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Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri

2nd Prime Minister of India

In office 9 June 1964 – 11 January 1966

President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Preceded by Gulzarilal Nanda

Succeeded by Gulzarilal Nanda

Minister of External Affairs

In office 9 June 1964 – 18 July 1964

Preceded by Gulzarilal Nanda

Succeeded by Sardar Swaran Singh

Minister of Home Affairs

In office 4 April 1961 – 29 August 1963

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Preceded by Govind Ballabh Pant

Succeeded by Gulzarilal Nanda

Personal details

Born Lal Bahadur Varma2 October 1904Varanasi, United Provinces,British Raj(now in Uttar Pradesh, India)

Died 11 January 1966 (aged 61)

Lal Bahadur ShastriFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lal Bahadur Shastri (Hindustani: [laːl bәˈɦaːdʊrˈʃaːstri], listen , 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966)was the Prime Minister of the Republic of India and aleader of the Indian National Congress party.

Shastri joined the Indian independence movement inthe 1920s. Deeply impressed and influenced byMahatma Gandhi, he became a loyal follower, first ofGandhi, and then of Jawaharlal Nehru. Followingindependence in 1947, he joined the latter'sgovernment and became one of Prime MinisterNehru's principal lieutenants, first as RailwaysMinister (1951–56), and then in a variety of otherfunctions, including Home Minister. Shastri waschosen as Nehru's successor owing to his adherence toNehruvian socialism after Nehru's daughter IndiraGandhi turned down Congress President K. Kamaraj'soffer of premiership.

Shastri as Prime Minister continued Nehru's policiesof non­alignment and socialism. He led the countryduring the Indo­Pakistan War of 1965. His slogan of"Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail the soldier, Hail thefarmer") became very popular during the war and isremembered even today. The war formally ended withthe Tashkent Agreement of 10 January 1966; he diedof a heart attack the following day, still in Tashkent.

Contents

1 Early years (1904–1917)

2 The young satyagrahi (1921–1945)

2.1 Independence activism

3 Political career (1947–64)

3.1 State minister

3.2 Cabinet minister

4 Prime minister of India (1964–66)

4.1 Domestic policies

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Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, SovietUnion(now in Uzbekistan)

Political party Indian National Congress

Spouse(s) Lalita Devi

Residence 10 Janpath, New Delhi[1]

Alma mater Mahatma Gandhi KashiVidyapeeth

Profession AcademicActivist

Religion Hinduism

Awards Bharat Ratna 1966 (Posthumous)

4.2 Economic policies

4.3 Jai Jawan Jai Kisan

4.4 Foreign policies

4.5 War with Pakistan

4.6 Death

5 Mystery behind Lal Bahadur Shastri's death

6 Family and descendants

7 Legacy

7.1 Memorials

8 Citations

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

Early years (1904–1917)

Shastri was born at the house of his maternal grandparents in Mughalsarai, Varanasi as Lal BahadurShrivastava,[2][3] into a Hindu Kayastha family that had traditionally been employed as Highlyadministrators and civil servants. Shastri's paternal ancestors had been in the service of the zamindar ofRamnagar near Varanasi and Shastri lived there for the first one year of his life. Shastri's father, SharadaPrasad Shrivastava, was a school teacher who later became a clerk in the revenue office at Allahabad,while his mother, Ramdulari Devi, was the daughter of Munshi Hazari Lal, the headmaster and Englishteacher at a railway school in Mughalsarai. Shastri was the second child and eldest son of his parents; hehad an elder sister, Kailashi Devi (b. 1900).[4]

In April 1906, When Shastri was hardly one year old, his father, had only recently been promoted to thepost of deputy tahsildar, died in an epidemic of bubonic plague. Ramdulari Devi, then only 23 andpregnant with her third child, took her two children and moved from Ramnnagar to her father's house inMughalsarai and settled there for good. She gave birth to a daughter, Sundari Devi, in July 1906.[2][5]Thus, Shastri and his sisters grew up in the household of his maternal grandfather, Hazari Lal. However,Hazari Lal himself died from a stroke in mid­1908, after which the family were looked after by hisbrother (Shastri's great­uncle) Darbari Lal, who was the head clerk in the opium regulation department atGhazipur, and later by his son (Ramdulari Devi's cousin) Bindeshwari Prasad, a school teacher inMughalsarai. Thus, the greatness of the traditional Indian joint family system, and the traditions offamily responsibility and kinship, are deeply evident in Shastri's case, where the orphan child of apenniless widow was raised by his distant relatives in a manner which enabled him to become PrimeMinister of India.

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In Shastri's family, as with many Kayastha families, it was the custom in that era for children to receivean education in the Urdu language and culture. This is because Urdu/Persian had been the language ofgovernment for centuries, before being replaced by English, and old traditions persisted into the 20thcentury. Therefore, Shastri began his education at the age of four under the tutelage of a maulvi (aMuslim cleric), Budhan Mian, at the East Central Railway Inter college in Mughalsarai. He studied thereuntil the sixth standard. In 1917, Bindeshwari Prasad (who was now head of the household) wastransferred to Varanasi, and the entire family moved there, including Ramdulari Devi and her threechildren. In Varanasi, Shastri joining the seventh standard at Harish Chandra High School.[2] At thistime, he decided to drop his caste­derived surname of "Varma" (which is a traditional optional surnamefor all Kayastha families).

