Editing Jawaharlal Nehru (section)

=== Independence, Dominion of India: 1947–1950 ===
[[File:Lord Mountbatten swears in Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister of free India on Aug 15, 1947.jpg|thumb|300px|alt=See caption |[[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Lord Mountbatten]] swears in Nehru as the first Prime Minister of independent India on 15 August 1947]]

The period before independence in early 1947 was impaired by outbreaks of communal violence and political disorder, and the opposition of the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who were demanding a separate Muslim state of Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lfcvAQAAIAAJ&q=After+failed+bid+to+form+coalition,+Nehru+reluctantly+supported+the+partition+of+India,+according+to+a+plan+released+by+the+British+on+3+June+1947.|isbn = 978-81-7041-859-7|title = Encyclopaedia Indica: Independent India and wars – I|year = 1996|publisher = Anmol Publications}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1MwAQAAIAAJ&q=After+failed+bid+to+form+coalition,+Nehru+reluctantly+supported+the+partition+of+India,+according+to+a+plan+released+by+the+British+on+3+June+1947.|isbn = 978-81-261-3745-9|title = Encyclopaedia of Indian War of Independence, 1857–1947: Gandhi era : Jawahar Lal Nehru and Sardar Patel|year = 2009|publisher = Anmol Publications}}</ref>

==== Independence ====
{{main|Tryst with Destiny}}
He took office as the [[prime minister of India]] on 15&nbsp;August and delivered his inaugural address titled "[[Tryst with Destiny]]".

<blockquote>Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Jawaharlal|last=Nehru|date=30 April 2007|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/may/01/greatspeeches|title=A Tryst with Destiny|access-date=16 August 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524211546/https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/may/01/greatspeeches |archive-date=24 May 2014|work=[[TheGuardian.com]]}}</ref></blockquote>

==== Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: 1948 ====
{{Main|Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi|The light has gone out of our lives|l2 = Nehru's address on Gandhi}}
[[File:Nehru visiting Srinagar Brigade Headquarters Military Hospital in May 1948.jpg|thumb|right|Nehru visiting an Indian soldier recovering from injuries at the Brigade Headquarters Military Hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir]]

On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was shot while he was walking in the garden of Birla House on his way to address a prayer meeting. The assassin, [[Nathuram Godse]], was a [[Hindu nationalist]] with links to the extremist [[Hindu Mahasabha]] party, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-politics-of-an-assassination-who-killed-gandhi-and-why/story-iUJqKjuw0sP9nAfc5KcOII.html|title=The politics of an assassination: Who killed Gandhi and why?|date=15 August 2015|first=Abhishek|last=Saha|website=Hindustan Times|access-date=13 December 2021|archive-date=13 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213151236/https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/the-politics-of-an-assassination-who-killed-gandhi-and-why/story-iUJqKjuw0sP9nAfc5KcOII.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Nehru addressed the nation by radio:

<blockquote>Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me but for millions and millions in this country.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Janak Raj Jai|url={{Google books|5Wrc1K0uJTgC|page=PA45|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|title=1947–1980|publisher=Regency Publications|year=1996|isbn=978-81-86030-23-3|pages=45–47}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Yasmin Khan]] argued that Gandhi's death and funeral helped consolidate the authority of the new Indian state under Nehru and Patel. The Congress tightly controlled the epic public displays of grief over a two-week period—the funeral, mortuary rituals and distribution of the martyr's ashes with millions participating in different events.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/boundaries-of-belonging/performing-the-state-in-post1947-india-and-pakistan/51E29D5CE278C3362B5D10B45D35C71F/core-reader|title=Boundaries of Belonging|chapter='Performing the State' in Post-1947 India and Pakistan|date=2019|publisher=Cambridge University Press|first1=Sarah|last1=Ansari|first2=William|last2=Gould|pages=23–66|doi=10.1017/9781108164511.003|isbn=978-1-107-19605-6|s2cid=211394653|access-date=11 September 2021|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911043326/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/boundaries-of-belonging/performing-the-state-in-post1947-india-and-pakistan/51E29D5CE278C3362B5D10B45D35C71F/core-reader|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/78902926.pdf|title=Performing Peace: Gandhi's assassination as a critical moment in the consolidation of the Nehruvian state|first=Yasmin|last=Khan|website=[[core.ac.uk]]|access-date=11 September 2021|archive-date=11 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911043329/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/78902926.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The goal was to assert the power of the government, legitimise the Congress party's control and suppress all religious paramilitary groups. Nehru and Patel suppressed the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), the Muslim National Guards, and the [[Khaksars]], with some 200,000 arrests.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Yasmin |year=2011|title=Performing Peace: Gandhi's assassination as a critical moment in the consolidation of the Nehruvian state |journal=[[Modern Asian Studies]] |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=57–80 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X10000223|s2cid=144894540 |doi-access=free}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Gandhi's death and funeral linked the distant state with the Indian people and helped them to understand the need to suppress religious parties during the transition to independence for the Indian people.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Performing Peace: Gandhi's assassination as a critical moment in the consolidation of the Nehruvian state|first=Yasmin|last=Khan|date=12 January 2011|journal=Modern Asian Studies|volume=45|issue=1|pages=57–80|doi=10.1017/S0026749X10000223|s2cid=144894540|doi-access=free}}</ref> In later years, there emerged a revisionist school of history which sought to blame Nehru for the partition of India, mostly referring to his highly [[centralised]] policies for an independent India in 1947, which Jinnah opposed in favour of a more [[decentralised]] India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gandhi-jinnah-both-failed-jaswant/99323-37.html |title=Gandhi, Jinnah both failed: Jaswant |last=Thapar |first=Karan |date=17 August 2009 |author-link=Karan Thapar |publisher=ibnlive.in.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703195004/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/gandhi-jinnah-both-failed-jaswant/99323-37.html |archive-date=3 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/After-Advani-Jaswant-turns-Jinnah-admirer/articleshow/4900326.cms |title=After Advani, Jaswant turns Jinnah admirer |date=17 August 2009 |access-date=15 August 2021 |work=[[The Economic Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020021442/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/After-Advani-Jaswant-turns-Jinnah-admirer/articleshow/4900326.cms |archive-date=20 October 2017 |location=India}}</ref>

