Lal Bahadur Shastri
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Lal Bahadur Shastri
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In
office
9 June 1964 – 11 January 1966 |
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President
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Preceded by
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Succeeded by
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In
office
9 June 1964 – 18 July 1964 |
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Preceded by
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Succeeded by
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In
office
4 April 1961 – 29 August 1963 |
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Prime Minister
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Preceded by
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Succeeded by
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Personal
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Born
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Died
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Lal Bahadur Shastri (pronounced [laːl
bəˈɦaːd̪ʊr ˈʃaːst̪ri];
listen (help·info), 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a leader of the Indian
National Congress party.
Shastri joined the Indian
independence movement in the 1920s. Deeply impressed and
influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, he became a loyal follower, first of Gandhi, and then of Jawaharlal Nehru. Following independence in 1947, he joined the latter's
government and became one of Prime Minister Nehru's principal lieutenants,
first as Railways
Minister (1951–56), and then in a variety of
other functions, including Home Minister.
Shastri was chosen as Nehru's successor owing to his adherence to Nehruvian socialism after Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi turned down Congress President K. Kamaraj's offer of premiership.
Shastri as Prime Minister continued
Nehru's policies of non-alignment and socialism. He became a national hero
following the victory in the Indo-Pakistan
War of 1965. His slogan of "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer")
became very popular during the war and is remembered even today. The war was formally ended in the Tashkent Agreement of 10 January 1966; he died the following day, still in Tashkent,
of a heart attack.
Early
life and career (1904-47)
Shastri was born in Mughalsarai in a Shrivastava Kayastha family. His father, Sharada Prasad Shrivastava, was a school teacher, who later became a clerk in the
Revenue Office at Allahabad. Shastri's father died when he was only a year old. His
mother, Ramdulari Devi, took him and his two sisters to her father's house and
settled down there.
Shastri was educated at East Central
Railway Inter college in Mughalsarai and Varanasi. He graduated with a first-class degree from
the 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. Shastri was
influenced by major Indian nationalist leaders including Gandhi and Tilak. On 16 May 1928, Shastri married Lalita Devi of Mirzapur. He had six children, including Hari Krishna Shastri who
was married to Mrs Vibha Shastri, Anil Shastri who is married to Mrs Manju Shastri, Sunil Shastri who is
married to Mrs Meera Shastri, who were all Congress politicians.Ashok Shastri
was his youngest son who was in the corporate world and was married to Mrs Neera Shastri. Unfortunately, the family lost him at an early age of 34. His son Anil Shastri is still a senior leader of the
Congress party.
Social
activism
Shastri, who belonged to the Kayastha
caste, dropped his surname Srivastava as it indicated his caste and he
was against the caste system, a major principle of the Gandhian movement. Shastri also enrolled himself as a life member of the
Servants of the People Society and began to work for the upliftment of the Harijans
under Gandhi's direction at Muzaffarpur. Later he became the President of the Society.
Independence
activism
See also: Indian
independence movement
Shastri joined the Indian
independence movement in 1921. His early activities
included participation in the non-cooperation
movement for which he was jailed briefly by
the British. He was let off as he was then still a minor.
Shastri participated in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930. He was imprisoned for two and a half years. Later, he worked as the Organizing Secretary of the
Parliamentary Board of U.P. in 1937. In 1940, he was sent to prison for one year, for offering
individual Satyagraha support to the freedom movement.
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, travelled to Allahabad.
For a week, he sent instructions to the freedom fighters from Jawaharlal
Nehru's home, Anand Bhavan. A few days later, he was arrested and imprisoned until
1946. Shastri spent almost nine years in jail in total. During his stays in prison, he spent time reading books and
became familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries and
social reformers.
Political
career (1947-64)
State
minister
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 on 15 Aug 1947 following Rafi Ahmed Kidwai's departure to become minister at centre. 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. His tenure as police minister (As Home Minister was called
prior to 1950) saw successful curbing of communal riots in 1947, mass migration
and resettlement of refugees.
Cabinet minister
See also: Cabinet of India
In 1951, Shastri 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 1952, he successfully contested
UP Vidhansabha from Soraon North cum Phulpur West seat and won getting over 69%
of vote. He was believed to be retained as home minister of UP, but in a
surprise move was called to Centre as minister by Nehru. He was elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh w.e.f. 3 April 1952. He served as the Minister
of Railways and Transport in the
Central Cabinet from 13 May 1952 to 7 December 1956. In September 1956, he
offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his
resignation. 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 Parliament
on the incident, 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.
