Lal Bahadur Srivastava Shastri (Hindi: लालबहादुर शास्त्री , pronounced ˈOctober 1904 - 11 January 1966) was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.
| Lal Bahadur Shastri लालबहादुर शास्त्री | |
 | |
2nd Prime Minister of India | |
| In office 9 June 1964 – 11 January 1966 | |
| President | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Gulzarilal Nanda |
| Succeeded by | Gulzarilal Nanda |
| Born | 2 October 1904 Mughalsarai, United Provinces, British India |
| Died | 11 January 1966 (aged 61) Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union |
| Birth name | Lal Bahadur Srivastava |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse(s) | Lalita Shastri nee Devi |
| Occupation | Academic, Activist |
Early life
Lal Bahadur was born in Mughal Sarai, United Provinces, British India to Sharada Srivastava Prasad, a school teacher, who later became a clerk in the Revenue Office at Allahabad[1] and Ramdulari Devi. When he was three months old, he slipped out of his mother's arms into a cowherder's basket at the ghats of the Ganges. The cowherder, who had no children, took the child as a gift from God and took him home. Lal Bahadur's parents lodged a complaint with the police, who traced the child, and returned him to his parents[2].His father died when he was only a year and a half old. His mother took him and his two sisters to her father's house and settled down there[3]. Lal Bahadur stayed at his grandfather Hazari Lal's house till he was ten. He studied up to class IV in Railway School Mughalsarai. Since there was no high school in their town, he was sent to Varanasi where he stayed with his maternal uncle and joined the Harischandra High School. While in Varanasi, Shastri once went with his friends to see a fair on the other bank of the Ganges. On the way back he had no money for the boat fare. Instead of borrowing from his friends, he jumped into the river and swam to the other bank[4].
As a boy, Lal Bahadur loved reading books and was fond of Guru Nanak's verses. He revered Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter. After hearing a speech of Mahatma Gandhi at Varanasi in 1915, he dedicated his life to the service of the country[5]. He also dropped his surname Srivastava as it indicated his castecaste system[1]. During the non-cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi in 1921, he joined processions in defiance of the prohibitory order. He was arrested but let off as he was a minor[6]. He then enrolled at the nationalist Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi. During his four years there, he was greatly influenced by the lectures of Dr. Bhagawandas on philosophy. Upon completion of his course at Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1926, he was given the title Shastri ("Scholar"). The title was a bachelor's degree awarded by the Vidya Peeth, but it stuck as part of his name[3]. He also enrolled himself as a life member of the Servants of the People Society and began to work for the upliftment of the Harijans at Muzaffarpur[7]. Later he became the President of the Society[8]. and he was against the
In 1927, Shastri married Lalita Devi of Mirzapur. In spite of the prevailing hefty dowrycharkha and a few yards of khadi as dowry. In 1930, he threw himself into the freedom struggle during Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha. He was imprisoned for two and a half years[9]. Once, while he was in prison, one of his daughters fell seriously ill. He was released for fifteen days, on the condition that he not take part in the freedom movement. However, his daughter died before he reached home. After performing the funeral rites, he voluntarily returned to prison, even before the expiration of the period[10]. A year later, he asked for permission to go home for a week, as his son had contracted influenza. The permission was given, but his son's illness was not cured in a week. In spite of his family's pleadings, he kept his promise to the jail officers and returned to the prison[10]. tradition, Shastri accepted only a
Later, he worked as the Organizing Secretary of the Parliamentary Board of U.P. in 1937[11]. In 1940, he was sent to prison for one year, for offering individual Satyagraha[12]. On 8 August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi issued the Quit India speech at Gowalia Tank in Mumbai, demanding that the British leave India. Shastri, who had just then come out after a year in prison, traveled to Allahabad. For a week, he sent instructions to the freedom fighters from Jawaharlal Nehru's hometown, Anand Bhavan. A few days later, he was arrested and imprisoned until 1946[12]. Shastri spent almost nine years in jail in total[13]. During his stay in prison, he spent time reading books and became familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries and social reformers. He also translated the autobiography of Marie Curie into Hindi[9]. language support to the freedom movement
[edit] In government
Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that Police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds[14].In 1951, he was made the General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee, with Jawaharlal Nehru as the Prime Minister. He was directly responsible for the selection of candidates and the direction of publicity and electioneering activities. He played an important role in the landslide successes of the Congress Party in the Indian General Elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962.
In 1951, Nehru nominated him to the Rajya Sabha. He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his resignation[15]. Three months later, he resigned accepting moral and constitutional responsibility for a railway accident at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu that resulted in 144 deaths. While speaking in the Parliament on the incident, the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, stated that he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Shastri was in any way responsible for the accident[3]. Shastri's unprecedented gesture was greatly appreciated by the citizens.
In 1957, Shastri returned to the Cabinet following the General Elections, first as the Minister for Transport and Communications, and then as the Minister of Commerce and Industry[7]. In 1961, he became Minister for Home[3]. As Union Home Minister he was instrumental in appointing the Committee on Prevention of Corruption under the Chairmanship of K. Santhanam[16].
