It is a pleasure to be with you this evening to celebrate the memory and contribution of our first Prime Minister, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.
He was the prime architect of the modern Indian nation-state. His was a life anchored firmly in parliamentary democracy. He had a steadfast belief in planned economic growth and a profound commitment to the development of scientific temper alongside the development of scientific and technological capabilities. To him, secularism — in which he firmly believed — meant the celebration of India’s many diversities while strengthening its fundamental unity.
His legacy continues to shape our everyday lives. Decades have gone by since his time, but he continues to serve as a beacon of light to millions of our countrymen and women. It is inevitable that such a monumental figure will have his life and work analysed and critiqued — and that is indeed as it should be.
Although the temptation to divorce him from his times and the challenges that he had to face and to look at him, devoid of the historical context in which he functioned has become quite widespread. Yet, while we welcome ongoing analysis of his contributions, what is not acceptable is the systematic attempt being made to denigrate, distort, demean and defame him.
The sole objective of this is to not only diminish him as a personality but also his universally recognised role in India's independence struggle and his early decades as a leader of an independent nation challenged by unprecedented problems, but it is also to demolish his multifaceted legacy in a crude and self-serving attempt to rewrite history. Analysis is one thing, but deliberate mischief with what he said, what he wrote and what he did is another thing and totally unacceptable.
And who are the forces that have launched this project? We all know that they have worked for years and years—for decades—and finally, here they are. They belong to an ideology that had no role whatsoever in our freedom movement, that had no role whatsoever in the making of our Constitution. In fact, they even burnt it and were totally against it.
It is an ideology that long ago fanned an atmosphere of hate that ultimately led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi ji. His killers today continue to be glorified by its adherents. It is an ideology that has consistently rejected the ideals of our founding fathers. It is an ideology with a bigoted and viciously communal outlook. Its approach to nationhood is based on stoking prejudices of all kinds.
Let there be no doubt whatsoever that the project to vilify Jawaharlal Nehru ji is the main objective of the ruling establishment today. Their goal is not just to erase him; it is actually to destroy the social, political, and economic foundations on which our nation has been founded and built.
The road ahead is not easy. But there is simply no option but for each one of us, individually and collectively, to stand up and confront this project. We not only owe it to the memory of Jawaharlal Nehru ji and his comrades—we owe it to ourselves, and even more to the coming generations.
The unapologetic and fierce defence of the Nehruvian legacy is not an act of nostalgia. It is a commitment to restoring India's constitutional promise, to safeguarding reason in the face of propaganda, and to ensuring that our republic remains modern and forward-looking. If we succeed, it will not only honour Jawaharlal Nehru ji's memory; it will ensure that the India he envisioned remains a reality.
At a time when tolerance in public life is shrinking, when dissent is painted as disloyalty, and history is reduced to partisan combat, Nehru ji's example becomes even more vital. He taught us that disagreement is not a threat but a democratic necessity—that unity does not demand uniformity; that a confident nation need not fear the truth about its past.
Friends, there is some reason for hope. Last month, the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund also launched an archive which can be accessed at nehruarchive.in. The archive is an easily searchable and freely downloadable digital archive—also, by the way, accessible on your smartphone.
At present, it covers the hundred published volumes of his selected works, covering the period from 1903 till the day before he died. The archive will continue to expand. So, there it will be for you all to access any time you want to know something about what he said, what he wrote, or what he did.
Sandeep Dixit's initiative, which has brought all of us here this evening, is another sincere attempt to take on this challenge of rescuing Nehru ji from the web of deception. And we need many, many more such initiatives across the length and breadth of our country.
I will end by congratulating Sandeep and his team and wishing him and his colleagues the very best in their endeavours.
Jai Hind!
: CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji at the launch of The Nehru Centre India
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