ABOUT THE BOOK
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:Description
In the year of the fiftieth death anniversary of Jawaharlal
Nehru, this timely book has ventured to review Nehru`s contribution in shaping
trajectories of political developments in pre and post-independent India. In
the process, it covers a wide canvas of ideas, ideologies, personalities and
events that were most significant in Nehru`s political career as a freedom
fighter (1920-1947) and the first Prime Minister of India (1947-1964).
In his relentlessly persuasive narrative, the
author not merely argues that Nehru was the tallest leader of independent India
but he places Nehru next only to his master, Mahatma Gandhi. On the one hand,
the author gives credit to Nehru for recasting Gandhian ideas within the
framework of modernity, while on the other hand, he is conscious of the fact
that Nehru parted company with Gandhi as a modernizer and built foundations of
heavy industry, constructed large dams and chose to run Indian National
Congress (INC) as an umbrella party, even though Gandhi would have liked it to be
dissolved after independence. The author asserts that even though Nehru`s
emancipatory project of development did take cognizance of Marxist ideas, he
was uncomfortable with dogmatic and doctrinaire views of Indian communists who
looked for inspiration from outside to formulate their plan of action in India.
Consequently, he chose to oppose them in domestic politics. After observing all
the protocols of scholarship and going through the relevant primary sources in
minute details, the author has refrained from squeezing Nehru`s policies into
any straitjacket schematic framework by either dubbing them as idealistic or
realistic. Instead, he has explored complexities that shaped such policies in
order to come to terms with the making of modern India.
As Prof. Harshe very appropriately points out in
his Foreword to the book – `being a sensitive scholar, the author has virtually
stepped into Nehru`s shoes to appreciate the circumstances in which he had to
take decisions while dealing with difficult situations.`
Furthermore, the book has analysed a few
controversial decisions of Nehru in the period under review, such as
Nehru`s role vis-a-vis a Congress - League coalition government in U.P. in
1937, the stand that he took in the Subhash Bose episode of 1939, his press
conference in Bombay on July 10th 1946 (which according to some led to India`s
partition), as also his China and Kashmir policy after India`s independence.
This has also prompted the author to discuss the policy of non-alignment in all
its dimensions.
The sound academic analysis in this study
results in the emergence of a clear picture of Nehru`s immense
contribution to the processes of nation-building in India and sensitizes the
readers to the difficult circumstances under which such contribution was
constantly being made.
ABOUT Author
fjrigjwwe9r0pp_Books:aboutAuthor
Dr.
N.G. Rajurkar, Professor Emeritus (Political Science), Osmania
University- a renowned political scientist, is known for his lifelong passion
for studies on Gandhi, Nehru and India`s freedom struggle. He has taught and
inspired his students for more than 4 decades, with his profound grasp of the
subject and extraordinary teaching abilities. He has several awards to his
credit including the best Teachers award of the government of Andhra Pradesh as
also the esteemed Maharshi Vithal Ramji Shinde award of the government of
Maharashtra for his creative work, entitled `Pratibimba`. He has given
memorable keynote addresses and has chaired prestigious international seminars
in India and abroad. Besides, he delivered lectures on `India`s movement for
freedom`, before the members of the Indian parliament and other dignitaries in
December 1991. Mr. Shivraj Patil, the then Speaker of the Lok Sabha had
presided over those lectures. Dr. Rajurkar was Visitor`s nominee (President of
India`s nominee) on the Social Sciences Committee of the central university of
Jamia Millia Islamia, for three years. He was conferred the degree of Doctor of
Literature (Social Sciences), by the Punjabi University, Patiala, in December
2010. As a scholar, teacher and academic administrator, his humane outlook has
earned him a formidable reputation.
Dr. Rajurkar is a polyglot with keen interest in
English, Hindi, Urdu, and Marathi literature. His speeches and writings have
their own artistic sensibilities and a natural flair that renders them
interesting even when they are on highly technical subjects.