Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964)

Born on 14 November 1889, in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), India, Jawaharlal Nehru was part of a prominent political family. His father, Motilal Nehru, was a respected lawyer and a key figure in the Indian National Congress. One of Jawaharlal’s sisters, Vijaya Lakshmi, later became the first female president of the United Nations General Assembly.

Jawaharlal was educated in England at Harrow, and later at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied natural sciences. Here, Nehru was exposed to Western political thought and continued to develop a strong nationalist consciousness. He trained in law, and was called to the bar in 1912. That year, he returned to India, but was unenthused by a career in law. He joined the Indian National Congress, becoming an active participant in the fight against British colonial rule.

A close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru became committed to nonviolent civil disobedience, and was imprisoned nine times during the 1930s and 1940s. Between 1934–5, while in gaol, Nehru penned an autobiography – ‘in a mood of self-questioning’ – which outlined many of his views on organised religion, alongside exploring his personal and political development.

In the same work, Nehru expressed his distaste for the pursuit of religious salvation or spiritual growth in lieu of practical work for humanity. Echoing the secularist freethinkers of the 19th century, he wrote:

…the usual religious outlook does not concern itself with this world. It seems to me to be the enemy of clear thought, for it is based not only on the acceptance without demur of certain fixed and unalterable theories and dogmas, but also on sentiment and emotion and passion… And organised religion invariably becomes a vested interest and thus inevitably a reactionary force opposing change and progress.

Jawaharlal Nehru, ‘What is Religion’ in An Autobiography (1936)

For Nehru, secularism – which would keep religious beliefs separate from the affairs of the State, and enable pluralism and tolerance – was the solution to:

political conflict between those who wanted a free, united, and democratic India and certain reactionary and feudal elements who, under the guise of religion, wanted to preserve their special interests. Religion, as practiced and exploited in this way by its votaries of different creeds, seemed to me a curse and a barrier to all progress, social and individual. Religion, which was supposed to encourage spirituality and brotherly feeling, became the fountainhead of hatred, narrowness, meanness, and the lowest materialism.

As a statesman, Nehru’s vision was one of economic development and secular democracy. His emphasis on education and scientific temper was reflected in the establishment of institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Committed to providing free and compulsory primary education to India’s children, he oversaw the creation of new schools and rural enrolment programmes. During the Cold War, Nehru was a proponent of non-alignment, advocating for a foreign policy independent of the superpower blocs. He played a crucial role in the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement, promoting peace and cooperation among developing nations.

Jawaharlal Nehru died on 27 May 1964, remembered as the architect of modern India. At a memorial service held in New York, the United Nations’ C.V. Narasimhan praised Nehru for his ‘faith in the human spirit… belief in the concept of the secular state… and faith in the concept of peaceful change’.