Pt. J L Nehru – NAM, BANDUK CONFERENCE, 1962 WAR, NORTHEAST PROBLEM, 3 STEEL PLANTS WITH SOVIET UNION HELP (THE TECHNOLOGY WAS REDUNDANT EVEN WHEN WE SET UP THOSE PLANTS), 2 BIG DAMS, AIRPORTS – AIRLINES (???????) AND YES ROADS – WELL LETS LEAVE THAT OTHERWISE A LOT OF CRAP WILL COME OUT, PLANNING COMMISSION (WHAT DOES IT DO AND ITS ACHIEVEMENT?), 1959 FIRST DULY ELECTED GOVERNMENT WAS DISMISSED UNDER ARTICLE 356 FOR REASONS KNOWN ONLY TO HIM AND HIS KITCHEN CABINET HANDLED BY HIS DAUGHTER? KASHMIR AND P.O.K – THE UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTIONS / THE LOSS OF OUR NATION’s LAND EVEN AFTER PAKISTAN WAS CREATED OUT OF OUR SOIL? BUREAUCRACY AND MORE BUREAUCRACY? NEPOTISM, DYNASTY – FAMILY BEFORE NATION? CORRUPTION? NO STRATEGIC THOUGHT IN OUR FOREIGN OR EVEN ANY STATE POLICY – THIS IS WHEN ONE OF THE GREATEST THINKERS AND STRATEGIST WAS AN INDIAN – CHANAKYA WHO WROTE ARTHASHASTRA? DID WE TRUST ON THE FAMED INDIAN ENTREPRENURAL SKILLS THAT THEY COULD MANAGE INDUSTRIES AND INDUSTRIALISATION (EVEN THOUGHT INDIANS DID VERY WELL IN OTHER PARTS OF THE GLOBE)! BADLY MANAGED ARMED FORCES! NO POLICE REFORMS AFTER THE BRITISH LEFT! AND EDWINA………WELL THAT NEEDS TO BE NOT COMMENTED UPON……IN SHORT HE LEFT A CONFUSED NATION.
THESE WERE BIG ISSUES, LET ME COMMENT ON SMALLER ISSUES LIKE OUR TOWNS – WERE THEY PLANNED FOR GROWTH, OUR VILLAGES – DID THEY OFFER ANYTHING TO ITS RESIDENTS, FOR FARMERS WHO TILLED THE LAND (LANDLESS LOT) WERE THEIR ANY IMPROVEMENT IN THEIR LIVES, HUMAN MANUAL SCAVANGERS, DRAINS IN CITIES AND VILLAGES, PUBLIC TRANSPORT, ELECTRICITY, WATER,ETC.
Sorry I forgot to write about Kamala Nehru. She has one quarter of Delhi named after her for reasons only known to the Gandhi/Nehru family. She must have definitely contributed to our independence from the Hospital in Switzerland that she was placed in to cure her from T.B (apart from being the mother of Indira Gandhi). Her letters details how PanditJi ill treated her are not to be mentioned. We have only learnt from our history books that chacha was in love not only with Edwina but also with Kids so 14th November is children’s day every year. What did he do for the kids except a few DAVP showing him with rajiv and sanjay in his lap?.......Did he give kids free education from primary to post graduate…did the schools that he opened mass produce quality trained manpower comparable to the kids being educated in other comparable developing countries of that period like Korea, brazil, Argentina, Indonesia …look at their social indices today and look at our (we are near sub Sahara Africa)……did he open schools in each village…..are we proud of the kind of schools that were established after independence in out villages? Does a common Indian who has studies in a village school not tell that how bad his school was and the quality of studies were even worse? Had it not been for the sheer hard work and emphasis of education in common Indian families that we have created some bright students through this bad and outdated education scenario (which the politicians claim credit for)?
I am slightly harsher on Pt JL NEHRU for the reason that he had to leave a solid foundation for this nation after his tenure. He was our first P.M and people had a lot of energy and hopes pinned on him. If he had laid a proper state with proper procedures and functioning to the future generations, we would not have had to face this day today. Our centre state relations are in a mess, our cities, town and villages are in a bad state, our cities rank at the lowest ranked cities not even fit for animals to live in. We have no potable water for 95 % of our people when we are the guardian of the Himalaya, 2 mighty rivers, numerous glaciers – let us forget the entire nation – people who stay on the banks of ganga or bhramaputra are not even supplied portable water even once a day.
Politicians who run our cities and states have big egos that even a slight change in improving peoples conditions like paying money directly through central government resources to improving schools in the villages is not allowed by states who say that it is a violation of the federal structure of the nation. No where in this world is such an argument given. All around the globe, aid is generally given from state fund to the counties but when in times of crisis and emergencies like flood, terror, crime etc money is given directly by the centre.
He was loved no doubt was it not partly due to the fact that there was certain romanticism after independence and chacha was riding the same wave. Was it not also due to the fact that there was no credible opposition and lone voice like that of Feroze Gandhi were the only opposition to him? Was it not the fact that only AIR and government media projected him as a saviour and free press was limited to printed newspapers and magazines? This virtually meant that in real terms only 15% of our nations people who could read or write could access any information contrary to what the government media said about chacha? Was chacha no paralysed after 1962 and the government was virtually run by Indira Gandhi and her cronies? Why was Indira Gandhi impeding all moves of Lal Bahadur Shastri and creating a power centre within the cabinet?
I think the year 1965-1966 was a turning point in our nation’s history and what the nation suffered for the next 30 years till 1996 was mainly due to these years. Had Shastri been the P.M for longer tenure, maybe the nation would have moved in a different and a better direction? What started after 1966 was a brazen display of power centric politics and virtual dictatorship? Do we ever ask ourselves why don’t central and state governments in India now generally win election after their term in office? It is the same Gandhi family which is heading the congress, so what difference has taken place. Well the difference is media and education. Both have now moved into the hinterland and people are more aware of their rights. They are not willing to take the crap of dynasty, secularism, communalism or any other isms. They just need a government which listens and implements what it says. They do not care whether your forefathers were chacha Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi.
In short he was responsible for the mess that we are in today.
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