OVERVIEW AND EARLY LIFE :-
Lal Bahadur Shastri – A man of words and a man who always followed the path of simple living and high thinking. Only after following this mantra he became the second Prime Minister of the largest Republic of the World that is India.
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born in a very middle class family on 2nd October, 1904 in Mughalsarai, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India). His father name was Sharda Prasad Srivastava and his mother name was Ramdulari Devi. His father was a teacher in a school and later joined as a clerk in the revenue office located in Allahabad. His mother was also a teacher in a school. He started his education from East Central Railway Inter college and then took admission in Harish Chandra High School. Even from his early days, he fought for the rights of Dalits and other backward communities. He was full with patriotism and even left his studies during his High School and joined movements like Non – Cooperation Movement which were organized at that time to free India from cruel Britishers.
ROLE AS FREEDOM FIGHTER AND EARLY POLITICAL CAREER :-
Lal Bahadur Shastri was deeply influenced by the ideologies of Great Swami Vivekananda, Lala Lajpat Rai and Father of India Mahatma Gandhi. He actively participated in many nationalist movements organized by Mahatma Gandhi against the cruelty of Britishers and to make India independent. He was also a supporter of independent India’s First Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. When India got freedom from the Britishers after more than 200 years then he became the first Railway Minister of India from 1951-56. He gave his services by working as Minister in other departments also.
POLITICAL CAREER AS PM :-
A major turn around happened in his life and political career when PM Jawaharlal Nehru died on 27 May 1964. As the perception of Lal Bahadur Shastri was a Nehru’s ideology supporter and a soft but balanced speaking person at that time, he was considered as the best successor of Pandit Nehru. He was declared as the second Prime Minister of India on 9 June, 1964. In a speech which he gave after becoming the PM of India, he said :-
“There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the cross-roads of history and must choose which way to go. But for us, there need be no difficulty or hesitation, no looking to right or left. Our way is straight and clear—the building up of a socialist democracy at home with freedom and prosperity for all, and the maintenance of world peace and friendship with all nations.”
But his term as PM was full of obstacles. Just after one year as PM, India was forced to fight a ferocious war against Pakistan. It was a very devastating war. Pakistan started this war considering that Lal Bahadur Shastri was a weak PM and they can easily occupy large territories of India. But that was a big mistake by Pakistan. India fought the war with full dedication under the leadership of Shastri. During the war, there was a shortage of milk and food in India. To overcome this, Shastri fully supported the White Revolution and Green Revolution and gave the historic slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” to increase the production of milk and food respectively in India. It was fruitful and production increased significantly in India and made India “Atmanirbhar” in this field.
TASHKENT AGREEMENT AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH :-
India won the war and ceasefire was declared. Shastri and Ayub Khan from Pakistan attended a summit in Tashkent (now in modern Uzbekistan). On 10 January 1966, Shastri and Ayub Khan signed the Tashkent Declaration.
But after signing of this declaration, the next day he died in his room. Still it is unclear that how he died and many theories about his death are still available. It is still a mystery that what was the main reason of his death. But it is sure that India lost a gem like him. His memorial is located at Vijay Ghat in New Delhi.
Links :-
- https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/former_pm/shri-lal-bahadur-shastri/
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lal_Bahadur_Shastri
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