India in The Shadow of Gandhi and Nehru

In the year 1966, Guru Dutt worte a book under the title of ‘Jawaharlal Nehru—a Critical Study’. The book was so controversial that it gave rise to the rumour that it had been proscribed by the Government of India. In 1967 certain newspapers did come out with the news that steps were in progress to proscribe the book and prosecute its author. However, nothing of the kind took place.

The present book is a deep study of the words and deeds of Nehru and Gandhi.

The author has taken great pains in critically studying the activities and philosophies of these two eminent personalities of our country and placing before the reader the other side of the picture. His thesis is based on works of Nehru himself and also on works of other eminent writers of the day. He was referred to more than 200 quotations which support and lead to his logical analysis. How far he succeeded in piercing through the many walls of prejudices which sustain the pet notions about, them it is for the reader to ponder and judge.

Born in 1894 in Lahore, Guru Dutt, having obtained his M.Sc. degree, joined the Government College, Lahore, as a Demonstrator but later resigned and joined the Congress-sponsered National School as its Headmaster. The school was closed down for political reasons and Guru Dutt had to leave Lahore in search of pastures new.

His first work was 'Swadheenta ke Path Par' in Hindi published in 1942 and this won him a place among the top-ranking writers.

His contribution consiste of 190 works of fiction and about thirty studies of Vedic and philosophical scriptures. Most popular among the novels are 'Zamana Badal Gaya' (4 vols.), 'Do Lehron Ki Takkar' (2 vols.), 'Vishwasghat', 'Desh Ki Hatya' (Unique work based on the events of partition).

Among studies are 'Vedas and the Vedic Kaal' Vedon Mein Som, Vedon Mein Indra, Srishti Rachna, Vigyan & Vigyan.

Jawaharlal Nehru was a great man. He had a powerful soul and a strong physique. It looks as if a soul which had done some very good deeds in its previous life had incarnated in the present body. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had the opportunity of getting the so-called Western education early in life. Born in a respectable family, he enjoyed popular regard and affection, gathered a following of hundreds of millions of people, and assumed undisputed rule over vast this country of India.

Nehru was a handsome person, and wore almost a hypnotic influence. It is said that there were women who, when they met him, danced around him. His body was not only handsome, it was healthy also. On going through his life-history, one will find that he rarely fell ill and that even after many hours of continuous arduous work, he never had felt tired. He remained busy working throughout the whole of his life.

India got a good soul as its ruler. It should have been very fortunate thing for the country but it was not so. Why? The present work provides the answer to this question.

Indian philosophers say that the actions of a man depend upon his ability and bent of mind (B~H:). Circumstances of his birth, his family status and the opportunities he gets in life, are the fruit of the deeds of his past birth, but with all these assets at one's disposal, one can derive benefits from them only by one's efforts in this life. To benefit from the opportunities preferred by the deeds of his previous life, right kind of effort made in the right direction is necessary. This is best proved by studying the life and works of Nehru. A good body, wealth and best opportunity to do public good, everything was there. Still to what depths of degradation this gentleman has taken the country is a matter for serious study and reflection.

Much has been written on Gandhiji and Nehru and much more might be written about them yet. In spite of all that has been said in the past and all that might be said yet more- we have decided to write this analytical account so that the words and deeds of these historical personalities could be reviewed in a true perspective, so that the thoughtful sections of the people in the country might realise that the crying needs of the people will not be served by following in the- foot-steps of these fortune-favoured persons who had led it for long years. Even to this day, one can see that so much damage has been done that it may take a century or more to redeem the country of it.

It has become a custom that only praises are sung of the leaders after their death. What attribute was not in these leaders, what they themselves had never claimed, is attributed to them and thereby innocent, credulous people are being mentally led into ways of distorted thinking and reasoning.

On the one hand, Nehru is taken as a rationalist, a scientist, a progressivist, a socialist, a nationalist and a politician ~ but on the other hand, he is described as a God-fearing religious man.

Over and above this, his party men are presenting his statements, his policies, his thoughts and actions before the people as ideals. It is, therefore, for the good of India and particularly of Hindu Society that Nehru's and Gandhiji's- thoughts and actions are placed before the people and a pro- per, unbiased analysis of these is attempted.

As stated above, Nehru was a great soul. He was al] that, but hardly anything more than that. We agree thus far with the other writers. But a man is not merely a soul. He is not even a body only. There is a link between the body and the soul. That link is mind and intellect. In our opinion this link in Nehru was of the weakest kind. And especially because of it, Jawaharlal invariably took wrong paths in doing things. Nehru's Sanskaras (upbringing) were defective and his intellect was very weak. Sanskaras are of one's environment, education and association, while intellect is inherited, no doubt, but it can be developed by proper education and direction.

If the intellect is distorted or weak, but the Sanskaras are good, the intellect can be made strong and clear. Yoga Darsh an (Yoga School of philosophy) prescribes the methods for it. In the case of Jawaharlal Nehru the Sanskaras were not good enough and so the intellect could not be improved. The results have been disastrous.

