Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti
Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri made an important contribution to maintaining the unity and integrity of the country. Shastri played an important role in the independence by taking an active part in the freedom movement of the country.
Early life of Lal Bahadur Shastri-
In his childhood, Lal Bahadur ji was called ‘Nanhe’ by his family members. Shastri’s father passed away during his childhood. After this, Lal Bahadur ji’s mother took him to her father Hazari Lal’s house in Mirzapur. After some time his maternal grandfather also died.
His primary education was in Mirzapur and his further studies were in Harishchandra High School and Kashi-Vidyapeeth. Lal Bahadur ji had graduated in Sanskrit language. He obtained the title of ‘Shastri’ from Kashi Vidyapeeth. From this time onwards he added ‘Shastri’ to his name. After this, he came to be known as Shastri.
He was married to Lalita Shastri in 1928. They had six children. One of his sons, Anil Shastri, was a member of the Congress Party.
Shastri Ji’s political life-
Lal Bahadur was briefly jailed in 1921 during the non-cooperation movement launched by Gandhiji. As a follower of Gandhiji, he returned to politics and went to jail several times. Later he held influential positions in the Uttar Pradesh Congress Party.
Shastriji was elected to the provincial legislature in 1937 and 1946. After he met with Nehruji in 1929, his closeness with Nehruji also increased. He joined the Nehru cabinet as Home Minister. He remained in this post till 1951. In 1951, under the leadership of Nehruji, he was appointed General Secretary of the Congress Committee. He worked very hard to make Congress win in the elections of 1952, 1957, and 1962.
After the death of Nehruji, Shastriji became the Prime Minister. He held the post of Prime Minister from 9 June 1964 to 11 January 1966. Shastriji himself had given the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’. He was a great politician of small stature. In the Indo-Pak war of 1965, under the leadership of Shastriji, India forced Pakistan to surrender. In the fight for independence, Shastri ji gave the slogan ‘Don’t die, don’t kill’, which intensified the flame of independence in the entire country.
In 1920, Shastriji jumped into the freedom struggle and joined the service of ‘Bharat Sevak Sangh’. He was a ‘Gandhi’ leader, who devoted his entire life to the service of the country and the poor. Shastri Ji used to participate in all movements and programs.
Millions of Indians gave up one meal on one call –
“During the 1965 war, US President Lyndon Johnson had threatened Shastri that if you did not stop the war against Pakistan, we would stop the red wheat we send you under PL 480.”
At that time India was not self-sufficient in wheat production. This thing hurt Shastri very much because he was a self-respecting person. He told the countrymen that we would not have food once a week. Because of that, the wheat coming from America will be supplied.
But before making this appeal, he asked his wife Lalita Shastri he could make sure that food was not cooked at our place that evening. Tomorrow I am going to appeal to the countrymen not to eat one meal.”
“I want to see whether my children can remain hungry or not. When he saw that we could live without food for a time, he asked the countrymen to do the same – “The entire countrymen accepted this statement of Shastri ji. Happily accepted”.
Mysterious demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri ji –
He died mysteriously on 11 January 1966, the night of the Tashkent Agreement. According to that time, Shastri ji had suffered a heart attack, but it is said that his post-mortem was not done because he was poisoned, which was a well-planned conspiracy, which is still a mystery buried in the atmosphere of Tashkent. It’s a secret. In this way, Lal Bahadur Shastri took command of India in just 18 months. After his death, Gulzarilal Nanda was again appointed as the acting Prime Minister. His last rites were performed on the banks of river Yamuna and that place was named ‘Vijay-Ghat’.
Shastri ji received awards and honors-
He was awarded Bharat Ratna in the year 1966. The Indian Postal Department has also issued a postage stamp in honor of Lal Bahadur Shastri.
Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport-
Earlier the name of this airport was Babatpur Airport. Now it is known as Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport. This airport is in Varanasi city of Uttar Pradesh.
This is a civilian airport. Custom department is present here.
The runway here is paved, its length is 7200 feet and the landing system here is mechanical.
Conclusion –
Shastri was criticized for his inability to effectively deal with India’s economic problems, but he was highly praised for the determination he showed in the 1965 war with neighboring Pakistan over the disputed province of Jammu and Kashmir.
Even today, the whole of India remembers Shastri ji with reverence for his simplicity, patriotism, and honesty.
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