The young satyagrahi (1921–1945)

While Shastri's family had no links to the independence movement then taking shape, among histeachers at Harish Chandra High School was an intensely patriotic and highly respected teacher namedNishkameshwar Misra, who gave Shastri much­needed financial support by allowing him to tutor hischildren. Inspired by Misra's patriotism, Shastri took a deep interest in the freedom struggle, and beganto study its history and the works of several of its noted personalities, including those of SwamiVivekananda, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gandhi and Annie Besant. In January 1921, when Shastri was in the10 standard and three months from sitting the final examinations, he attended a public meeting inBenares hosted by Gandhi and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. Inspired by the Mahatma's call forstudents to withdraw from government schools and join the non­cooperation movement, Shastriwithdrew from Harish Chadra the next day and joined the local branch of the Congress Party as avolunteer, actively participating in picketing and anti­government demonstrations. He was soon arrestedand jailed, but was then let off as he was still a minor.[6][7] Shastri's immediate supervisor was a formerBenares Hindu University lecturer named J.B. Kripalani, who would become one of the most prominentleaders of the Indian independence movement and among Gandhi's closest followers. Recognising theneed for the younger volunteers to continue their educations, Kripalani and a friend, V.N. Sharma, hadfounded an informal school centered around "nationalist education" to educate the young activists intheir nation's heritage. With the support of a wealthy philanthropist and ardent Congress nationalist, ShivPrasad Gupta, the Kashi Vidyapith was inaugurated by Gandhi in Benares as a national institution ofhigher education on 10 February 1921. Among the first students of the new institution, Shastri graduatedwith a first­class degree in philosophy and ethics from the Vidyapith in 1925. He was given the titleShastri ("scholar"). The title was a bachelor's degree awarded by the Vidyapith, but it stuck as part of hisname.[5][8][9]

Shastri enrolled himself as a life member of the Servants of the People Society (Lok Sevak Mandal),founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, and began to work for the betterment of the Harijans under Gandhi'sdirection at Muzaffarpur.[10] Later he became the President of the Society.[11][12]

Independence activism

Shastri participated in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930. He was imprisoned for two and a half years.[13]

Later, he worked as the Organizing Secretary of the Parliamentary Board of U.P. in 1937.[14] In 1940, hewas sent to prison for one year, for offering individual Satyagraha support to the independencemovement.[15]

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On 8 August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi issued the Quit India speech at Gowalia Tank in Mumbai,demanding that the British leave India. Shastri, who had just then come out after a year in prison,travelled to Allahabad. For a week, he sent instructions to the independence activists from JawaharlalNehru's home, Anand Bhavan. A few days later, he was arrested and imprisoned until 1946.[15] Shastrispent almost nine years in jail in total.[16] During his stay in prison, he spent time reading books andbecame familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries and social reformers.

Political career (1947–64)

State minister

Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, UttarPradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's ChiefMinistership on 15 August 1947 following Rafi Ahmed Kidwai's departure to become minister at centre.As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge ofthe Police Department, he ordered that police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unrulycrowds.[17] His tenure as police minister (As Home Minister was called prior to 1950) saw successfulcurbing of communal riots in 1947, mass migration and resettlement of refugees.

Cabinet minister

In 1951, Shastri was made the General Secretary of the All­India Congress Committee with JawaharlalNehru as the Prime Minister. He was directly responsible for the selection of candidates and thedirection of publicity and electioneering activities. He played an important role in the landslidesuccesses of the Congress Party in the Indian General Elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962. In 1952, hesuccessfully contested UP Vidhansabha from Soraon North cum Phulpur West seat and won getting over69% of vote. He was believed to be retained as home minister of UP, but in a surprise move was calledto Centre as minister by Nehru.

He was elected to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh w.e.f. 3 April 1952. He served as the Minister ofRailways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 13 May 1952 to 7 December 1956. In September1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths.However, Nehru did not accept his resignation.[18] Three months later, he resigned accepting moral andconstitutional responsibility for a railway accident at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu that resulted in 144 deaths.While speaking in Parliament on the incident, Nehru stated that he was accepting the resignation becauseit would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Shastri was in any way responsiblefor the accident.[5]

As the Railway Minister Shastri installed the 1st Machine at Integral Coach Factory ICF Chennai on20.02.1955.

In 1957, Shastri returned to the Cabinet following the General Elections, first as the Minister forTransport and Communications, and then as the Minister of Commerce and Industry.[10] In 1961, hebecame Home Minister.[5] As Union Home Minister, he was instrumental in appointing the Committeeon Prevention of Corruption under the Chairmanship of K. Santhanam.[19] During his tenure as HomeMinister he created the famous "Shastri Formula" to contain the language agitations in the states ofAssam and Punjab acceptable to all section of people. He handled well the Hazrathbal Mosque sacredmissing relic incident in Jammu and Kashmir and the crises between the Chief Minister and his deputyin the state government of Kerala in 1962.

