Lal Bahadur Shastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on Oct 2, 1905 at Prayag, in a house of a school teacher Sharada Prasad. His father passed away when Lal Bahadur was barely a year and a half. Growing up without a father forced Lal Bahadur to accept responsibility at an early age. His uncle sent him to Varanasi to pursue his studies.

After a short stay with a family that treated him unkindly, Lal Bahadur stayed with a teacher, Mishraji. Mishraji often narated him stories of mutiny of 1857 and how India lost her freedom to the British. These conversations later inspired Lal Bahadur to join the struggle for Indian freedom.

At about this time Gandhiji came to Varanasi and spoke of his non-cooperation movement. Lal Bahadur took a keen interest in the growing movement and when the time came to boycott the schools, he did so by not appearing for his examinations. With just one year left for his graduation, the news was not taken well at home. Neither his Uncle nor Mishraji supported Lal Bahadur’s action, but his mother who had complete faith in him, supported his decision as long as he promised not to renege from the task later. With his mother’s blessings, he became fully involved in the non-cooperation movement. He was arrested for taking part in banned processions but released since it was his first offense. He worked during the evenings in a khadi shop and studied while studying for the degree of Shastri (Bachelor) in Philosophy.

He did social work among the Harijans to make their lives better. Two years later he married Lalita Devi. Lal Bahadur and Lalita moved to Allahabad where Lal Bahadur served as secretary of the District Congress Committee. He attended the 1929 Lahore session of the Congress, and upon his return to Allahabad actively spoke out against the British Raj and for “Purna Swaraj”. As protests continued more and more people were arrested for participating in the movement. When Lalita Devi mentioned to Lal Bahadur that the jails were full, he replied in his characteristic fashion, “Yes, but there is still room for me.”

He was arrested a few days later. During his stay in jail his wife gave birth to their first child Kusum. He had two other children, Hari and Suman.

His total commitment to Gandhiji and the non-cooperation movement resulted in many jail terms. Lal Bahadur and his associates spent their time travelling around India spreading Gandhiji’s message. Since the Congress party was banned by the British Government, he was soon arrested for these activities, and jailed for seven months at an unknown location. Eighteen months later Lalita Devi was granted permission to meet her husband.

Lal Bahadur was finally released from prison in 1946. On August 15, 1947 India gained independence. Lal Bahadur was appointed Minister of Police in Nehru’s cabinet. In 1951 Jawaharlal Nehru was re-elected Prime Minister for a second term, and Lal Bahadur was appointed General Secretary of the Lok Sabha. While in Nehru’s cabinet, Lal Bahadur was entrusted with portfolios for Minister of Railways, Minister of Communications and later Home Minister. He served as Nehru’s right hand. On May 27, 1964 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru died. Lal Bahadur Shastri became India’s second Prime Minister. His term is best known for introducing measures to make India self-sufficient in food production.

In 1965 Pakistan attacked India on the Kashmiri front and Lal Bahadur Shastri responded in kind by punching toward Lahore. In 1966 a cease-fire was issued as a result of international pressure. Lal Bahadur Shastri went to Tashkent to hold talks with Ayub Khan and an agreement was soon signed.

Lal Bahadur passed away in Tashkent before returning home. He was posthumously conferred with the Bharat Ratna Award .

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