Allow me to present a contrary opinion about Nehru. Nehru
was an anglophile who just used the language of socialism to get a political
mileage. When Subhash Bose organized INA, Nehru said that he would meet
Subhash with an open sword. Yet after the war, during the trial of the INA
prisoners, he appeared as their counsel in order to take advantage of the
tremendous popular sympathies for the INA prisoners. INA prisoners were
however not inducted back into the army of a free India -this reveals the
imperialist nature of the Indian army. Worse fate had befallen the mutineers
of the Indian navy. Congress leaders promised that they would not be
punished- a promise which was soon forgotten.
Perhaps the most heinous act of Nehru was to derail the
Cabinet mission plan-a plan that would have preserved the Federal unity of
the south Asian subcontinent and which would have saved us the thousands of
lives lost in the partition riots and would have saved millions the trauma
of displacement.
" The Muslim League Council had accepted the Cabinet
Mission Plan. So had the Congress Working Committee. It however needed
the approval of the AICC. .... A meeting of the AICC was called at
Bombay on 7 July, 1946.....When the AICC met I invited Jawaharlal to
take over as Congress President from me. Then I moved the resolution on
the Cabinet Mission Plan and briefly spoke about its main features....I
...pointed out that the Cabinet Mission Plan had accepted in all
essentials the Congress point of view. It guaranteed the unity of India
while at the same time it held out the necessary assurances to the
minorities...... My speech had a decisive influence on the audience.
When the vote was taken, the resolution was passed with an overwhelming
majority. Thus the seal of approval was put on the Working Committee's
resolution accepting the Cabinet Mission Plan. .....
Now happened one of those unfortunate events which
change the course of history. On 10 July, Jawaharlal held a press
conference in Bombay in which he made an astonishing statement. Some
press representatives asked him whether, with the passing of the
Resolution by the AICC, the Congress had accepted the plan in toto,
including the composition of the Interim Government. Jawaharlal in reply
stated that the Congress would enter the Constituent Assembly
'completely unfettered by agreements and free to meet all situations as
they arise'. Press representatives further asked if this meant that the
Cabinet Mission Plan could be modified.
Jawaharlal replied emphatically that the Congress had
agreed only to participate in the Constituent Assembly and regarded
itself free to change or modify the Cabinet Mission Plan as it thought
best.
The Muslim League had accepted the Cabinet Mission
Plan only under duress. Naturally, Mr.Jinnah was not very happy about
it. In his speech to the League Council, he had clearly stated that he
recommended acceptance only because nothing better could be
obtained.......
...Jawaharlal's statement came to him as a bombshell.
He immediately issued a statement that this declaration by the Congress
President demanded a review of the whole situation. He accordingly asked
Liaqat Ali Khan to call a meeting of the League Council and issued a
statement to the following effect. The Muslim League Council had
accepted the Cabinet Mission Plan in Delhi as it was assured that the
Congress also had accepted the scheme and the Plan would be the basis of
the future constitution of India. Now that the Congress President had
declared that the Congress could change the scheme through its majority
in the Constituent Assembly, this would mean that the minorities would
be placed at the mercy of the majority.....
The Muslim League Council met at Bombay on 27th July.
Mr.Jinnah in his opening speech reiterated the demand for Pakistan as
the only course left open to the Muslim League. After three days'
discussion, the Council passed a resolution rejecting the Cabinet
Mission Plan. It also decided to resort to direct action for the
achievement of Pakistan. ....Mr. Jinnah declared 16 August the Direct
Action Day, but he did not make it clear what the programme would be.
....16th August was a black day in the history of
India. Mob violence unprecedented in the history of India plunged the
great city of Calcutta into an orgy of bloodshed, murder and
terror....Soon the whole city was in the grip of goondas of both the
communities.
.....(At Dum Dum) I found ...a large contingent of
the millitary waiting in trucks. When I asked why they were not helping
in restoring order, they replied that their orders were to stand ready
but not to take any action. Throughout Calcutta, the millitar y and the
police were standing by but remained inactive while innocent men and
women were being killed. Sixteen august, 1946 was a black day not only
for Calcutta but for the whole of India. The turn that events had taken
made it almost impossible to expect a peaceful solution by agreement
between the Congress and the Muslim League. This was one of the greatest
trajedies of Indian history and I have to say with the deepest of regret
that a large part of the responsibility for this development rests with
Jawaharlal."
[Source: India Wins Freedom by Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad,(Complete version), Orient Longman, India, 1988, pp 163-170]
[For more references on partition see my essay on
Partition of India and Bengal and some Myths available at
http://finance.sauder.ubc.ca/~bhatta/partition.html ]
On the domestic front, after independence Nehru presided
over the further colonial exploitation of Eastern India by the comprador
trader capitalists through measures like Freight Equalisation. Refugees from
Bengal were discriminated against vis a vis the refugees from the Western
border. For further details see Ranajit Roy's book The Agony of West Bengal.
Also see my website on the Colonial Exploitation of Eastern India [
http://www.geocities.com/nalinaksha/ ]
With best wishes.