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. In 1961, he became Home Minister. As Union Home Minister, he was instrumental in appointing
the Committee on Prevention of Corruption under the Chairmanship of K. Santhanam.
Prime
minister of India (1964-66)
Main article: Premiership of Lal Bahadur Shastri
Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on 27 May 1964 and left a void. Then Congress
Party President K. Kamaraj was instrumental in making Shastri 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.
In his first broadcast as Prime
Minister, on 11 June 1964, Shastri stated:
"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."
Domestic
policies
Shastri retained many members of
Nehru's Council of Ministers.
T. T.
Krishnamachari was retained as the Finance
Minister of India, as was Defence
Minister Yashwantrao Chavan. He appointed Swaran Singh to succeed him as External
Affairs Minister. He also appointed Indira Gandhi, daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru and former Congress
President, as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. Gulzarilal Nanda continued as the Minister of Home Affairs.
Shastri's tenure witnessed the
Madras anti-Hindi agitation of 1965. The government of India had for a long
time made an effort to establish Hindi as the
sole national language of India. This was resisted by the non-Hindi speaking
states particularly Madras State. To calm the situation, Shastri took the advice of Indira
Gandhi and gave assurances that English would continue to be used as the
official language as long the non-Hindi speaking states wanted. The riots
subsided after Shastri's assurance, as did the student agitation.
Economic
policies
Shastri continued Nehru's socialist
economic policies with central planning. He promoted the White Revolution – a
national campaign to increase the production and supply of milk – by supporting
the Amul milk
co-operative of Anand, Gujarat and creating the National Dairy Development Board. While speaking on the chronic food shortages across the
country, Shastri urged people to voluntarily give up one meal so that the saved
food could be distributed to the affected populace. During the 22-day war with
Pakistan in 1965, Shastri created the slogan of "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer"),
underlining the need to boost India's food production. Shastri also promoted
the Green
Revolution. Though he was a socialist, Shastri
stated that India cannot have a regimented type of economy.
Jai
Jawan Jai Kisan
For the outstanding slogan given by
him during Indo-Pak war of 1965 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
(India) commemorated Shastriji even after
47 years of his death on his 48th martyr's day:
Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was one of those
great Indians who has left an indelible impression on our collective life. Shri
Lal Bahadur Shastri's contribution to our public life were unique in that they
were made in the closest proximity to the life of the common man in India. Shri
Lal Bahadur Shastri was looked upon by Indians as one of their own, one who
shared their ideals, hopes and aspirations. His achievements were looked upon
not as the isolated achievements of an individual but of our society
collectively. Under his leadership India faced and repulsed the Pakistani
invasion of 1965. It is not only a matter of pride for the Indian Army but also
for every citizen of the country. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri's slogan Jai
Jawan Jai Kisan reverberates even today through the length and breadth of
the country. Underlying this is the inner-most sentiments 'Jai Hindustan'. The
war of 1965 was fought and won for our self-respect and our national prestige.
For using our Defence Forces with such admirable skill, the nation remains
beholden to Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri. He will be remembered for all times to
come for his large heartedness and public service.
Foreign
policies
Shastri continued Nehru's policy of non-alignment but also built closer relations with the Soviet Union. In the aftermath of the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and the formation of military ties between the Chinese
People's Republic and Pakistan,
Shastri's government decided to expand the defence budget of India's armed
forces.
In 1964, Shastri signed an accord
with the Sri Lankan Prime minister Sirimavo
Bandaranaike regarding the status of Indian
Tamils in the then Ceylon. This agreement is also known as the Srimavo-Shastri Pact or
the Bandaranaike-Shastri pact.
Under the terms of this agreement,
600,000 Indian Tamils were to be repatriated, while 375,000 were to be granted
Sri Lankan citizenship. This settlement was to be done by 31 October 1981.
However, after Shastri's death, by 1981, India had taken only 300,000 Tamils as
repatriates, while Sri Lanka had granted citizenship to only 185,000 citizens
(plus another 62,000 born after 1964). Later, India declined to consider any
further applications for citizenship, stating that the 1964 agreement had
lapsed.
War
with Pakistan
Laying claim to half the Kutch peninsula,
the Pakistani army skirmished with Indian forces in August, 1965. In his
report to the Lok Sabha on the confrontation in Kutch, Shastri
stated:
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.
Under a scheme proposed in June 1965
by British Prime
Minister Harold Wilson, Pakistan obtained 10%, in place of their original claim of
50% of the territory. But Pakistan's aggressive intentions were also focused on
Kashmir.
When armed infiltrators from Pakistan began entering the State of Jammu and
Kashmir, Shastri made it clear to Pakistan that force would be met with force.
