Shastri, a humble Indian PM whose birthday many tend to forget

For India, October 2 is a historic day, when the country celebrates birth anniversaries of both Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri

India is on Friday celebrating the birth anniversaries of two of its great leaders. While most people know October 2 as Gandhi Jayanti, a day to pay tribute to Mohanadas Karamchand Gandhi, the father of the nation, few seem to remember as well that it is also the birth anniversary of India’s second prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri.

However, the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’, coined by Shastri to honour the contribution of farmers and soldiers to India during the Indo-Pak war of 1965, is not unknown to the country’s citizens.

Shastri, a true Gandhian himself, was a man who liked to stay grounded and work for the underprivileged. It was Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement that had inspired Shastri to join India’s freedom struggle. Later, in Independent India, he served as the Union home minister, external affairs minister and prime minister. 

On his 111 th  birth anniversary, Business Standard lists the key things to know about Shastri.

Life as a student and the name Shastri

Born as Lal Bahadur Verma in Varanasi, he later dropped his caste-derived surname. Shastri was a title that he had received after graduating from Kashi Vidyapith. He was inspired by Swami Vivekananda, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Annie Besant and Gandhi.

A satyagrahi

When Gandhi called students from schools and colleges to drop out of government schools and join the non-cooperation movement, Shastri left his school and became part of the movement. He was arrested several times and spent almost nine years in jail during the freedom struggle.

First arrest and release

He was first arrested when he was 17 years old and released, as he was a minor.

Work with Gandhi

Shastri hated the class and cast discrimination rampant in India of the day and worked for the uplift of the Harijans under Gandhi’s leadership. 

Indian politics and positions held

After India’s Independence, Shastri worked in many positions before becoming a Cabinet minister. These included his stints as parliamentary secretary in Uttar Pradesh, the minister of police and transport in UP, and general secretary of the All-India Congress Committee.

In 1952, he became the Union minister of railways and transport. And in the next government, in 1957, the minister of commerce, and later home minister. He became Minister of external Affairs in 1964. After the death of Jawarhalal Nehru, the first prime minister of Independent India, Shastri became the prime minister.

As a young minister

As the minister of transport, he was the first to let women become conductors. He also set the precedence of using water jets to disperse crowds, instead of lathi charge.

As Prime Minister

When he became the PM, a young India was struggling with a shortage of food, as the Indo-China war had seriously affected the economy.

In 1965, an Indo-Pak war started, further denting India’s security and economy. To inspire farmers and soldiers, he gave the famous slogan, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’. 

The mysterious death

In 1966, to establish peace between its neighbouring countries, Russia mediated a meeting in Tashkent. A treaty was signed between India and Pakistan over return and exchange of territories. However, after signing the treaty on January 10, 1966, the strong but humble PM died the same night due to heart attack. It was said Shastri was going to ask Pakistan to sign a pact to never attack India in future.

Many argue that Shastri’s death, under mysterious circumstances, might not have been due to a natural cause.