Indias Faith in the UN: An Ideal Nehruvian legacy

Parminder S. Bhogal*
[Paper presented at the UGC National Seminar on NEHRUS IDEOLOGY AND HIS
LEGACY held by Department of Political Science, Punjabi University Patiala from
March 10-12, 1989]

Commenting upon Indias marathon association with the U.N and her
unquestionable faith in the U.N. Character, an observer aptly remarked, India and
the U.N. have enjoyed a sort of love-hate relationship, all through. With the
exception of perhaps only the two super powers, the policies of no country other
than India have been so immensely influenced by the dynamics of the U.N.
functioning during the past four decades. It is largely because of the
complimentarity between the foreign policy goals of free India and the objectives
of the U.N. as stated in the Character1.

Today when we look back at over 40 years long history of Indias

association with the UN, we clearly feel the presence of a noble and well defined
figure in the backdrop of the whole saga. That figure is that of Jawaharlal Nehru,
the late prime Minister, one man institution of the Indian foreign policy making.
Pandit Nehru the Colossus who for 17 years graciously symbolized the
independent Indias soul and true aspirations both with in as well as out side India,
actually wedded the Indian Foreign policy with the UN character. He remarked as
early as in 1946, towards the UN, Indias attitude is that of the whole hearted
cooperation and unrevised adherence in both spirit and letter to the Character
governing it. To that end India will participate fully in its various activities and
endeavor to play that role in its councils to with her geographical position,
population and contribution towards peaceful progress entitled her. 2

And for the rest of his life and even after him, the U.N. continued to
command major attention in all the international political strategies enacted and
followed by Jawaharlal Nehru. It became the battleground for Indias relentless
and ruthless struggle against, racialism, imperialism, colonialism, war and nuclear
armament threats. Dag Hammarskjold the late U.N. secretary, general paying a
tribute to Indias faith in the U.N. said, U.N. could not conceive of a single
conflict situation without the cooperation from the countries like India.3

Faith in the U.N.: An embodyment of the Nehruvian world view

 To Jawaharlal Nehru , the U.N. always appeared to be a positive
development towards a new world order , in which all nations big or small will be
treated equal and in which war will became obsolete and peace and co existence
shall prevail. This is not to say the least that Pandit Nehru led the India to join the
U.N. merely because he was swayed by such fanciful idealistic thought. On the
contrary his decision to enter the U.N. can be traced to a complex but pragmatic
nexus of thoughtful ideas which were the combination of the existing situations
and the future course for mankind. He was at the time always equally conscious of
the limitations and weaknesses of the U.N. He said in 1945 itself, Many of us
were doubtful of the profession of the U.N. when they were made, but few
realized, how they would be belied and betrayed so soon after the war4. At the
same time his optimism were never discouraged. Even after feeling tremendously
let down by the U.N. over Kashmir he felt very strongly about the usefulness of
this grand organization. He used to say, I have no doubt that the UNO with all its
weakness in enforcing its decisions-has been a power for peace in the world and it
may grow that way5.

Faith in the U.N. emerged out of the confluence of the different but
interrelated aspects of his pragmatic thought. He was a socialist to core. He would
say I am convinced that the only key to the solution of the worlds problems and
Indias problem lies in socialism. And when I use this word, I do so not in a vague
humanitarian way but in the scientific economic senseIt is a philosophy of life
and as such appeals me.6

He was an internationalist and was of the view that though

nationalism has a place in each country and should be fostered but it must not be
allowed to become aggressive and come in the way of internationalism,
Patriotism, he said, is no longer enough we want something higher and
nobler7.

And he was a democrat and a humanist. For him the popular opinion
and support was the most important motivating and guiding force. He considered
democracy as the best of all the various methods available for the governance of
human beings. H e was a man wedded to the peace. Co-operation and co-existence.

We can very clearly see all these aspects of his thought, converging and
focusing these in the idea behind the creation of U.N and Nehrus love for it. For
him the formation of U.N provided a golden opportunity towards the
establishment of a federation of nations in future, based upon the principles of
equality and democracy and there by root out war and violence for ever from the
human civilization. In his very first address to U.N general assembly as
Independent Indias first prime minister in Paris, he said very optimistically, let
no one think that any nation, any community can misbehave. The U.N. is here to
prevent any fear or hurt.8

Such tremendous faith in U.N. as I said earlier was not solely based
upon the idealistic and philosophical thinking and perception of the Nehru. Right
from the beginning he was viewing, like a realist, the occurring changes in the
world scenario as the world war 2nd was coming to an end. And he was able
enough to formulate Indian strategies accordingly. In 1939, the war is going to
change the face of the things. The old order is dead and cannot be revived. If we
are making for a new order ,let us do so consciously defining it clearly and acting
up to it from now on wards.9 He was positively realizing the potential of the
newly emerging situation in which in India would play a very important role. He
thought of non-alignment which was also in keeping with his ideological leanings
as discussed above .An organization like U.N. was obviously the best forum to
exhibit such a new policy. He wanted India to play an active and significant role in
the world affairs but this was only possible by playing independent and by not
aligning one self with any powered blocs. But such a role could only be played in a
democratic environment where independence and equality of nations was duly
recognized. The obvious answer was a world forum and it was the U.N. Thus he
realize the need for the membership of the U.N. which will ensure independence of
opinion and equality. Which India otherwise would have found difficult to
maintain .The whole story of success of the NAM in its initial years was greatly
dependent upon the U.N.

