New Delhi: Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan on Wednesday said that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, was a great freedom fighter. "I will keep talking about him and his legacy," said Kerala governor, adding, "Pandit Nehru was a self-confessed agnostic and was deeply religious."
Speaking on the topic, 'The Life and the Legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru' at Nehru Memorial Museum Library, New Delhi on Wednesday, the Kerala governor said, "I belong to the generation which used to think that Pandit Nehru is our ChaCha. When he died, I was in the seventh standard and the whole country was mourning his demise."
Addressing the audience, Khan further said "There were several issues which created confusion and even Pandit Ji had a greater role in the creation of that confusion." Khan was referring to Nehru's ideas and work on religion and secularism.
Elaborating further, the Kerala governor said, "Pandit Nehru in his early 30s was an ardent follower of religious texts and scriptures. He was an avid reader of religious texts such as the holy Upanishads, Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharat and Bhagavad Gita. Religious texts played an important role in shaping Nehru's life. Pandit Nehru also went through holy books such as Bible, Quran and others. When he was incarcerated, Pandit Nehru's letters were the manifestation that he was reading those religious texts."
"So, there are many of his followers and even his critics who pointed out that Nehru was the epitome of modernity and secularism as well as an atheist. But in reality, he was deeply a religious person," remarked Khan.
Quoting works of Nehru, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and a few noted historians, Khan emphasized that "There are several letters and facts which haven't come to light yet. But those of you who had the privilege to know Pandit Ji, should know that he was a religious person for whom these texts and books were storehouses of wisdom."
