lal bahadur shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Second Prime Minister of the Republic of India.
1. Biography
Born: October 2, 1904
Died: January 10, 1966
Achievements: Played a leading role in Indian freedom struggle; became Parliamentary Secretary of Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant, the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh; became the Minister of Police and Transport in Pants Cabinet; appointed as the Railways and Transport Minister in the Central Cabinet; also held the portfolios of Transport & Communications, Commerce and Industry, and Home Ministry in the Central cabinet; became Prime Minister of India in 1964; led India to victory over Pakistan in 1965 war.Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of independent India. Though diminutive in physical stature he was a man of great courage and will. He successfully led country during the 1965 war with Pakistan. To mobilize the support of country during the war he coined the slogan of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. Lal Bahadur Sastri also played a key role in Indias freedom struggle. He led his life with great simplicity and honesty and was a great source of inspiration for all the countrymen.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1904 at Mughalsarai, Uttar Pradesh. His parents were Sharada Prasad and Ramdulari Devi. Lal Bahadurs surname was Srivastava but he dropped it as he did not want to indicate his caste. Lal Bahadurs father was a school teacher and later on he became a clerk in the Revenue Office at Allahabad. Though Sharada Prasad was poor, he lived a life of honesty and integrity. Lal Bahadur lost his father when he was only one. Ramdulari Devi raised Lal Bahadur and her two daughters at her fathers house.There is a very famous incident regarding Lal Bahadur Shastris childhood which took place when he was six years old. One day, while returning from school, Lal Bahadur and his friends went to an orchard that was on the way to home. Lal Bahadur Shastri was standing below while his friends climbed the trees to pluck mangoes. Meanwhile, the gardener came and caught hold of Lalbahadur Shastri. He scolded Lal Bahadur Shastri and started beating him. Lal Bahadur Shastri pleaded to gardener to leave him as he was orphan. Taking pity on Lal Bahadur, the gardener said, Because you are an orphan, it is all the more important that you must learn better behavior. These words left a deep imprint on Lal Bahadur Shastri and he swore to behave better in the future.

Lal Bahadur stayed at his grandfathers house till he was ten. By that time he had passed the sixth standard examination. He went to Varanasi for higher education. In 1921 when Mahatma Gandhi launched the non cooperation movement against British Government, Lal Bahadur Shastri, was only seventeen years old. When Mahatma Gandhi gave a call to the youth to come out of Government schools and colleges, offices and courts and to sacrifice everything for the sake of freedom, Lal Bahadur came out of his school. Though his mother and relatives advised him not to do so, he was firm in his decision. Lal Bahadur was arrested during the Non cooperation movement but as he was too young he was let off.After his release Lal Bahadur joined Kashi Vidya Peeth and for four years he studied philosophy. In 1926, Lal Bahadur earned the degree of Shastri After leaving Kashi Vidya Peeth, Lal Bahadur Shastri joined The Servants of the People Society, which Lala Lajpat Rai had started in 1921. The aim of the Society was to train youths that were prepared to dedicate their lives in the service of the country. In 1927, Lal Bahadur Shastri married Lalitha Devi. The marriage ceremony was very simple and Shastriji took only a charkha (spinning wheel) and few yards of Khadi in dowry.

In 1930, Gandhiji gave the call for Civil Disobedience Movement. Lal Bahadur Shastri joined the movement and encouraged people not to pay land revenue and taxes to the government. He was arrested and put in jail for two and a half years. In jail Shastriji became familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries and social reformers. Lal Bahadur Shastri had great self respect. Once when he was in prison, one of his daughters fell seriously ill. The officers agreed to release him out for a short time but on condition that he should agree in writing not to take part in the freedom movement during this period. Lal Bahadur did not wish to participate in the freedom movement during his temporary release from prison; but he said that he would not give it in writing. He thought that it was against his self respect to give it in writing.

After Second World War started in 1939, Congress launched Individual Satyagraha in 1940 to demand freedom. Lal Bahadur Shastri was arrested during Individual Satyagraha and released after one year. On August 8, 1942, Gandhiji gave the call for Quit India Movement. Lal Bahadur actively participated in the movement. He went underground but was later arrested. Lal Bahadur Shastri was released in 1945 along with other major leaders. He earned the praise of Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant by his hard work during the 1946 provincial elections. Lal Bahadurs administrative ability and organization skills came to the fore during this time. When Govind Vallabh Pant became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he appointed Lal Bahadur Shastri as his Parliamentary Secretary. In 1947, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Minister of Police and Transport in Pants Cabinet.

