“AN EVALUATION OF JAWAHARLAL NEHRU'S IDEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT: FROM FREEDOM FIGHTER TO NATION-BUILDER”

Abstract

This paper examines the ideological growth of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, tracing his development from a freedom fighter to a nation-builder. Nehru's childhood, tinged as it was with noblesse oblige and exposure to the grand traditions of Western intellect, provided the groundwork for his broad liberal vision. Thus, while passing through the doors of reputed schools like Harrow, Cambridge, and the Inner Temple, he became familiar with a much larger perspective regarding political thought, nationalism, social justice, and subsequent on application to India's freedom movement. The influence of British colonialism was not insignificant while forming Nehru's critique of imperialism, which in turn influenced his vision of a democratic, secular, and socialist India. Being an Indian National Congress member and within the Gandhian movement, he remained highly committed to non-violent resistance and mass mobilization. Being India's very first Prime Minister, his policies of central planning, industrialization, and creating a public sector economy showed his vision for an independent, modern India. Yet, an authoritarian leadership like this was not lost in his democratic approaches and strategies toward national unity. In short, Nehru's ideological journey was part of the making of post-colonial India: forward, social justice, and rebuild a nation that for two centuries had been torn under rule by colonial powers.