29 In September 1965, major incursions of militants and
Pakistani soldiers began, hoping not only to break down the government but
incite a sympathetic revolt. The revolt did not happen, and India sent its
forces across the Ceasefire Line (now Line of Control) and threatened Pakistan by crossing the International
Border near Lahore
as war broke out on a general scale. Massive tank battles occurred in the Punjab,
and while the Pakistani forces made some gains, Indian forces captured the key
post at Haji Pir, in Kashmir, and brought the Pakistani city of Lahore under
artillery and mortar fire.
On 17 September 1965, while the
Indo-Pak war was on, India received a letter from China alleging
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." The Chinese did not respond, but the Indo-Pak war resulted
in some 3–4,000
casualties on each side and significant loss
of material.
The Indo-Pak war ended on 23
September 1965 with a United Nations-mandated ceasefire. By that time, India had inflicted a
crushing defeat on Pakistan. In a broadcast to the nation on the day the of
ceasefire, Shastri stated:
"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."
During his tenure as Prime Minister,
Shastri visited many countries including Russia, Yugoslavia, England, Canada and Burma. After the declaration of ceasefire with Pakistan in 1965,
Shastri and Pakistani President Muhammad Ayub Khan attended a summit in Tashkent
(former USSR,
now in modern Uzbekistan), organised by Alexei Kosygin. On 10 January 1966, Shastri and Khan signed the Tashkent
Declaration.
Prime Minister Shastri died in
Tashkent, the day after signing the Tashkent
Declaration, reportedly due to a heart attack,
but people allege conspiracy behind the death. He was eulogised as a national hero and the Vijay Ghat memorial established in his memory. Upon his death, Gulzarilal Nanda once again assumed the role of Acting Prime Minister until
the Congress
Parliamentary Party elected Indira Gandhi over Morarji Desai to officially succeed Shastri.
Mystery
behind Lal Bahadur Shastri's death
Shastri's sudden death immediately
after signing the Tashkent Pact with Pakistan has raised many questions in the minds of Indian citizens.
The Prime Minister of
India going to Tashkent for a pact and
never coming back has not been accepted easily by Indian citizens. His health
was fit as per his personal physician Dr. R. N. Chugh and he has had no sign of
heart trouble before.
Shastri's sudden death has led to
persistent conspiracy theories that he was poisoned. The first inquiry into his death was conducted by the Raj
Narain Inquiry, as it came to be known, however did not come up with any
conclusions and today no record of this inquiry exists with the Indian Parliament's
library. It was alleged that no post-mortem was done on Shastri, but
the Indian government in 2009, claimed 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 Prime Minister's Office (PMO) revealed that there was
no record of any destruction or loss of documents in the PMO having a bearing
on Shastri's death.
After Shastri's death, aged 62, in Tashkent,
USSR, on 11 January 1966, soon after signing the Tashkent Pact with Pakistan,
his wife Lalita Shastri had alleged he was poisoned. An epic poetry book in Hindi titled Lalita
Ke Aansoo
written by Krant M. L. Verma was published in 1978. In this book the tragic story about the death of Shastri
has been narrated by his wife Lalita Shastri. There are still serious doubts which are been taken on his
death. His son Sunil Shastri asks government to unravel mystery behind Lal
Bahadur Shastri's death. Raising doubts about the dark blue spots and cut marks on
the abdomen of his father's body after his death in 1966, Shastri's son Sunil
asked how the cut marks appeared, if a post-mortem was not conducted.
The government had admitted no
post-mortem was conducted on Shastri. However, his personal doctor RN Chugh and
some Russian doctors conducted a medical examination. The Russian butler
attending on Shastri at the time of his death was arrested for suspected
poisoning but released later as per the news source. It was maintained that
Shastri had died of cardiac arrest but his family insisted he was poisoned. .
When Shastri went to USSR for the
Tashkent talks, he wanted a promise from Ayub Khan that Pakistan would never
use force in the future. But the talks did not proceed. What followed the next
day was Shastri’s Death. Indian Government released no information about his death
and the media then was kept silent. The possible existence of a conspiracy was
covered in India by the Outlook magazine. A query was later posed by Anuj Dhar,
author of CIA's Eye on South Asia, under the Right
to Information Act to declassify a document supposedly
related to Shastri's death, but the Prime Minister's Office
refused to oblige, reportedly citing that this could lead to harming of foreign
relations, cause disruption in the country and cause breach of parliamentary
privileges. Another RTI plea by Kuldip Nayar was also declined as PMO
cited exemption from disclosure on the plea. The home ministry is yet to
respond to queries whether India conducted a post-mortem on Shastri and if the
government had investigated allegations of foul play. The Delhi Police in their
reply to an RTI application said they do not have any record pertaining to
Shastri's death. The Ministry of External Affairs has already said no
post-mortem was conducted in USSR. The Central Public Information Officer of
Delhi Police in his reply dated 29 July said, "No such record related to
the death of the former Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri is available
in this district... Hence the requisite information pertaining to New Delhi
district may please be treated as nil." This has created more doubts.