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Prime minister of India (1964–66)

Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on 27 May 1964 and left a void. Then Congress Party President K.Kamaraj was instrumental in making Shastri Prime Minister on 9 June. Shastri, though mild­manneredand soft­spoken, was a Nehruvian socialist and thus held appeal to those wishing to prevent the ascent ofconservative right­winger Morarji Desai.

In his first broadcast as Prime Minister, on 11 June 1964, Shastri stated:[20]

"There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the cross­roads of historyand must choose which way to go. But for us there need be no difficulty or hesitation, nolooking to right or left. Our way is straight and clear—the building up of a socialistdemocracy at home with freedom and prosperity for all, and the maintenance of world peaceand friendship with all nations."

Domestic policies

Shastri retained many members of Nehru's Council of Ministers. T. T. Krishnamachari was retained asthe Finance Minister of India, as was Defence Minister Yashwantrao Chavan. He appointed SwaranSingh to succeed him as External Affairs Minister. He also appointed Indira Gandhi, daughter ofJawaharlal Nehru and former Congress President, as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting.Gulzarilal Nanda continued as the Minister of Home Affairs.

Shastri's tenure witnessed the Madras anti­Hindi agitation of 1965. The government of India had for along time made an effort to establish Hindi as the sole national language of India. This was resisted bythe non­Hindi speaking states particularly Madras State. To calm the situation, Shastri gave assurancesthat English would continue to be used as the official language as long the non­Hindi speaking stateswanted. The riots subsided after Shastri's assurance, as did the student agitation.

Economic policies

Shastri continued Nehru's socialist economic policies with central planning. He promoted the WhiteRevolution – a national campaign to increase the production and supply of milk – by supporting theAmul milk co­operative of Anand, Gujarat and creating the National Dairy Development Board.[19]

He visited Anand on 31 October 1964 for inauguration of the Cattle Feed Factory of Amul at Kanjari.As he was keenly interested in knowing the success of this co­operative, he stayed overnight withfarmers in a village, and even had dinner with a farmer's family. He discussed his wish with MrVerghese Kurien, then the General Manager of Kaira District Co­operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd(Amul) to replicate this model to other parts of the country for improving the socio­economic conditionsof farmers. As a result of this visit, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) was established atAnand in 1965

While speaking on the chronic food shortages across the country, Shastri urged people to voluntarilygive up one meal so that the food saved could be distributed to the affected populace. However heensured that he first implemented the system in his own family before appealing to the country. He wenton air to appeal to his countrymen to skip a meal a week. The response to his appeal was overwhelming.

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Even restaurants and eateries downed the shutters on Monday evenings. Many parts of the countryobserved the "Shastri Vrat". He motivated the country to maximize the cultivation of food grains byploughing the lawn himself, at his official residence in New Delhi.

During the 22­day war with Pakistan in 1965, On 19 October 1965, Shastri gave the seminal ‘Jai JawanJai Kishan’ ("Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer")slogan at Urwa in Allahabad that became a nationalslogan.

Underlining the need to boost India's food production. Shastri also promoted the Green Revolution.Though he was a socialist, Shastri stated that India cannot have a regimented type of economy.[19]

The Food Corporation of India was set up under the Food Corporation's Act 1964. Also The NationalAgricultural Products Board Act.

Jai Jawan Jai Kisan

For the outstanding slogan given by him during Indo­Pak war of 1965 Ministry of Information andBroadcasting (India) commemorated Shastriji even after 47 years of his death on his 48th martyr's day:

Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was one of those great Indians who has left anindelible impression on our collective life. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri's contribution to ourpublic life were unique in that they were made in the closest proximity to the life of thecommon man in India. Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri was looked upon by Indians as one of theirown, one who shared their ideals, hopes and aspirations. His achievements were lookedupon not as the isolated achievements of an individual but of our society collectively.

Under his leadership India faced and repulsed the Pakistani invasion of 1965. It is not only amatter of pride for the Indian Army but also for every citizen of the country. Shri LalBahadur Shastri's slogan Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan!! reverberates even today through the lengthand breadth of the country. Underlying this is the inner­most sentiments 'Jai Hind'. The warof 1965 was fought and won for our self­respect and our national prestige. For using ourDefence Forces with such admirable skill, the nation remains beholden to Shri Lal BahadurShastri. He will be remembered for all times to come for his large heartedness and publicservice.[21]

Foreign policies

Shastri continued Nehru policy of non­alignment but also built closer relations with the Soviet Union. Inthe aftermath of the Sino­Indian War of 1962 and the formation of military ties between the ChinesePeople's Republic and Pakistan, Shastri's government decided to expand the defence budget of India'sarmed forces.