Lal Bahadur Sastri was the General Secretary of the Congress Party when the first general elections were held after India became Republic. Congress Party returned to power with a huge majority. In 1952, Jawahar Lal Nehru appointed Lal Bahadur Shastri as the Railways and Transport Minister in the Central Cabinet. Lal Bahadur Shastris contribution in providing more facilities to travelers in third class compartments cannot be forgotten. He reduced the vast disparity between the first class and third class in the Railways. Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from Railways in 1956, owning moral responsibility for a railway accident. Jawaharlal Nehru tried to persuade Shastriji but Lal Bahadur Shastri refused to budge from his stand. By his action Lal Bahadur Shastri set new standards of morality in public life.In the next general elections when Congress returned to power, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Minister for Transport and Communications and later the Minister for Commerce and Industry. He became the Home Minister in 1961, after the death of Govind Vallabh Pant. In the 1962 India China war Shastriji played a key role in maintaining internal security of the country.

After the death of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri was unanimously elected as the Prime Minister of India. It was a difficult time and the country was facing huge challenges. There was food shortage in the country and on the security front Pakistan was creating problems. In 1965, Pakistan tried to take advantage of Indias vulnerability and attacked India. Mild mannered Lal Bahadur Shastri rose to the occasion and led the country ably. To enthuse soldiers and farmers he coined the slogan of Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan. Pakistan lost the war and Shastrijis leadership was praised all over the world.In January 1966, to broker peace between India and Pakistan, Russia mediated a meeting between Lal Bahadur Shastri and Ayub Khan in Tashkent, Russia. India and Pakistan signed the joint declaration under Russian mediation. Under the treaty India agreed to return to Pakistan all the territories occupied by it during the war. The joint declaration was signed on January 10, 1966 and Lal Bahadur Shastri died of heart attack on the same night.

2. Life
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on October 2, 1904, to Ramdulari Devi and Sharada Prasad Shrivastava, in Moghalsarai, United Province (Uttar Pradesh). He shares his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation. Lal Bahadur was against the prevailing caste system and therefore decided to drop his surname. The title Shastri was given after the completion of his graduation at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi in 1925. The title Shastri refers to a scholar or a person, adept in the Holy Scriptures.His father Sharada Prasad, a schoolteacher by profession, passed away when Lal Bahadur was barely two years old. His mother Ramdulari Devi took him and his two sisters to their maternal grandfather Hazari Lals house. Lal Bahadur acquired virtues like boldness, love of adventure, patience, self control, courtesy, and selflessness in his childhood. After completing his primary education at Mirzapur, Lal Bahadur was sent to Varanasi, where he stayed with his maternal uncle.

Young Lal Bahadur, inspired with the stories and speeches of national leaders, developed a desire to participate in the Indian nationalist movement. He would also spend time by reading foreign authors like Marx, Russell and Lenin. In 1915, a speech of Mahatma Gandhi changed the course of his life and decided to jump into the fire of Indian freedom struggle.In order to participate actively in the freedom movement, Lal Bahadur neglected his studies. In 1921, during the non cooperation movement, called by Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur was arrested for demonstrating in defiance of the prohibitory order. Sine he was a minor then, the authority had to release him. In 1928, Lal Bahadur Shastri married Lalita Devi, the youngest daughter of Ganesh Prasad. He was against the prevailing dowry system and so refused to accept dowry. However, on the repeated urging of his father in law, he agreed to accept only five yards of khadi (cotton, usually handspun) cloth as dowry.