The PMO answered only two questions
of the RTI application saying it has only one classified document pertaining to
the death of Shastri which is exempted from disclosure under the RTI Act. It
sent rest of the questions to Ministry of External Affairs and Home Ministry to
answer. The MEA said only document from the erstwhile Soviet Government is
"the report of the Joint Medical Investigation conducted by a team comprising
Dr. R. N. Chugh, Doctor in-Attendance to the PM and some Russian doctors"
and added no post-mortem was conducted in the USSR. The Home
Ministry referred the matter to Delhi Police and National Archives for the
response pertaining to any post-mortem conducted on the body of Shastri in
India. Sunil Shastri, son of the former Prime Minister, called the transferring
of application as "absurd" and "silly joke". "He (Lal
Bahadur Shastri) died as sitting Prime Minister. It sounds very silly that MHA
is referring the matter of death of second Prime Minister of India to a
district level police." He also demanded that "It should be looked
into by highest authorities like President, Prime Minister and home minister."
Legacy
little in common with his
predecessor Jawaharlal Nehru. While Shastri preferred peace with Pakistan, writing to a
friend after the Indo-Pakistani War in 1965 that the problems between both
countries should be settled amicably, he had previously displayed a knack for
taking quick and decisive actions during the war. He swiftly took the advice of his commanders, and ordered a
strike across the Punjab border. This was in stark contrast to Nehru who in a similar
situation in 1962, had refused to call in the air force to relieve the pressure
on the ground troops. At the end of the conflict, Shastri flamboyantly posed for
a photograph on top of a captured Patton tank.
However, in common with Nehru,
Shastri was a secularist who refused to mix religion with politics. In a public
meeting held at the Ram Lila grounds in Delhi, a few days after the ceasefire,
he complained against a BBC report which claimed that Shastri's identity as a Hindu
meant that he was ready for a war with Pakistan. He stated:
"While I am a Hindu, Mir
Mushtaq who is presiding over this meeting is a Muslim. Mr. Frank Anthony who has addressed you is a Christian. There are also Sikhs
and Parsis here. The unique thing about our country is that we have Hindus,
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis and people of all other religions. We have
temples and mosques, gurdwaras and churches. But we do not bring all
this into politics. This is the difference between India and Pakistan. Whereas
Pakistan proclaims herself to be an Islamic State and uses religion as a
political factor, we Indians have the freedom to follow whatever religion we
may choose, and worship in any way we please. So far as politics is concerned,
each of us is as much an Indian as the other."
Kuldip Nayar, Shastriji's media advisor from 1960 to 1964, recalls that,
during the Quit India Movement, his daughter was ill and he was released on parole from
jail. However, he could not save her life because doctors had prescribed costly
drugs. Later on in 1963, on the day when he was dropped from the cabinet, he
was sitting in his home in the dark, without a light. When asked about the
reason, he said as he no longer is a minister, all expenses will have to be
paid by himself and that as a MP and minister he didn't earn enough to save for
time of need.
Although Shastri had been a cabinet
minister for many years in the 1950s, he was poor when he died. All he owned at
the end was an old car, which he had bought in instalments from the government
and for which he still owed money. He was a member of Servants of India society
(which included Gandhiji, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna
Gokhle) which asked all its members to
shun accumulation of private property and remain in public life as servants of
people. He was the first railway minister who resigned from office following a
major train accident as he felt moral responsibility.
The foundation stone of Bal
Vidya Mandir, a distinguished school of Lucknow,
was laid by him during his tenure as the Prime Minister, on November 19, 1964.
Memorials
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, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of
Administration (Mussorie, Uttarakhand) 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. Today Lal Bhadur Shastri Memorial run by Lal Bahadur
Shastri National Memorial Trust, is situated next to 10 Janpath his residence as Prime Minister, at 1, Motilal Nehru Place, New Delhi. In 2011, on Shastri’s
45th death anniversary, Uttar Pradesh Government announced to renovate Shastri’s ancestral house
at Ramnagar in Varanasi and declared plans to convert it into a biographical
museum.
Varanasi International Airport is named after him.
In 2005, the Government of India
created a chair in his honour in the field of democracy and governance at Delhi University.
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