In 1964, Shastri signed an accord with the Sri Lankan Prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike regardingthe status of Indian Tamils in the then Ceylon.[22] This agreement is also known as the Sirima­ShastriPact or the Bandaranaike­Shastri pact.[23]

Under the terms of this agreement, 600,000 Indian Tamils were to be repatriated, while 375,000 were tobe granted Sri Lankan citizenship. This settlement was to be done by 31 October 1981. However, afterShastri's death, by 1981, India had taken only 300,000 Tamils as repatriates, while Sri Lanka had granted

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citizenship to only 185,000 citizens (plus another 62,000 born after 1964). Later, India declined toconsider any further applications for citizenship, stating that the 1964 agreement had lapsed.[22]

India’s relationship with Burma had been strained after the 1962 Military coup followed by therepatriation of many Indian families in 1964 by Burma. While the central government in New Delhimonitored the overall process of repatriation and arranged for identification and transportation of theIndian returnees from Burma, it fell under the responsibilities of local governments to provide adequatefacilities to shelter the repatriates upon disembarkation on Indian soil. Particularly in the Madras Statethe Chief Minister during that time Mr. Minjur K. Bhaktavatsalam showed great care in rehabilitation ofthe returnees. In December 1965 Lal Bahadur Shastri made an official visit with his Family to Rangoon,Burma and re­established cordial relations with the country’s military government of General Ne Win.

War with Pakistan

Shastri's greatest moment came when he led India in the 1965 Indo­Pak War.

Laying claim to half the Kutch peninsula, the Pakistani army skirmished with Indian forces in August,1965. In his report to the Lok Sabha on the confrontation in Kutch, Shastri stated:[20]

In the utilization of our limited resources, we have always given primacy to plans andprojects for economic development. It would, therefore, be obvious for anyone who isprepared to look at things objectively that India can have no possible interest in provokingborder incidents or in building up an atmosphere of strife... In these circumstances, the dutyof Government is quite clear and this duty will be discharged fully and effectively... Wewould prefer to live in poverty for as long as necessary but we shall not allow our freedomto be subverted.

In September 1965, major incursions of militants and Pakistani soldiers began, hoping not only to breakdown the government but incite a sympathetic revolt. The revolt did not happen, and India sent its forcesacross the Ceasefire Line (now Line of Control) and threatened Pakistan by crossing the InternationalBorder near Lahore as war broke out on a general scale. Massive tank battles occurred in the Punjab, andwhile the Pakistani forces made gains in the northern part of subcontinent, Indian forces captured thekey post at Haji Pir, in Kashmir, and brought the Pakistani city of Lahore under artillery and mortar fire.

On 17 September 1965, while the Indo­Pak war was on, India received a letter from China alleging thatthe Indian army had set up army equipment in Chinese territory, and India would face China's wrath,unless the equipment was pulled down. In spite of the threat of aggression from China, Shastri declared"China's allegation is untrue".The Chinese did not respond, but the Indo­Pak war resulted in some 3–4,000 casualties on each side and significant loss of material.

The Indo­Pak war ended on 23 September 1965 with a United Nations­mandated ceasefire. In abroadcast to the nation on the day the of ceasefire, Shastri stated:[20]

"While the conflict between the armed forces of the two countries has come to an end, themore important thing for the United Nations and all those who stand for peace is to bring toan end the deeper conflict.... How can this be brought about? In our view, the only answerlies in peaceful coexistence. India has stood for the principle of coexistence and championed

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Shastri's statue in Mumbai

it all over the world. Peaceful coexistence is possible among nations no matter how deep thedifferences between them, how far apart they are in their political and economic systems, nomatter how intense the issues that divide them."

During his tenure as Prime Minister, Shastri visited many countries including Russia, Yugoslavia,England, Canada, Nepal, Egypt and Burma.[10] Incidentally while returning from the Non AllianceConference in Cairo on the invitation of then President of the Pakistan Ayub Khan to have lunch withhim, Shastri made a stop over at Karachi Airport for few hours and breaking from the protocol Mr.AyubKhan personally received him at the Airport and had an informal meeting during October 1964. Afterthe declaration of ceasefire with Pakistan in 1965, Shastri and Pakistani President Muhammad AyubKhan attended a summit in Tashkent (former USSR, now in modern Uzbekistan), organized by AlexeiKosygin. On 10 January 1966, Shastri and Khan signed the Tashkent Declaration.

Death

Prime Minister Shastri died in Tashkent, at 2 AM on the day aftersigning the Tashkent Declaration, reportedly due to a heart attack,but people allege conspiracy behind the death.[24] He was the firstPrime Minister of India to die overseas. He was eulogised as anational hero and the Vijay Ghat memorial established in hismemory. Upon his death, Gulzarilal Nanda once again assumed therole of Acting Prime Minister until the Congress ParliamentaryParty elected Indira Gandhi over Morarji Desai to officially succeedShastri.[25]

Mystery behind Lal Bahadur Shastri'sdeath

Shastri's sudden death immediately after signing the Tashkent Pactwith Pakistan raised many questions in the minds of Indian citizens.The Prime Minister of India going to Tashkent for a pact and nevercoming back has not been accepted easily by Indian citizens. Hishealth was fit as per his personal physician, Dr. R. N. Chugh, and hehad no sign of heart trouble before.

