In India, we mark October 2 as Gandhi Jayanti, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. Another great man was born on October 2: Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Shastriji was the second prime minister of India and was a human being of unmatched integrity. He was an incorruptible and hate-less man who personified Gandhiji's principles of austerity and honesty in public service
Here are some excerpts from Wiki on his life.
"Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that Police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds."
"He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his resignation."
"Shastri was known for his honesty and humility throughout his life. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, and a memorial "Vijay Ghat" was built for him in Delhi. "
A lot of mystery surrounds his death and his family insist that he was poisoned in Tashkent. For more on that please see: http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/clear_air_on_fathers_death_shastris_son.php I have heard "talk" about how the Soviets poisoned him to put Indira Gandhi in power. Mrs Gandhi aligned India with the Soviet bloc.
Now that the USSR doesn't exist, the Indian prime minister's office needs to come clean and let the country know what exactly transpired in January 1966.
Shastriji is hardly mentioned in history books and is almost a forgotten figure. The Congress has done its best to deny the very existence of leaders outside the Nehru-dynasty.
And finally a wonderful tribute paid by Pakistani journalist Javed Choudhury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PifBawxDsxI&feature=related
The Congress has done its best to deny the very existence of leaders outside the Nehru-dynasty....AND SO HAS THE INDIAN ELITE WHO PREFER A FRAMED INDIRA JI IN THEIR DRAWING ROOM OVER LAL BAHADUR!
ReplyDeleteIndra-ji has the guts to throw a reactionary ex-queen in jail for treason. Something that didn't go well her followers, mostly corrupt businessmen with roots in Rajasthan.
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