==== Integration of states and Adoption of New Constitution: 1947–1950 ====
{{See also|Political integration of India|States Reorganisation Act, 1956}}
[[File:Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi.jpg|thumb|alt=See caption |[[Indira Gandhi]], Nehru, [[Rajiv Gandhi]] and [[Sanjay Gandhi]] in June 1949]]
The British Indian Empire, which included present-day India, Pakistan, and [[Bangladesh]], was divided into two types of territories: the provinces of British India, which were governed directly by British officials responsible to the [[Viceroy]] of India; and princely states, under the rule of local hereditary rulers who recognised British [[suzerainty]] in return for local autonomy, in most cases as established by a treaty.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/thread/politics-and-policy/article8366115.ece |title=Maps are malleable. Even Bharat Mata's |last=Ghosh |first=Bishwanath |date=17 March 2016 |access-date=15 August 2021 |work=[[The Hindu]] |archive-date=2 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302163809/https://www.thehindu.com/thread/politics-and-policy/article8366115.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 1947 and about 1950, the territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the Indian Union under Nehru and Sardar Patel. Most were merged into existing provinces; others were organised into new provinces, such as [[Rajputana]], Himachal Pradesh, [[Madhya Bharat]], and [[Vindhya Pradesh]], made up of multiple princely states; a few, including Mysore, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Bilaspur, became separate provinces.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Adrija|last=Roychowdhury|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/research/five-states-that-refused-to-join-india-after-independence/|title=Five states that refused to join India after Independence|date=17 August 2017|access-date=15 August 2021|work=[[The Indian Express]]|archive-date=13 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113171155/https://indianexpress.com/article/research/five-states-that-refused-to-join-india-after-independence/|url-status=live}}</ref> The Government of India Act 1935 remained the constitutional law of India the pending adoption of a new Constitution.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/time-to-recall-efforts-made-to-create-the-constitution/article8177274.ece|title=Time to recall efforts made to create the Constitution|first=Mohamed Imranullah|last=S.|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=1 February 2016|access-date=15 August 2021|archive-date=3 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210603213805/https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/time-to-recall-efforts-made-to-create-the-constitution/article8177274.ece|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Nehrucon.jpg|thumb|alt=See caption |Nehru signing the [[Indian Constitution]] c.1950]]
In December 1946, Nehru moved the Objectives Resolution. This resolution, upon Nehru's suggestion, ultimately turned into the [[Preamble to the Constitution of India]]. The preamble is considered to be the spirit of the Constitution.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/preamble-embodies-constitution-s-vision/story-vLbo5CoBlXdmCgtSWb7v2K.html|title=Republic at 70: Preamble embodies Constitution's vision|first=Anurag|last=Bhaskar|newspaper=[[Hindustan Times]]|date=25 November 2022|access-date=12 March 2024|archive-date=11 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311200233/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/preamble-embodies-constitution-s-vision/story-vLbo5CoBlXdmCgtSWb7v2K.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-1682-preamble-the-spirit-of-constitution-of-india.html#google_vignette|title=Preamble the Spirit of Constitution of India|first=Dinesh|last=Chauhan|access-date=12 March 2024|archive-date=11 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311200600/https://legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-1682-preamble-the-spirit-of-constitution-of-india.html#google_vignette|url-status=live}}</ref> The new [[Constitution of India]], which came into force on [[Republic Day (India)|26&nbsp;January 1950]] (Republic Day), made India a sovereign democratic republic. The new republic was declared to be a "Union of States".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWJ2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT167 |title=Patel: Political Ideas and Policies |last1=Sinha |first1=Shakti |last2=Roy |first2=Himanshu |date=2018 |isbn=978-93-5280-854-0|publisher=Sage Publications}}</ref>