Shastri's sudden death has led to persistent conspiracy theories that he was poisoned.[26] The first inquiryinto his death, conducted by the Raj Narain Inquiry, as it came to be known, however did not come upwith any conclusions, and today no record of this inquiry exists with the Indian Parliament's library.[27]It was alleged that no post­mortem was done on Shastri, but the Indian government in 2009, claimed itdid have a report of a medical investigation conducted by Shastri's personal physician, Dr. R. N. Chugh,and some Russian doctors. Furthermore, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) revealed that there was norecord of any destruction or loss of documents in the PMO having a bearing on Shastri's death.[26] TheRussian butler attending on Shastri at the time of his death was arrested for suspected poisoning butreleased later as per the news source. It was maintained that Shastri had died of cardiac arrest but hisfamily insisted he was poisoned.[28]

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After Shastri's death (aged 62) in Tashkent, USSR, on 11 January 1966, soon after signing the TashkentPact with Pakistan, his wife Lalita Shastri had alleged he was poisoned. An epic poetry book in Hindititled Lalita Ke Aansoo[29] written by Krant M. L. Verma was published in 1978.[30] In this book, thetragic story about the death of Shastri has been narrated by his wife Lalita Shastri.[31] There are stillserious doubts surrounding the nature of his death. His son, Sunil Shastri, asked the government tounravel the mystery behind Lal Bahadur Shastri's death.[32] Raising doubts about the dark blue spots andcut marks on the abdomen of his father's body after his death in 1966, Sunil asked how the cut marksappeared if a post­mortem had not been conducted.

When Shastri went to the USSR for the Tashkent talks, he wanted a promise from Ayub Khan thatPakistan would never use force in the future. But the talks did not proceed and followed Shastri’s deathon the next day.[33] The Indian Government released no information about his death, and the media thenwas kept silent. The possible existence of a conspiracy was covered in India by the Outlookmagazine.[27][27] A query was later posed by Anuj Dhar, author of CIA's Eye on South Asia, under theRight to Information Act to declassify a document supposedly related to Shastri's death, but the PrimeMinister's Office refused to oblige, reportedly citing that this could lead to harming of foreign relations,cause disruption in the country and cause breach of parliamentary privileges.[26] Another RTI plea byKuldip Nayar was also declined, as PMO cited exemption from disclosure on the plea. The homeministry is yet to respond to queries whether India conducted a post­mortem on Shastri, and if thegovernment had investigated allegations of foul play. The Delhi Police in their reply to an RTIapplication said they do not have any record pertaining to Shastri's death. The Ministry of ExternalAffairs has already said no post­mortem was conducted in the USSR. The Central Public InformationOfficer of Delhi Police in his reply dated 29 July said, "No such record related to the death of the formerPrime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri is available in this district... Hence the requisite informationpertaining to New Delhi district may please be treated as nil."[34] This has created more doubts.[35]

The PMO answered only two questions of the RTI application, saying it has only one classifieddocument pertaining to the death of Shastri, which is exempted from disclosure under the RTI Act. Itsent the rest of the questions to the Ministry of External Affairs and Home Ministry to answer. TheMEA said the only document from the erstwhile Soviet Government is "the report of the Joint MedicalInvestigation conducted by a team comprising Dr. R. N. Chugh, Doctor in­Attendance to the PM andsome Russian doctors" and added no post­mortem was conducted in the USSR. The Home Ministryreferred the matter to Delhi Police and National Archives for the response pertaining to any post­mortemconducted on the body of Shastri in India. Sunil Shastri, son of the former Prime Minister, called thetransferring of application as "absurd" and "silly joke". "He (Lal Bahadur Shastri) died as sitting PrimeMinister. It sounds very silly that MHA is referring the matter of death of second Prime Minister ofIndia to a district level police." He also demanded that "It should be looked into by highest authoritieslike President, Prime Minister and home minister."[36]

Later, Gregory Douglas, a journalist who interviewed former CIA operative, Robert Crowley, over aperiod of 4 years, recorded their telephonic conversations and published its transcribe in a book titled,"Conversations with the Crow". In the book, Crowley claimed that CIA was responsible for eliminatingDr. Homi Bhabha, Indian nuclear scientist whose plane crashed into Alps, when he was going to attend aconference in Vienna and Lal Bahadur Shastri, who died at Tashkent summit in 1966. Crowley said thatUSA was wary of India's rigid stand on nuclear policy and then PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, who wanted togo ahead with nuclear tests. He also said that agency was more worried about collective domination ofIndo­Russian over the region, for which a strong deterrent was required.[37]

Family and descendants

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Hungarian Stamp of Lal BahadurShastri in 1976

On 16 May 1928, Shastri married Lalita Devi a lady from Mirzapur. The marriage, which was arrangedby their parents in the traditional Indian way, was harmonious and conventional. The couple wereblessed with four sons and two daughters, namely

1. Kusum Shastri, the eldest daughter2. Hari Krishna Shastri, eldest son, who was married to Vibha Shastri3. Suman Shastri, second daughter, married to Vijay Nath Singh. Her son, Siddharth Nath Singh, is aspokesman of the Bharatiya Janata Party

4. Anil Shastri. He is married to Manju Shastri. Alone in his family, he remains a member of hisfather's Congress Party. His son Adarsh Shastri gave up his corporate career with Apple Inc tocontest the General elections of 2014 from Allahabad on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket. He lost thatelection.[38]

5. Sunil Shastri. He is married to Meera Shastri. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.6. Ashok Shastri, the youngest son. He worked in the corporate world before his untimely death atthe age of 37.[39] His wife Neera Shastri and his son Sameep Shastri are members of the BharatiyaJanata Party.

