A seminar on ‘Re-reading Nehru’ held at Costford on Saturday called for preserving the Nehruvian legacy.
Addressing the seminar, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said ignoring Jawaharlal Nehru would amount to disregarding the spirit of India. “The Nehruvian legacy includes uncompromising and unflinching stand against communalism, steadfast devotion to democracy, the ability to listen to divergent views, promotion of scientific temper and a non-aligned foreign policy. Nehru’s concept of India was derived from the ideas of Gandhi and Tagore. This idea was unity in diversity. In my view, it is unity through diversity. Nehru taught us to celebrate diversity. We should have unity, not uniformity, in India. Only communal forces want uniformity,” he added.
He said Nehru showed no dictatorial trait. “He could have been a dictator. There was no one to challenge him for 17 years. He exercised authority, especially of the moral kind, without being authoritarian. He did not need to wear a coat with ‘Nehru’ written all over to prove his point. He did not do anything to undermine democracy.”
Mr. Ramesh described Nehru as an effective listener. “He sat through sessions in Parliament day in and day out. He listened to Communist leaders criticising him. In 1962, when a special session of Parliament was called during the Indo-China conflict, he listened to Atal Behari Vajpayee criticising him.”
He said all modern institutions in the country owed their inspiration to Nehru’s scientific vision. “He placed reason above everything else. He knew that there was a place for tradition in India, but none for superstition. He had respect for history, but none for prejudice. Nehru believed that India had a unique message to the world. Mahatma Gandhi symbolised that message,” he added. P. Rajeev, MP, CPI leader Benoy Viswam and journalist N. MadhavanKutty also spoke.
