My SAARC Diary

Nehrus Last will and some commentary from a right-wing web site

``21. When I die, I should like my body to be cremated. If I die in a foreign country, my body should be cremated there and my ashes sent to Allahabad. A small handful of these ashes should be thrown in the Ganga and the major portion of them disposed of in the manner indicated below. No part of these ashes should be retained or preserved.

22. My desire to have a handful of my ashes thrown in the Ganga at Allahabad has no religious significance, so far as I am concerned. I have no religious sentiment in the matter. I have been attached to the Ganga and the Jumna rivers in Allahabad ever since my childhood and, as I have grown older, this attachment has also grown. I have watched their varying moods as the seasons changed, and have often thought of the history and myth and tradition and song and story that have become attached to them through the long ages and become part of the flowing waters. The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved of her people, round which are intertwined her racial memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India`s age-long culture and civilization, ever-changing, ever-flowing and ever the same Ganga. She reminds me of the snow-covered peaks and the deep valleys of the Himalayas, which I have loved so much, and of the rich and vast plains below, where my life and work have been cast. Smiling and dancing in the morning sunlight, and dark and gloomy and full of mystery as the evening shadows fall; a narrow, slow and graceful stream in winter, and a vast roaring thing during the monsoon, broad-bosomed almost as the sea, and with something of the sea`s power to destroy, the Ganga has been to me a symbol and a memory of the past of India, running into the present, and flowing on to the great ocean of the future. And though I have discarded much of past tradition and custom, and am anxious that India should rid herself of all shackles that bind and constrain her and divide her people, and suppress vast numbers of them, and prevent the free development of the body and the spirit; though I seek all this, yet I do not wish to cut myself off from that past completely. I am proud of that great inheritance that has been, and is, ours, and I am conscious that I too, like all of us, am a link in that unbroken chain which goes back in the dawn of history in the immemorial past of India. That chain I would not break, for I treasure it and seek inspiration from it. And, as witness of this desire of mine and as my last homage to the great ocean that washes India`s shores.

23. The major portion of my ashes should, however, be disposed of otherwise. I want these to be carried high up into the air in an aeroplane and scattered from that height over the fields where the peasants of India toil, so that they might mingle with the dust and soil of India and become an indistinguishable part of India.

I have written this Will and Testament in New Delhi on the twenty-first day of June in the year Nineteen Hundred and Fifty-four.

Signed/ Jawaharlal Nehru
21 June, 1954
Attestor 1: Kailas Nath Katju
Attestor 2: N.R. Pillai

http://www.swordoftruth.com/swordoftruth/archives/byauthor/aghosh/watojn.html

#148 FV
I assume you will stop being casteist too and calling Soysauce names which I do not understand

Don`t you wish he`d at least provide a translation? His vocabulary has ranged from motherf***** to names of various non-veg dishes. You can date him from his use of language. He`s from the last generation being probably at least 50 years old.
Harimau chasing me here is like my dog who likes to chase cars. It`s thrilling to my dog and he feels he really chased the car away whereas to the car all this barking and chasing makes no difference. Someday I hope Harimau will really grow up.

FV: glad you approve of going to hawaii for hajj. could you pull a few strings with your indian muslim leaders and send self and zafar some hajj funds for this purpose? (we`ll need extra funds to buy drinks for the local hoors).

re: farzana bibi`s last post on Nehru

``History judges people in many ways. One is to judge them
by their last words. In which case Nehru saw to it that
if the divine essence went out of the grasp of his fami-
ly, divine wrath would turn on the country. The archi-
tect laid the foundation in the form of a magic carpet.
He could pull the rug from under our feet anytime he
wished. ``
I am now totally disgusted with this woman. What the hell is she talking about? Is she losing her mind?
Nehru was a very egoistical person. His pride, even while accepting a lot of things that was good about the British (system of governance, secular outlook etc etc) rebelled against the idea of being ruled by the British. Much of the freedom struggle that he waged against the British was also a personal struggle against accepting anyone as his superior. To Linlithgow who was the Viceroy at the time and who gently chided Nehru for thinking India would ever be free and told him ``Mr Nehru, India would not be free in my life time, not even in your lifetime; it will not be free for the next several hundred years``, Nehru shouted back saying he would work for freedom of India in his own lifetime.
Nehru`s pride and ego again came in the way of forging a partnership with USA. USA at the time was saying: either you are with us or against us. It did not appreciate the concept of non-alignment.
Ultimately, Chinese invasion hurt Nehru more than anything else. His own pride and ego lay shattered after his concept of Panchsheel and firm belief that China would not betray him was falsified.
Is it then possible that a much mellowed Nehru turned towards Spirituality towards the wee end of his life? Hindu spirituality says that your journey starts the day you repent and start the process of introspection. I think it is a possibility.
Scattering of the ashes does not prove Nehru believed in voodism. Hindus believe that the universe is pervaded with divinity. scattering of ashes is symbolic of return to divinity. Nehru might have had other reasons for such a wish that i do not want to discuss here.
If farzana bibi cannot understand what went on in Nehru`s mind during the last months of his life (few of us can; i certainly do not confess to know any hidden secrets), at least give a great man some credit. The fact that such an article even gets published in some godforsaken paper (midday- i have never heard of it) shows the poor quality of journalism in India.
Sridhar
P.S: By the way, who cares what Farzana bibi writes. She has this habit of quoting her own article in Chowk. Does anyone else quote her in any other forum? I bet not.