Legacy

Ramachandra Guha argued that Shastri shared little in commonwith his predecessor Jawaharlal Nehru.[40] While Shastripreferred peace with Pakistan, writing to a friend after the Indo­Pakistani War in 1965 that the problems between both countriesshould be settled amicably, he had previously displayed a knackfor taking quick and decisive actions during the war.[40] Heswiftly took the advice of his commanders, and ordered a strikeacross the Punjab border.[40] This was in stark contrast to Nehruwho in a similar situation in 1962, had refused to call in the airforce to relieve the pressure on the ground troops.[40] At the endof the conflict, Shastri flamboyantly posed for a photograph ontop of a captured US­supplied Pakistani M48 Patton tank.[40]

However, in common with Nehru, Shastri was a secularist who refused to mix religion with politics. In apublic meeting held at the Ram Lila grounds in Delhi, a few days after the ceasefire, he complainedagainst a BBC report which claimed that Shastri's identity as a Hindu meant that he was ready for a warwith Pakistan. He stated:[40]

"While I am a Hindu, Mir Mushtaq who is presiding over this meeting is a Muslim. Mr.Frank Anthony who has addressed you is a Christian. There are also Sikhs and Parsis here.The unique thing about our country is that we have Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs,Parsis and people of all other religions. We have temples and mosques, gurdwaras andchurches. But we do not bring all this into politics. This is the difference between India andPakistan. Whereas Pakistan proclaims herself to be an Islamic State and uses religion as apolitical factor, we Indians have the freedom to follow whatever religion we may choose,and worship in any way we please. So far as politics is concerned, each of us is as much anIndian as the other."

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Lal Bahadur Shastri NationalAcademy of Administration,Mussoorie

Kuldip Nayar, Shastri's media advisor from 1960 to 1964, recalls that, during the Quit India Movement,his daughter was ill and he was released on parole from jail. However, he could not save her life becausedoctors had prescribed costly drugs. Later on in 1963, on the day when he was dropped from the cabinet,he was sitting in his home in the dark, without a light. When asked about the reason, he said as he nolonger is a minister, all expenses will have to be paid by himself and that as a MP and minister he didn'tearn enough to save for time of need.[41]

Although Shastri had been a cabinet minister for many years in the 1950s, he was poor when he died.All he owned at the end was an old car, which he had bought in instalments from the government and forwhich he still owed money. He was a member of Servants of India society (which included Gandhi, LalaLajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhle) which asked all its members to shun accumulation of privateproperty and remain in public life as servants of people. He was the first railway minister who resignedfrom office following a major train accident as he felt moral responsibility.

The foundation stone of Bal Vidya Mandir, a distinguished school of Lucknow, was laid by him duringhis tenure as the Prime Minister, on 19 November 1964.

He inaugurated the Central Institute of Technology Campus at Tharamani, Chennai, in November 1964.

He inaugurated the Plutonium Reprocessing Plant at Trombay in 1965. As suggested by Dr. HomiJehangir Bhabha, Shastri authorized the development of nuclear explosives. Bhabha initiated the effortby setting up the nuclear explosive design group Study of Nuclear Explosions for Peaceful Purposes(SNEPP).

He inaugurated the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University at Hyderabad on 20 March 1965 whichrenamed as Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University in 1996 and renamed again in July 2014 asProfessor. Jayashanker Agricultural University and National Institute of Technology, Allahabad.

Lal Bahadur Shastri inaugurated the Jawahar Dock of the Chennai Port Trust & starts the constructionwork of Tuticorin Port (Now VOC Port Trust) in November 1964.

He inaugurated Sainik School Balachadi, in State of Gujarat. He laid the foundation stone of Almattidam during the year ­­­­­­­­ . Now the commissioned dam bears his name.

Memorials

Shastri was known for his honesty and humility throughout his life.He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the BharatRatna, and a memorial "Vijay Ghat" was built for him in Delhi.

Several educational institutes, Lal Bahadur Shastri NationalAcademy of Administration (Mussorie, Uttarakhand) is after hisname.

Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management was established inDelhi by the 'Lal Bahadur Shastri Educational Trust' in 1995 as isone of the top business schools in India.

The Shastri Indo­Canadian Institute was named after Shastri due tohis role in promoting scholarly activity between India andCanada.[42]

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Lal Bhadur Shastri Memorial run by Lal Bahadur Shastri National Memorial Trust, is situated next to 10Janpath his residence as Prime Minister,[43] at 1, Motilal Nehru Place, New Delhi.

