• From the Red Fort: Nehru’s Independence Day Address, 1950

    From the Red Fort: Nehru’s Independence Day Address, 1950

    Unity and Equality Sisters and Brothers, This is the third anniversary of the independence of India. I congratulate you on this auspicious occasion. We have come a long way during these three years. We have stumbled and fallen but have picked ourselves up and gone on. I congratulate you for everything that has happened, good…

  • Freedom and Responsibility

    Freedom and Responsibility

    Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech at a public meeting, Thiruvananthapuram, 1 June 1950. You have heard of socialism and communism and the like, and personally I have always felt a considerable attraction towards the socialist theory. But whether you have socialism or any other “ism” or capitalism, the basic thing is that you must produce wealth first…

  • The Spirit of Science

    The Spirit of Science

    Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech at the opening of National Fuel Research Institute, Digwadih, Dhanbad, 22 April 1950. In the course of less than four months, we have put up, and declared open or rather wished to declare open three national laboratories*, and I suppose, before this year is out, some more national laboratories will also be…

  • The Meaning of Culture

    The Meaning of Culture

    Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech at the inauguration of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi, 9 April 1950. I have come here with pleasure and yet with a great deal of confusion in my mind. The pleasure is that I have always looked forward to furthering the cause of cultural association of India with not…

  • 26 January 1950: A Historic Day

    26 January 1950: A Historic Day

    Jawaharlal Nehru’s message to the nation. New Delhi, 25 January 1950 Events crowd in upon us and because of their quick succession we are apt to miss their significance. Some of us give messages on every occasion exhorting people to great endeavour and even these messages become stale through repetition.  Yet undoubtedly 26 January 1950…

  • The Gandhian Technique: Nehru’s speech at the University of Chicago, 1949

    The Gandhian Technique: Nehru’s speech at the University of Chicago, 1949

    You know that during the last thirty years or so, we carried on rather intensively our campaign for India’s freedom. We did not begin it; it was there. It had been continued for generations before us but it came more to the world’s notice then, because a world figure stepped into the arena of Indian…

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Jawaharlal will be my successor…

Do not please go away with the idea that there is a rift in the Congress. The working committee has worked like members of a happy family. Somebody suggested that Pandit Jawaharlal and I were estranged. It will require much more than the differences of opinion to estrange us.

We have had differences from the moment we became co-workers, and yet I have said for some years and say now that not Rajaji but Jawaharlal will be my successor.

He says he does not understand my language, and that he speaks a language foreign to me. This may or may not be true. But language is no bar to a union of hearts. And I know this that when I am gone, he will speak my language.

Mahatma Gandhi

AICC Meet, Wardha, 1942