India of those times was militarily very weak and economically

dependant upon the west. Under such conditions India would not have been able to
perform that grand role which it otherwise played. But Indias heritage in terms of
its history and civilization was exceptionally rich and this helped India assert its
moral leadership, environment for which was again provided by the U.N.

Apprehending the changing environment Jawaharlal Nehru steered the

Indian foreign policy and thus became a voice of billions of oppressed Afro-Asian
people. Nehru was vehemently against colonialism, imperialism and racialism.
This, both because of his ideological inclinations and personal experience of him
as well as his leading comerades. He knew the utility of the U.N. forum in raising
his voice against these and in building consensus. And he was highly successful. In
fact it was India who for the first time challenged myth of the white superiority in
the U.N. There is a long story of Indias struggle against colonialism. Nehru was
jubilant when U.N. general assembly declared colonialism as illegal in 1960.

He was equally aware of the utility of the U.N. in the socio-economic

sphere of life of the human life and such Indian participation in the socio economic
council was always considerable.

Speaking from the U.N. radio from Lake Success in 1950 he said, it
is true that the high hope with which the U.N. was started have not been fulfilled.
At the same time there can be no doubt that mere fact of its existence saved us
from many dangers and conflict. Also there is no doubt that I the world of today it
is the only of finding the way for peaceful cooperation among nation. if the U.N.
ceases to be or it radically changes its position and nature , then there is nothing
left which would inspire the hope for the future. We shall have to go through
terrible experiences and face disasters again before we return to something which
offer a forum for all nations, even though they differ from one another. 10

Thus we can say that Nehrus attachment to UN was equally based

upon the realities of the existing environment. Even if some of us do trace his
affiliation to UN more and more in his ideological orientation, we will have to
appreciate the fact that even these are greatly influenced by the existing
environment.

An Enviable Legacy:

It is indeed an enviable legacy. Look at the towering position that

India and Nehru enjoyed in those days and now. Tremendous respect and hearing
in the world that India has been commanding for long time now, has a lot to do
with the U.N.

True, India suffered some serious set backs in some of her direct and
indirect foreign policy objectives because of certain factors in the U.N. but then we
wont be able to overlook the amount of success that was achieved through it, all
those triumphs of humanity which Nehru and India stood for. And above all we
cannot ignore the tremendous political and moral leverage that was made available
to us because of our unwavering association with the U.N. It is a great achievement
for a nation who probably has the longest history of Political slavery in the world,
to be heard with care and its opinions valued right from the days of the ending of
the British Empire in India.

To day we weigh our failures and achievements at the U.N. when we shall
look at our successful fight against colonialism, imperialism, and other great
questions concerning mankind, we shall find the successes to be heavier than our
failures. The world shall never forget that India represented at one time the voice
of 2/3 of its population, the people of Afro-Asia. The world shall never forget the
leading role that India played in the relentless struggle against the Western
dominance over the rest of the enslaved world. Whenever the future people shall
talk of the institution of the U.N. peacekeeping, they will think of India, Nehru,
Gyani, Arthur Lall, Late Gen. Thimmaya, Maj. Gen. Inderjeet Rikhey, who have
become a part of the history of the U.N. Thousands of Indian soldiers went as
soldiers of peace in various parts of the world under the U.N. command and flag
and thereby spread the eternal Indian message of peace and non-violence. Not all
nations find the chance to achieve such honor. It goes beyond doubt that the
association with the U.N. despite all the setbacks suffered, proved itself to be a
boon for India. It is a magnificent legacy of one of the great sons of India who in
fact was the leader of the world, as his ideas and concerns were never limited to
any one nation. It is enviable, I said earlier. It could not have been, but for the love
that Nehru and the U.N. had for each other. On 27 May 1964 when Nehru passed
away, the U.N. in the reciprocation of love towards Nehru wore the dress of
mourning, its flag half mast, the rare gesture indeed by the world body. The
Security council adjourned its meeting in the feeling of honor and sorrow towards
Nehru. U.N. secretary General U. Thant said, Few men of this age have left their
mark on the history of their country as (Jawaharlal Nehru) has. Responsible as he
was for the policies of one of the largest countries of the world, he has affected the
course of world events.11

REFERENCES

1. C.S.R. Murthy, India at UN: From Raj to Rajiv WORLD FOCUS,

Vol.6, No.-8 (August 1985) P-22.

2. J.L.Nehru, Collected works of J.L.Nehru (Publication Div. Govt.

of India) Vol. 14, P-287.

3. Quoted by C.S.R.Murthy. Op. Cit.

4. J.L.Nehru, Collected works of J.L.Nehru (Publication Div. Govt.

of India) Vol. 15, P-461.

5. Tibor Mende, Conversation with Mr. Nehru (Secker &Warburg -

London-1956) P-127.
 6. J.L.Nehru, India &the World (George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
London -1936, PP 82-3.

7. Quoted by K.T.Krishnamachari in Profile of Nehru (The book Center Pvt. Ltd.

Bombay-undated) P-37.

8. J.L.Nehru, Indias Foreign Policy (Publication Div. Govt.

of India;1961) P-175.

9. -------------- Collected works of J.L.Nehru (Publication Div. Govt.

of India) Vol. 10, P-119.

10. J.L.Nehru, Op. Cit. n-8, P167.

11. Quoted in The Times of India (New Delhi), 28 May 1964.

____________________________________
Post Graduate student at School of International Studies- Jawaharlal Nehru University- New
Delhi.

[bhogal-ps@hotmail.com]