[edit] Prime minister
Main article: Premiership of Lal Bahadur Shastri
Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on 27 May 1964 and left a void. The then Congress PartyK. Kamaraj was instrumental in making and installing Shastri as Prime Minister on 9 June. Shastri, though mild-mannered and soft-spoken, was a Nehruvian socialist and thus held appeal to those wishing to prevent the ascent of conservative right-winger Morarji Desai. President In his first broadcast as Prime Minister, on 11 June 1964, Shastri stated[17]:
| “ | There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the cross-roads of history and must choose which way to go. But for us there need be no difficulty or hesitation, no looking to right or left. Our way is straight and clear – the building up of a socialist democracy at home with freedom and prosperity for all, and the maintenance of world peace and friendship with all nations. | ” |
Though he was Socialist, Shastri stated that India cannot have a regimented type of economy[16]. During his tenure as Prime Minister, he visited Russia, Yugoslavia, England, Canada and Burma in 1965[7].
[edit] War with Pakistan
- See Also: Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
| “ | In the utilization of our limited resources, we have always given primacy to plans and projects for economic development. It would, therefore, be obvious for anyone who is prepared to look at things objectively that India can have no possible interest in provoking border incidents or in building up an atmosphere of strife... In these circumstances, the duty of Government is quite clear and this duty will be discharged fully and effectively... We would prefer to live in poverty for as long as necessary but we shall not allow our freedom to be subverted. | ” |
On 17 September 1965, while the Indo-Pak war was on, India received a letter from China. In the letter, China alleged that the Indian army had set up army equipment in Chinese territory, and India would face China's wrath, unless the equipment was pulled down. In spite of the threat of aggression from China, Shastri declared "China's allegation is untrue. If China attacks India it is our firm resolve to fight for our freedom. The might of China will not deter us from defending our territorial integrity."[19]. The Chinese did not respond, but the Indo-Pak war resulted in great personnel and Place material casualties for both Pakistan and India.
The Indo-Pak war ended on 23 September 1965 with a United Nations-mandated ceasefire. In a broadcast to the nation on the day the of ceasefire, Shastri stated[17]:
| “ | While the conflict between the armed forces of the two countries has come to an end, the more important thing for the United Nations and all those who stand for peace is to bring to an end the deeper conflict... How can this be brought about? In our view, the only answer lies in peaceful coexistence. India has stood for the principle of coexistence and championed it all over the world. Peaceful coexistence is possible among nations no matter how deep the differences between them, how far apart they are in their political and economic systems, no matter how intense the issues that divide them. | ” |
[edit] Death at Tashkent
The next day Shastri, who had suffered two heart attacks earlier, died supposedly of a heart attack at 1:32 AM.[7]. He was the only Indian Prime Minister to have died in office overseas.[20]
[edit] Mystery of Shastri's Death
Although officially it was maintained that Shastri died of heart attack, his widow, Lalita Shastri kept alleging that her husband was poisoned. Many believed that Shastri's body turning blue was an evidence of his poisoning. Indeed a Russian butler attending to him was arrested on suspicion of poisoning Shastri, but was later absolved of charges.[21]In 2009, when Anuj Dhar, author of CIA's Eye on South Asia, asked the Prime Minister's Office under an RTI plea (Right to Information Act), that Shastri's cause of death be made public, the PMO refused to oblige, citing that this could lead to harming of foreign relations, cause disruption in the country and cause breach of parliamentary privileges.[21]
The PMO did inform however that it had in its possession one document related to Shastri's death, but refused to declassify it. The government also admitted that no post-mortem examination had been conducted on him in the USSR, but it did have a report of a medical investigation conducted by Shastri's personal physician Dr. R.N. Chugh and some Russian doctors. Furthermore, the PMO revealed that there was no record of any destruction or loss of documents in the PMO having a bearing on Shastri's death. As of July 2009, the home ministry is yet to respond to queries whether India conducted a postmortem and if the government had investigated allegations of foul play.[21]
[edit] End of an era
A great deal died on the day Shastri passed away. Contrary to what people think, Jawaharlal Nehru's death did not end an era. It was Shastri's that did. Although he had been a cabinet minister for many years in the 1950's, he was poor when he died. All he owned at the end was an old car, which he had bought on installments from the government and for which he still owed money. He had set high standards. He was the only railway minister who resigned from office following a major train accident as he felt moral responsibility. After Shastri's death, values seem to have departed from the Indian political life and governance is grossly seen to have become amoral. A new personalized style of politics came in to being. Institutions began to erode, the biggest victim being the Indian National Congress party. More than values, Shastri's early death resulted in loss of opportunity for pragmatic policies in the Indian economic life. Had he lived, historians debate, India would have fared better and more people would have risen out of poverty.[edit] Memorial
Shastri was known for his honesty and humility throughout his life. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, and a memorial "Vijay Ghat" was built for him in Delhi. Several educational institutes, Shashtri National Academy of Administration (Mussorie) is after his name these were some examples. The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute was named after Shastri due to his role in promoting scholarly activity between India and Canada.[22]In 2005, the Government of India created a chair in his honour in the field of democracy and governance at Delhi University[23].
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