Letters: Nehru, the democrat

This refers to Devangshu Datta's column "The man who could have been dictator" (Viewpoint, May 31). The fact is that the democrat in Jawaharlal Nehru was so dominant that the idea of being a dictator would not occur to him. But this inedible personality trait, which was the product of his intellectual political convictions, benefited him too. One example is Hyderabad. As elaborated by H V R Iyengar, Nehru's formidable principal secretary (later governor of RBI) in one of his writings, Nehru was opposed to the idea of military intervention in Hyderabad, due to apprehensions of its communal as well as international repercussions. He was, therefore, "prepared to tolerate the existence of the State of Hyderabad with a Muslim ruler having a special relationship with the Central Government". Such an idea, however, was intolerable to Nehru's deputy Vallabhbhai Patel, who strongly felt that apart from being unfair to a few hundred other princes who had surrendered their kingdoms to India, Hyderabad, in the form proposed, would continue to be governed by the anti-Indian militant force of Razakars. Because of its location, Hyderabad would be an "ulcer" in the body of India. Patel, therefore, decided to eliminate Nizamhood from Hyderabad and annex his "dominion" to India. And Nehru, as a democrat, yielded to the Patel's wishes. As a result, Hyderabad became indelibly ours.

One of Nehru's many memorable achievements is the country's electoral system, which enabled a new government to be formed in India on the very day of his 50th anniversary. That it is a government of a party different from his own is yet another evidence of the success of the system he founded.

R C Mody New Delhi

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