A son who helplessly from prison heard his beloved mother got beaten up so badly by the police that when she fell unconscious blood was flowing from her wounds.
It was National week (6th-13 April) remembering Jalianwala Jawahar's mother Swarup Rani was leading a procession in Allahabad halted by the police. Determined Swarup Rani sat down on the middle of the road following the Raj Police charge.
First it was spread that Swarup Rani is dead. On 16th April, 1932 she wrote to her Jawahar in Bareily Jail where his barracks were 6 feet below ground level and the walls over 21 feet high. She wrote to him
"The mother of a brave son is also somewhat like him. It was only a Lathi - had it been a gun I would have bared my chest."
Between Dec 1921 - Aug 1942 Nehru was sentenced nine times.
He spent 3262 days of his life in the jails of Lucknow, Naini (Allahabad), Bareilly, Dehra Dun, Almora and Gorakhpur in the United Provinces, Ahmednagar Fort in Bombay state and, worst of all, in the princely state of Nabha.
The first term lasted 87 days: from 6 Dec 1921 to 2 March 1922.
The 2nd extended between 11 May 1922 and 31 Jan 1923.
The 3rd, in Nabha, was a short spell of 12 days between 22 Sept and 4 Oct 1923.
The fourth went on for six months from 14 April to 11 Oct 1930.
The fifth followed quickly after, between 19 Oct 1930 and 26 Jan 1931.
The sixth was a long spell, from 26 Dec 1931 to 30 Aug 1933.
The seventh was more than a year and a half, from 12 Feb 1934 to 4 Sept 1935.
The eighth came after the beginning of the Second World War, from 31 October 1940 to 3 Dec 1941.
The last incarceration was by far the longest, a full 1040 days after the Congress had told the British to quit India - from 9 Aug 1942 to 15 June 1945.
Nine of the prime years of his life were spent in British prisons, but not once did he wrote any apology letter even through moments of deep depression and loneliness.
Those who today accusing him of being British Agent should be ashamed though I know they are shameless.
Nehru's war for freedom went on for more than 25 years, and the price was heavy.
There were desertions along the way, and long moments when nothing seemed possible but failure and more failure.
But can't deny that from the frustration of inactivity often he succumbed to depression.
Just read his letter to Indira written on 3rd Oct 1932 from prison cell.
"The years I have spent in prison! Sitting alone, wrapped in my thoughts, how many seasons I have seen go by, following each other into oblivion! How many moons I have watched wax and wane, and the pageant of the stars moving along inexorably and majestically! How many yesterdays of my youth lie buried here; and sometimes I see the ghosts of these dead yesterdays rise up, bringing poignant memories, and whispering to me: 'Was it worthwhile?"
But what was his attitude towards the Raj Administration? Sharing the his short proceeding in Court after his first arrest 1921.
The Court - ‘Are you a member of the Central Volunteer Board, appointed on 24 or 25 November 1921, to organize Volunteer Corps in the United Provinces?’
Jawaharlal - ‘I do not recognize the British government in India, and I do not regard this as a court. I regard these proceedings as farce or show. This court carries out what has only been decided,’
The Court - ‘Did you attend a meeting of the Congress Committee on 3 December 1921 in Lucknow?’
Jawaharlal - ‘I do not wish to give a reply to this question, or to any question.'
This the attitude he maintained through the years of his freedom struggle. And look who are accusing him of being British Agent. Who are they?
I don't need to produce those apology letters of that Mafiveer. Every Citizen knows about that coward.
Ved Mehta, the renowned writer, succinctly captured Nehru's essence in his New Yorker article: "I feel I am confronting Sanskrit, Mughal, and English India all at once; he represents the three Indias with their extremes but without their contradictions. I feel the real secret of free India lies in the Prime Minister."
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