Had Nehru's deeds in his past birth been not so good as to make him a leader, his weak intellect, and the defective upbringing would not have proved so harmful. Being the son of a leading lawyer, Pt. Motilal Nehru, and a favourite colleague of Mahatma Gandhi, a hypnotic personality and possessing a handsome and strong body, he, even with a weak intellect and bad upbringing became the leader of the simple-minded Hindus who abound in India, and caused the present disaster. If the Hindus had even a little of the foresight, this man could never have been accepted as the country's leader.

Man is the combination of body, mind, intellect and soul. 'In a man, the body is a chariot, the soul its charioteer, mind its driver, intellect its reins,' so says the Upanishad. We cannot judge a man only by his body and the soul (the chariot and the charioteer). A charioteer can be a very good person. He can have a very strong and beautiful chariot also, but by these two things, no one can judge that the chariot will move in the right direction. One will have to consider the possible direction towards which the driver will take the chariot. The driver has to act under instructions of the charioteer.

In the case of Jawaharlal Nehru, in our opinion, the driver (his mind) and the reins (his intellect) were not functioning properly and the chariot was not moving in the right direction. This was the reason that, in spite of the supreme efforts, his body acting under the influence of his mind and intellect, produced disastrous results. Should our country continue to go the same path, it must mean that it is heading towards an abysmal fall.

A handsome person, seated in a beautiful chariot, was asking the multitude standing at the cross roads to follow• him. The people seeing the beautiful chariot and the hand- some look of the charioteer, followed him. The mass of the multitude following him did not find that the chariot was going in the right direction. The ill luck was that the minds and intellect of the people were also processed in the same factory in which those of the charioteer were processed. Therefore they followed the charioteer as a matter of course.

No doubt, Nehru's mind and intellect had done something. India has moved upto a pattern of industrialization with some speed. But the fact is that nations or countries cannot survive solely by industrial progress. Germany has twice foundered by mistaking her unique industrial expansion for strength. If Germany has survived today, it is because of the American help. The example of East Germany is before us.

During British rule in India, many new industries were started, but it is a fact that people, economically and mentally, were more unhappy and backward than in the Muslim period. Today many more industries have been started by independent India, but people are more demoralized and unhappy than they were in the days of the British.

This is the direct consequence of Nehru's policies. It will be a great sin Oil the part of historians if they do not examine and discuss this state of affairs while writing on the policies and actions of the Government under Nehru. Conditions deteriorated steeply in every field of life during the period of 1947-1964 and Nehru's policies and thoughts have contributed a good deal to all this.

All the same, there would have been little need for this book had the party in power not tried to paint a false picture of Jawaharlal in the receptive minds of the coming generation, of the young, innocent children in the schools and colleges. This is causing further degradation, and that too, at a rapid pace. It is probable that India may be shackled to a far worse form of slavery by this than she was ever before.

Our effort is directed towards arresting the flow of falsehood. We are aware of our limitation. In a country like India which spreads over an area of 12,59,756 sq. miles and is populated by more than 450 million of people, the voice of the present author can only be very feeble; but his effort, which is free from thought of self-interest and which he has undertaken with the sole object of public welfare, is the one consecrated to God's Sacred name.

It is customary in India for people to follow the lead of, so to say, great persons. This is something of the 'personality cult'. In this country this cult has a history too. It was the outcome of Vedanta (Advaita-vaad) and the Vaishnaoa movements. Both these movements have banned the use of intellect. Maharshi Badrayana, with his unique knowledge and power of reasoning, proved the existence of God, but the half-baked Pandits, on reading the unparalleled exposition of the Truth of God by the Maharshi, left off everything else and took up Brahma alone. Every- thing but the Brahma became 'illusion' for them. These people came to believe that all actions (Karma) bind them in the cycle of birth-and-death. Hence, for them, inactivity alone would bring liberation. Liberation is the ultimate aim of life and it is a state of actionlessness. This impelled the learned people to leave the world and take to the life of the recluse as far as possible.

Those who could not leave their homes took to Vaishnavoism. This implies complete faith in God and dependence on Him. Both these cults enjoined on their followers the method of implicitly following the precepts of their Gurus but not entering into dialogue with them. This was the beginning of the spread of the personality cult in India.

Vaishnavism laid great stress on purity of body and mind. Mental purity is a matter of one's own lookout, but bodily purity became a social subject and this gave ideas of untouchability and put a ban on overseas travels. In this way Vaishnavism led to mental degradation more than Advaitism.

While both these cults virtually banned the use of the it. tellect and enjoined implicit faith in the gurus, yet they laid down, a high standard of moral code. The Dharma as propounded by Manu remained intact even in the periods of political subjection. This high standard of life, combined with untouchability, created conditions which swelled the ranks of those who were outside the fold of Hinduism.

Implicit faith in the religion and the gurus kept the Hindu community intact and unaffected by the demoralizing effect of the foreign rule. At the same time it could not devise ways and means to liquidate the state of things which .led to foreign rule. However, the community remained basically immune from the foreign influence. The customs and the moral codes kept the people protected, as in a citadel. But this citadel was eventually infiltrated and invaded by the forces created by the working of the British educational system.

Education affects the upbringing, which influences by and large the intellect (~f~). The British Government, it seems, was aware of this fact and in order that the people of the country may be persuaded to view things in the way they wanted them to do, they took the subject of education of the people in their own hands.