re: Jinnah
Jinnah is as misunderstood in India as Gandhi is in Pakistan.
Jiinah`s sense of purpose, dedication towards a muslim cause and his diehard honesty cannot be questioned. It is something that present day Paki politicians can emulate.
Having said that, sometimes the best intended actions have unforseen results. Jinnah would not have liked the way his Pakistan has shaped up today. Pak today is very different from Pak of 1947. His concept of fighting for a muslim homeland where muslims can breath freely without interference from Hindus seems a stupid concept in this era of globalisation. Gandhi seemed to have a more modern outlook when he wanted all religions to co-exist and was not afraid of western influence. India of today is invaded by western culture and imagery but need have nothing to fear as its values are firm and based on ancient wisdom and philosophy and cannot be blown away by the western culture.
Pak, which broke away from India on religous ground, has evolved a system where only certain values are allowed. The rest is not only shunned but even feared (hence the fear of Hindu culture and Bollywood). Such a system gives rise to sycophants, jehadis and rabid mullahs, who all abound in today`s Paksitan.
Today`s Pak is a legacy of Jinnah. While fashioning a muslim homeland, Jinnah left muslims in India into a even bigger minority. This then was his masterstroke. Solve the problems of muslim minority in India by leaving the minority population into a greater minority! Ask a muslim in India what he thinks of Jinnah. Few will thank Jinnah for the predicament that they are in today. They have to constantly prove their loyalty towards India and have to fight the fundamentalist hindus (the Modis of India) all the time. This is Jinnah`s legacy to the Indian muslims.
Sridhar
P.S: If farzana bibi is praising Jinnah, she is an exception. But then this woman, if i am not mistaken, has been brain dead for sometime now.

What happened to Harish Nambiar? My best wishes for his recovery too.

Update on Harish Nambiar

I have just spoken with him. He is recovering. I have conveyed the sentiments of all the Chowkies to him and he has thanked all of you.

Farzana #147,

Can you list the points that Nehru a communalist and Jinnah not?

Will the points include Jinnah calling for direction action? Demanding a separate country for Muslims? Will it include why the rejection of the concept of Muslim League by Nehru makes him a communalist?

Why didn`t you classify Nehru as an opportunist? Using your logic can I call Modi and Thackeray a secularist merely giving in to opportunism?

Farzana #148,

Let`s see a criticism of Jinnah instead of just excuses on his behalf. Why do you have this urge to throw mud on people that Indians revere and sing hosannas about the people that they despise? Sure, an objective criticism would be very welcome. It`s entirely galling that your articles are geared only towards grating the majority Indian sentiment.

If an objective criticism of Nehru is warranted then so is of Jinnah. If objective criticism of India is warranted then so is of Pakistan. If objective criticism of the Hindu society is warranted then so is of the Muslim society. Yet, all I have seen from you are articles in the former category none in the latter. Instead of criticism, I only see excuses for Jinnah, Pakistan and the Muslim society. Have you never observed that of yourself?

Farzana, I would like to see your response to Mohar #150.

by FarzanaVersey
//..It may be difficult to digest the image of Nehru as a communalist, but in a larger sense he was...//

So Nehru was a communalist and Jinnah was not !!!!! Man - this is awful.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

Ref sadna #144

[`` Would not the Rs. 150 crores spent on the Haj subsidy be better spent on schooling Muslim children?``

Zactly right. Such a proposal has come from Muslims themselves, else the Indian govt. will face twin accusations of interceding in religious affairs of Muslims and trying to rob Muslims of their identity via state education.]

No; it would NOT come from any Muslim leader. Even the current reform of Haj subsidy once in a lifetime when mooted last year met with objections from the Haj Committee. Omar Abdullah (born I believe to a British mother) came out and said that meddling with the Haj subsidy in any way is politicizing it. So you can see that Muslim leadership in India has NO interest of the Muslim population at heart.

This is the genius of what passes for leadership in India.

