Jawaharlal Nehru greatly contributed towards the Indian Freedom Struggle as an active member of the Indian National Congress. After he returned to India in the year 1912 he started to work as a barrister in Allahabad while moving up the ranks of Congress during World War I. He first met Gandhi in the year 1916 at Lucknow session of Congress. It was to be the lifelong partnership between the two that lasted until the death of Gandhi. Under the mentorship of Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru quickly rose to fame and prominence, and by the year 1921 he was already one of the important leaders of Congress party.
As and when the British colonial administration outlawed the Congress party, Nehru, for the first time, went to the prison. And over the next eight years he served eight periods of detentions. Overall he spent over nine years in jail.
Non-Cooperation Movement by Jawaharlal Nehru
Major national movement of Nehru came with the start of non-cooperation movement in 1920. He also led the movement in the Uttar Pradesh. He, in the year 1921, was arrested on severe charges of anti-governmental activities, and was released a few months later. In the crack that formed within the fractions of Congress following the closure of non-cooperation movement after the Chauri Chaura incident, Nehru remained loyal to Gandhi and did not join the Swaraj Party formed by his father Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das.
Nehru, along with other freedom fighters, played a major role in the development of the internationalist outlook of the Indian freedom struggle. He also sought foreign allies for India and forged links with movements for democracy and freedom all over the world.
Civil Disobedience by Jawaharlal Nehru
Though in the beginning Nehru was sceptical about the Civil Disobedience led by Gandhi but soon joined the movement. He was arrested on 14th April 1930 while going to Raipur from Allahabad. Nehru nominated Gandhi to succeed him as Congress President while he was detained in jail, but Gandhi declined, and Nehru then nominated his father as his successor. With Nehru`s arrest the civil disobedience acquired a new tempo, and arrests, firing on crowds and lathi charges grew to be ordinary occurrences.
Jawaharlal Nehru Architect of India
Nehru was a pivotal force towards making of modern India. He also declared that main aims of congress were freedom of religion, right to form associations, freedom of expression of thought, equality before law for every individual without distinction of caste, colour, creed or religion, protection to regional languages and cultures, safeguarding the interests of the peasants and labour, abolition of untouchability, introduction of adult franchise, imposition of prohibition, nationalisation of industries, socialism, and establishment of a secular India. During his tenure as the president of the Indian National Congress he brought forth several reforms measures concerning both the national and foreign policies. Nehru, during his term as the Prime Minister, developed good relations with governments all over the globe. He, during a time when the world was under the threat of fascism, placed India strongly on the side of freedom and democracy. Jawaharlal Nehru was also given the accountability of planning the economy of a future India. He appointed the National Planning Commission in 1938 to help in framing such policies. However, many of the plans framed by Nehru and his colleagues would come undone with the unexpected partition of India in 1947.