In 2011, on Shastri’s 45th death anniversary, Uttar Pradesh Government announced to renovate Shastri’sancestral house at Ramnagar in Varanasi and declared plans to convert it into a biographicalmuseum.[1][44]

Varanasi International Airport is named after him.[45]

Lal Bahadur Shastri Centre For Indian Culture with a Monument and a street is named after him in thecity of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Few stadiums are named after him in the cities of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Ahmadabad in Gujaratand another one at Kollam, Kerala. Shastri Road in Kottayam,Kerala[46]

The Almatti Dam is renamed as Lal Bahadur Shastri Sagar in Northern Karnataka built across the RiverKrishna. The foundation stone was laid by him.

MV Lal Bahadur Shastri a Cargo Ship is named after him.

RBI released coins in the denomination of Rs.5 during his birth century celebrations.

All India Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey tournament is held every year since 1991 an major tournament inthe field of Hockey.

The Left Bank Canal form the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in AP is named Lal Bahadur Shastri Canal which is295 km in Length.

Life size statues of Shastri are erected at Mumbai,Bangalore(Vidhana Soudha),New Delhi(CGOComplex),Almatti Dam Site,Ramnagar­UP, Hisar, Vizagapattinam,Nagarjuna Dam site.

Life size bust of Shastri are erected at Thiruvandram,Pune,Varanasi(Airport),Ahmedabad (lakeside),Khrushetra,Shimla,Kasargod,Indore,Jalandar,Mhow,Uran.

Some Major Roads in the Cities of New Delhi,Mumbai,Pune,Puduchery,Lucknow and Allahabadbearing the name of the Legend.

In 2005, the Government of India created a chair in his honour in the field of democracy and governanceat Delhi University.[47]

Citations1. "Lest we FORGET...". The Hindu. 2 October 2004.2. Srivastava, C.P. (1995). Lal Bahadur Shastri, president of india ; a life of truth in politics (Book) (1st ed.).Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 12–17. ISBN 0­19­563499­3.

3. Burger, Angela Sutherland (1969). Opposition in a Dominant Party System: A study of the Jan Sangh, thePraja Socialist Party and the Socialist Party in Uttar Pradesh, India. University of California Press. p. 28.

4. "Lal Bahadur Shastri: The Fatherless Child". Retrieved 13 March 2007.5. "Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Je­ A Profile". Government Of India. Retrieved 13 March 2007.6. "Lal Bahadur Shastri: The Young Satyagrahi". Retrieved 13 March 2007.7. Srivastava, C.P. (1995). Lal Bahadur Shastri, Prime Minister of India; a life of truth in politics (Book) (1sted.). Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 20–22. ISBN 0­19­563499­3.

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8. Srivastava, C.P. (1995). Lal Bahadur Shastri, Prime Minister of India; a life of truth in politics (Book) (1sted.). Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 23–28. ISBN 0­19­563499­3.

9. "Lal Bahadur Shastri: Tilak and Gandhi". Retrieved 13 March 2007.10. "Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904–1966)". Research Reference and Training Division, Ministry Of Information And

Broadcasting, Government Of India. Retrieved 13 March 2007.11. "Lal Bahadur Shastri: The Servants of the People Society". Retrieved 13 March 2007.12. Grover, Verinder (1993). Political Thinkers of Modern India: Lala Lajpat Rai. Deep & Deep Publications.

pp. 547–. ISBN 978­81­7100­426­3.13. "Lal Bahadur Shastri: Freedom's Soldier". Retrieved 13 March 2007.14. "Prime Minister's address at the inauguration of centenary year celebrations of late Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri".

Prime Minister's Office, Government Of India. 2 October 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.15. "Lal Bahadur Shastri: In Prison Again". Retrieved 13 March 2007.16. Swami Rajesh Chopra. "− Lal Bahadur Shastri". Liveindia.com. Retrieved 5 December 2012.17. "Lal Bahadur Shastri:The Responsibility of Freedom". Retrieved 13 March 2007.18. "Lal Bahadur Shastri: I Am Responsible". Retrieved 13 March 2007.19. "Prime Minister Inaugurates Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial: Text Of Dr Manmohan Singh's Speech". Press

Information Bureau, Government Of India. 7 May 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.20. "Lal Bahadur Shastri: The Might of Peace". Press Information Bureau, Government Of India. 29 September

2006. Retrieved 13 March 2007.21. Hindustan Times, New Delhi Friday, 11 January 2013 page no 522. Encyclopedia of the Third World, as quoted in "Srimavo­Shastri Pact between India and Sri Lanka".

Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 1 September 1997. Retrieved 26 April 2012.23. The Far East and Australasia, 199624. "Was Mr Shastri murdered". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2013.25. U.N. Gupta (2003). Indian Parliamentary Democracy. Atlantic Publishers & Distributors. p. 121.