Ref FarzanaVersey #148

[Cntradictions again! You presume a self-assured person would want to be a part of some harem and think you can offer her as nazar…you can give only what you got, Mr. Iyer…]

War booty... Mohammad bin Qasim is supposed to have captured Raja Dhahir`s daughters and shipped them off to Mesopotamia as `nazar`.

[I assume you will stop being casteist too and calling Soysauce names which I do not understand.]

If you notice, I flaunt my caste at Meen-kari-kuzhambu (aka Soysauce) like the matador flaunts a red rag in front of the bull. Maasanamuthu (to give him the name that is in traditional use in Tamil Nadu) has this deep inferiority complex and he wouldn`t hesitate to resort to dire punishment to maintain the caste structure so that he could feel superior to those below him in the hierarchy.

Look at this man`s pretensions. Here he is telling Sridhar on you board ``Why is Santa Not a Woman?`` on January 2, 2004

[rsridhar,
I prefer to remain an atheist ``who was trained to be reasonable`` to a simpleton like you.]

Yet there is no reply after 4 days to (My SAARC Diary on January 8, 2004) my question:

``as an atheist do you believe that only Siva, Rama and Krishna do not exist but are creations of Brahmins to rule over the public or do you believe that Allah and Jehovah are also frauds foisted on the unsuspecting public by control freaks named Muhammad and Jesus respectively? Come on, tell us what you think. Others on Chowk have already challenged your intellectual honesty and this would be a great opportunity for you to prove that you have an iota of sincerity left in you.``

I have seen enough of these idiots who actually believe they are Rationalist Thinkers when they happen to be self-serving buffoons. These are the same people who say, ``Hire me a brahmin lawyer on this case. I can`t afford to lose it.``

[…am recovering, there is less of me now to handle…though what has been dealt with was as benign as the rest of me ;) ]

Hah, hah, hah! You must have read Evelyn Waugh`s statement when it was reported that Randolph Churchill had been operated on for the removal of a tumour from his lung and it ws found to be benign: Waugh said that it has taken all the facilities available to modern science to find the one part of Randolph Churchill`s body that was not malignant!

by FarzanaVersey
//..Re. how one can call someone principled if one does not necessarily agrees with his/her principles…tell me, how many people follow ahimsa and other Gandhi an tenets? And yet they do admire the Mahatma, don’t they? ..//

I think you are twisting the whole logic here - unintentionally perhaps. Let me clarify-

People admire Gandhi because they agree with his principle of non-violence...... Following that principle is a whole different issue - we are not even going there.

Similarly, when people say they admire Jinnah, it indicates that they agree with his principles. Otherwise it doesn`t make sense.

Following his principles comes next ... and by god.... that would be a big can of worms. We all hope nobody ever follows his principles again.

#134 by harimau:
When I talked about your confusion about the two statements, it meant that you were offering alcohol to someone who you thought was fit for a mullah’s harem and ought to be relegated to that jannat.

[Taking absinthe, on the other hand, seems to be a complicated process. There is some talk about dribbling a sugar solution into the drink. I got to find out and do it right.]

We Gujjus add sugar to everything…no wonder we do it so right! This does not mean I admire Jinnah because he was a son of the state; my parochialism is restricted to Mumbai. No one can mess with the mess that is my city.

[I wouldn`t presume to accept money for a woman with a great amount of self-assurance such as you. That would be almost like behaving like an uneducated Afghan and also treating you like a commodity.] and [ Think of yourself as a nazar from me to that great man Mullah Omar.]

Contradictions again! You presume a self-assured person would want to be a part of some harem and think you can offer her as nazar…you can give only what you got, Mr. Iyer…

[I don`t know what provoked that demand for an apology!]

See above and several such comments made over the last three years.

[I thought I would turn over a new leaf what with it being a new year and all that.]

Great. This is good for your soul. I assume you will stop being casteist too and calling Soysauce names which I do not understand.

[I also chanced to read your iLog the other day. I do hope you are completely recovered. From the surgery, I mean, not from your sense of injury ;)]

Is this a sympathy wave? You guys appease and then say we are asking for sops! (If I were to run for elections now, I just might win…) Thanks for asking though…am recovering, there is less of me now to handle…though what has been dealt with was as benign as the rest of me ;)

[{... and a chauffeur (Muslim, naturally!)-driven car at my service when I am in Chennai next.}
This one is easy to do. Would you like the Urdu speaker or the Tamil speaker?]

His Urdu would sound like Tamil anyway…so it does not matter. But he must be trained to laugh at all wisecracks, irrespective of whether he finds them funny or not/ understands them of not. He need not be Muslim (that was just a dig at you…) It is imperative however that he does not roll his eyes when he sees me pouring tomato ketchup over my utthapam…yes, he will have to sit and eat with me.

