Jawaharlal Nehru: Speeches on the Granting of Indian Independence

About the Author

The author of the two speeches was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, born in 1889 into a wealthy and prominent political family. Nehru received a predominantly Western education: He went to Harrow School in London and, at age sixteen, graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge. Thereafter, he studied law at the Inner Temple in London. Nehru returned to India in 1912 and soon joined the political fray. The Jallianwala Bagh incident drove Nehru to hard-line politics within the INC. He participated in several struggles and movements for independence, including the Salt March to Dandi on March 12, 1930—the first act of organized opposition to British rule after the INC's declaration of independence. He was first elected as INC president in 1931 and served as president four times prior to independence. In 1937, during his third term as president, Nehru made a tactical mistake in estranging the Muslim League by articulating his belief that the policies of the INC alone reflected the needs of Indians and by adopting the Gandhian noncooperation policy as a solution for Indian independence. In January 1942, Gandhi publicly declared Nehru as his successor, and in August, Nehru moved the famous Quit India Resolution. Soon after, Nehru and the other leaders of the INC were imprisoned for participating in anti–Cripps Mission agitation and for passing the Quit India Resolution. After his release from jail in 1945, he was elected president of the INC for the fourth time and was invited by the Cabinet Mission to form the interim government. Nehru became the first prime minister of India following independence on August 15, 1947.