ISBN 8126901934.26. Dhawan, H. "45 years on, Shastri's death a mystery – PMO refuses to Entertain RTI Plea Seeking

Declassification of Document". The Times of India, New Delhi Edition, Saturday, 11 July 2009, page 11,columns 1–5 (top left)

27. "Tashkent Whodunit: An Enduring Tale | Saba Naqvi". Outlookindia.com. Retrieved 5 December 2012.28. "Sunil Shastri asks govt to unravel mystery behind Lal Bahadur Shastri's death". Indiatvnews.com. Retrieved

5 December 2012.29. *Book:Lalita Ke Ansoo on worldcat (http://www.worldcat.org/title/lalita­ke­amsu­sri­lalabahadura­sastri­ke­

jivana­para­adharita­eka­karuna­kavya­krti/oclc/60419441&referer=brief_results)30. Hindustan (Hindi daily) New Delhi 12 January 1978 (ललता क आस का वमोचन)31. Panchjanya (newspaper) A literary review 24 February 198032. Saba Naqvi (16 July 2012). "Clear air on Lal Bahadur Shastri's death: Son". Hindustan Times. Archived from

the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.33. krzna (2 October 2011). "The Curious case of Lal Bahadur Shastri’s Murder | My First Blush".

Krzna.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.34. "Post­mortem on Shastri could have been done". NDTV. 9 August 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2012.35. Himanshi Dhawan (11 July 2009). "45 yrs on, Shastri's death a mystery". The Times of India. Retrieved

5 December 2012.36. "43 years on, mystery shrouds post­mortem of Lal Bahadur Shastri ­ India ­ DNA". Dnaindia.com. Retrieved

5 December 2012.37. "Conversation with Crowley".38. "Grandson banks on Lal Bahadur Shastri's legacy to conquer Allahabad". The Hindu. 6 May 2014. Retrieved

13 May 2014.39. "The Shastri saga". Hinduonnet.com. 2 October 2004.40. Guha 2008, pp. 400–40141. "The politician who made no money". Rediff.com. 6 October 2004. Archived from the original on 4 October

2010. Retrieved 2 October 2012.42. "Mission of the Shastri Institute".43. Rajeshwar Prasad (1991). Days with Lal Bahadur Shastri: Glimpses from The Last Seven Years. Allied

Publishers. p. 16. ISBN 81­7023­331­3.44. "Shastri memorial losing out to Sonia security". The Indian Express. 17 January 2011.45. http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=12805

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Wikimedia Commons hasmedia related to LalBahadur Shastri.

Wikiquote has quotationsrelated to: Lal BahadurShastri

46. kottayam town47. "PM's speech at conclusion of Lal Bahadur Shastri Centenary Celebrations". Prime Minister's Office (India),

Government of India. 4 October 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.

ReferencesGuha, Ramachandra (2008). India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy. PanMacmillan. ISBN 978­0­330­39611­0.

Further reading

Pavan Choudary and Anil Shastri. Lal Bahadur Shastri: Lessons in Leadership. Wisdom VillagePublications, 2014 ISBN 9789380710365John Noyce. Lal Bahadur Shastri: an English­language bibliography. Lulu.com, 2002.Lal Bahadur Shastri, 'Reflections on Indian politics', Indian Journal of Political Science, vol.23,1962, pp1–7L.P. Singh, Portrait of Lal Bahadur Shastri (Delhi: Ravi Dayal Publishers, 1996) ISBN 81­7530­006­X(Sir) C.P. Srivastava, Lal Bahadur Shastri: a life of truth in politics (New Delhi: OxfordUniversity Press, 1995) ISBN 0­19­563499­3(Sir) C.P. Srivastava, Corruption: India's enemy within (New Delhi: Macmillan India, 2001)chapter 3 ISBN 0­333­93531­4India Unbound From Independence to Global Information Age by Shri Gurucharan Das chapter11The spiritual master of Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri was Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra Chakravarty.

External linksWhy has history forgotten this giant?(http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/oct/06spec1.htm)Lalita Ke Aansoo on en.wikisourceGovernment of India ­ PM India(http://pmindia.gov.in/en/former_pm/shri­lal­bahadur­shastri/)Book Review ­ Lal Bahadur Shastri : A life of truth inpolitics by C.P Srivastava (https://www.tell­a­tale.com/book­review­lal­bahadur­shastri­a­life­of­truth­in­politics/)

Political officesPreceded by

Govind Ballabh PantMinister of Home Affairs

1961–1963Succeeded by

Gulzarilal Nanda

Preceded byGulzarilal Nanda

Acting

Minister of External Affairs 1964

Succeeded by Sardar Swaran Singh

Prime Minister of India1964–1966 Succeeded by

Gulzarilal Nanda Acting

Chairperson of the PlanningCommission

1966

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Categories: 1st Lok Sabha members 1904 births 1966 deaths Indian HindusIndian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh People from Chandauli districtMinisters for External Affairs of India People from Uttar Pradesh Politicians from VaranasiPrime Ministers of India Railway Ministers of India Recipients of the Bharat RatnaShastri administration Prisoners and detainees of British India 2nd Lok Sabha members3rd Lok Sabha members Lok Sabha members from Uttar PradeshRajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh

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