divorce, etc) for different religions.

One of Nehru’s main problems in 1947 was the hundreds of princely states who refused to join either India or Pakistan.  Nehru persuaded most within India’s boundaries to cede sovereignty by allowing them to keep their palaces and some local revenues for themselves. The Indian army had to formally annex the largest, Ayderabad (with a Muslim leader ruling a Hindu minority), at a cost of 30,000 lives.

Sovereignty over Kashmir, administered by India, Pakistan and China, has never been resolved. In 1948 after Pakistan invaded western Kashmir, India airlifted troops into eastern Kashmir, establishing a Line of Control between Pakistani-controlled Azad Kashmir and India-controlled Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.  China controls Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract) in Northeastern Kashmir. A popular referendum India promised the majority Muslim Kashmiris never happened.

India’s constitution, approved in 1950. It establishes India as a republic.* It also abolishes Untouchability and establishes compensatory discrimination (creating special seats and quotas for “scheduled” castes and tribes), as well welfare provisions for the poor, elderly and disabled. Two hundred fifty million people voted in India’s first election 1951-52.

India has a bicameral legislature, with the lower house elected by direct popular vote and the upper house selected indirectly by state legislatures. India’s president is also elected indirectly.** The prime minister, elected by the lower house, has direct governing authority but can be dismissed if he loses a parliamentary vote.

With 18 years in office, Nehru was India’s longest serving prime minister, and his daughter Indira Gandhi the second longest (15 years).

Under Nehru (a democratic socialist), India established a mixed economy, with the government owning heavy industry railroads and energy production. One of his first acts one to create a planning commission to established five year plans to establish economic goals. The first five- year plan (1951-56) focused mainly on making India agriculturally self-sufficient. The second focused mainly on making heavy industry more efficient. From the outset Nehru set high tariffs on imported goods to prevent Western countries from crushing the country’s burgeoning industry with cheap imports.

Another major hurdle he faced was establishing a natural language, as the vast majority of the country couldn’t speak Hindu. A compromise he reached with state legislatures was initial constitutional recognition of 14 languages, with a 15-year transition to Hindi and English as the two official languages.

In 1955, Nehru became a leader in the international Non-Aligned Movement,** along with Indonesian president Sukarno, Yugoslavian president Tito and Egyptian president Nassar.

In 1961 he forcibly annexed Goa and other Portuguese enclaves, as well as forcing the French to withdraw from Pondicherry.

*Although India is still in the British Commonwealth of Nations, they no longer recognize the British monarch as head of state and no longer have a governor general (as do Canada, Australia and New Zealand).

**India’s president is elected by the members of an electoral college, consisting of the elected members of both the houses of parliament the legislative assemblies of states and the Union Territories of Delhi and Pondicherry.

***The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is an international organization dedicated to representing the interests and aspirations of developing countries

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