[Fair warning: absinthe makes the heart grow fonder!]

I can see that ;)
- - -

Zafar:

[Yeh mere koo bhi nahin malum ben! Stuka se poochthe so? Hau maa, roj sootaan pen ke naachtha ma! Sab toastvoast malum hoyenga usskoo.]

Aur main idhar ko sochee ke Stuka woh maatee-meley ko nachaata hoinga! Sunaa so ke jo sotan pen ke hiltaa, woh booaaathhhh aagey jaata…shukar hai apnaich aadmi hai…

Khush raho…

[Did Tahmed suggest Hawaii as alternative Haj destination? Tahmed, hamein bhi le chalna!]

Can’t wait to see you guys in straw skirts…according to Islamic tenets only unstitched clothes permitted during Haj!

#146 by MaheshG2:
When have I made excuses for `Muslim politicians`??? I have been critical of most.

I am surprised at the way some of you are reacting to Jinnah. To compare him to despots is ridiculous. The worst thing that could be said about him is that he was an opportunist, and that anyone who plays a leadership role will be. (There are exceptions like Lal Bahadur Shastri then and a JP in more recent times, but the ‘devotees’ of the latter proved to be using his position to further their cause. Besides, JP had to abdicate any position.)

Re. how one can call someone principled if one does not necessarily agrees with his/her principles…tell me, how many people follow ahimsa and other Gandhi an tenets? And yet they do admire the Mahatma, don’t they?

Re. Jinnah’s communalism…I am posting another column of mine on Nehru. Perhaps it might give an idea about how the leaders were. You may make your own comparisons and reach your own conclusions.

( http://www.hvk.org/articles/1196/0016.html)

Discovery of Nehru - II
Farzana Versey
Date : November 13, 1996

On Nehru`s birth anniversary tomorrow, the idea is not to
take away from the majesty of the individual, but to
bring into focus the dilemmas that face human beings who
are forced to be what they are not.

As he could not give them the loin cloth ethnicity that
would give them something to talk about, 1 suspect he
used the buzz word `industrialisation` to make the Brit-
ish feel that they had done a good job of tutoring the
natives. He had no agenda for industrialisation (except
socialism!) and he was mighty afraid of the spectre he
had created and also envious of those who could do so.
Therefore, while Gandhi, who had no interest in the
subject, happily partook of the hospitality of the Bir-
las, the angel of industrialisation stayed away.

It couldn`t have been probity. It was contempt for the
Marwari community who had the money and the business
acumen to take India towards the unholy grail.

It may be difficult to digest the image of Nehru as a
communalist, but in a larger sense he was. In that he
was aware of where he came from and from where others
did. The doyen of the Parsi community, J R D Tata, had
an uneasy relationship with him. If Nehru knew his
Mozart, had been to Cambridge and used his silverware
with a flourish, so did most Parsis. They built an
empire, believed in philanthropy and did not think it
necessary to hide their westernised thinking. Nehru did
not like that.

The final blow came when Firoze Gandhi, no mean parlia-
mentarian himself, swept his daughter off her feet. The
father never forgave that. Had he not strictly forbidden
Indira during her childhood from reading fairytales?

With Muslims, there was talk of his `Islamic flavour` and
political amity, but when it came to brasstacks, things
were different. In 1937, he rejected Jinnah`s proposal
for a Congress-Muslim League coalition saying that there
were only two parties in India - the Congress and the
British. Many believe this was when Pakistan was born.

Another example of his parochialism is evident in his
sending his widowed sister Vijayalakshmi`s suitor, Syed
Hussein, off on an ambassadorial assignment, thus putting
an end to the romance. But on the poor man`s death
Nehru, the public romantic, did not forget to build a
mausoleum in his memory. To be fair, he did look after
Sheikh Abdullah`s family when the latter was in prison,
which made the sheikh weep uncontrollably on the platform
where the dead Nehru lay.

Millions may have followed his funeral procession and his
popularity in life may have been unprecedented, but it is also
true that security guards hid behind the bushes in his
house and the kitchens of his prospective hosts were
examined before he could taste a morsel. His populism
put him at risk.

Later in life, he was besotted with ``the old Hindu idea
that there is a divine essence in the world``. His Will
stated that his ashes be strewn over the Ganges. It may
not have been a religious gesture, but two days before
his death he had written about the ``concept of dharma``.

History judges people in many ways. One is to judge them
by their last words. In which case Nehru saw to it that
if the divine essence went out of the grasp of his fami-
ly, divine wrath would turn on the country. The archi-
tect laid the foundation in the form of a magic carpet.
He could pull the rug from under our feet anytime he
wished.

Did Nehru, then, also believe in voodoo tricks?