3. Active Nationalist
In 1930, Lal Bahadur Shastri became the secretary of the Congress party and later the president of the Allahabad Congress Committee. He played a crucial role during the Salt Movement. Lal Bahadur lead a door to door campaign, urging people not to pay land revenue and taxes to the British authority. The leader was also sent to jail for the campaign. During the long span of nine years he spent in jails, Lal Bahadur utilized the time in reading the social reformers and western philosophers. He was one of the leading and prominent faces that continued the Quit India movement, called by Mahatma Gandhi. Lal Bahadur, in 1937, was elected to the UP Legislative Assembly.
4. Post Independence
Lal Bahadur Shastri had served in various positions before being elected as the Prime Minister. After Independence, he became the Minister of police in the Ministry of Govind Vallabh Panth in Uttar Pradesh. His recommendations included the introduction of water jets instead of sticks to disperse the unruly mob. Impressed with his efforts in reforming the state police department, Jawaharlal Nehru, invited Shastri to join the Union cabinet as a Minister for railways. He was a responsible man and known for his ethics and morality. In 1956, Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned from his post, following a train accident that killed around 150 passengers near Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu. Nehru, had once said, No one could wish for a better comrade than Lal Bahadur, a man of the highest integrity and devoted to ideas.Lal Bahadur Shastri returned to the Cabinet in 1957, first as the Minister for Transport and Communications, and then as the Minister of Commerce and Industry. In 1961, he became Minister for Home and formed the Committee on Prevention of Corruption headed by of K. Santhanam.
5. Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru was succeeded by a mild mannered and soft spoken Lal Bahadur Shastri on 9 June, 1964. He was a follower of Nehruvian socialism. Despite the strong influence and desire of becoming the Prime Minister, of some party stalwarts Shastri emerged as the consensus candidate.Shastri tackled many elementary problems like food shortage, unemployment and poverty. To overcome the acute food shortage, Shastri asked the experts to devise a long term strategy. This was the beginning of famous Green Revolution. Apart from the Green Revolution, he was also instrumental in promoting the White Revolution. The National Dairy Development Board was formed in 1965 during Shastri as Prime Minister.

After the Chinese aggression, the major cross border problems Shastri faced was caused by Pakistan. It sent her forces across the eastern border into the Rann of Kuch in Gujarat. Shastri showing his mettle, made it very clear that India would not sit and watch. While granting liberty to the Security Forces to retaliate He said, Force will be met with force.The Indo Pak war ended on 23 September 1965 after the United Nations passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire. The Russian Prime Minister, Kosygin, offered to mediate and on 10 January 1966, Lal Bahadur Shastri and his Pakistan counterpart Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Declaration.

6. Marriage
He got married to the Lalitha Devi of Mirzapur on 16th of May in 1928 and took a charkha and few yards of Khadi as a marriage gift.
7. Non cooperation movement
Till the age ten he stayed at his grandfathers home and had passed the 6th standard. He has completed his higher education from Varanasi. He had joined the non cooperation movement against British Government in 1921 by Mahatma Gandhi when he was only seventeen years old. Even he was arrested during that movement but he was firm in his decision. He took part in that movement even after advice from his mother and relatives to not to do so.
8. The servants of the people society
He joined the Kashi Vidya Peeth after his release and completed his philosophy study. He got the degree of Shastri in 1926 and after leaving Kashi Vidya Peeth he had joined the The Servants of the People Society started by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1921. The aim of the The Servants of the People Society was to aware youths about their responsibilities towards country.
9. Civil Disobedience Movement
In 1930, he joined the Civil Disobedience Movement as there was call to him from Gandhiji. He was called to join that movement in order to encourage people to oppose to pay land profits and taxes to the government. He had to go in jail for two and half years. He got familiar with all the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries as well as social reformers in the jail.
10. Individual Satyagraha
Individual Satyagraha was launched by the Congress in 1940 in order to demand freedom just after the Second World War in 1939. He got arrested for one year during that Individual Satyagraha as well. He again got a call from Gandhiji on August 8, 1942 for Quit India Movement. He took part very actively and got arrested for long. He met with the Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant and got good comments for his hard work throughout the 1946 provincial elections. He was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary of Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant (when Pandit Govind Vallabh Pant became the Chief Minister of UP). He became the Police and Transport Minister in Pants Cabinet in 1947.He became the Congress Partys General Secretary as soon as India became Republic. He again appointed as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet in 1952 by Jawahar Lal Nehru. His contribution for travelers in third class compartments is unforgettable because he had deducted the huge difference between the Railways first class and third class. He resigned from Railways in 1956 after a railway accident.

Again, when Congress came into the power, he became the Transport and Communications Minister and later Commerce and Industry Minister. In 1961, after the death of the Govind Vallabh Pant, he became the Home Minister. He had well maintained the internal security of the country in the India China war in 1962.He was respected the Bal Gangadhar Tilak too much and used to see him for long as well as hear his speech. Once Bal Gangadhar Tilak visited Varanasi and Lal Bahadur Shastri was fifty miles away from Varanasi in a village. He took some money from his friend and traveled in a train to see and hear the speech of Tilak. Tilaks speech ringed in his ears always and had great effect on his life. The greatest effect on his life was that of Mahatma Gandhi and he devoted his life to the country.