Back in Form

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's performance last week was his best in years. Wearing the customary red rose in his buttonhole, Nehru rose before a largely hostile Parliament for a three-day debate on his policy toward Red Chinese aggression on the northern borders and carried through his complete program with consummate ease. His sarcastic wit set the Parliament laughing; his bursts of anger confused his opponents; his eloquence and sincerity won over the waverers.

Bold & Blunt. Nehru began by humbly asking Parliament to give him "directions" on the policy he should follow, then cheerfully demolished each suggestion and, in the end, accepted no advice at all. He neatly torpedoed the proposal that India negotiate a joint defense pact with Pakistan by pointing out that Pakistan's ruler, Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan, disputes India's possession of Kashmir and has already "said I had no business to make proposals to [China's] Premier Chou Enlai" regarding the Ladakh border of Kashmir.

Nehru won his major support from Parliament by speaking out boldly and bluntly against Red China. "Any aggression" against the small Himalayan states of Bhutan and Nepal, he said, would be regarded as aggression against India. The inherent difficulty in seeking agreement with Peking was caused by the Chinese "national trait of a one-track mind." Historically, Nehru warned, a strong China has always been expansionist, and his policy all along--he insisted--has been to try and deal with this reality, not to ignore it or pretend it did not exist. "I do not think there is any country in the world which is more anxious for peace than the Soviet Union . . . but I doubt if there is any country in the world which cares less for peace than China today."

Wicked Animal. India was now at "one of those peak events in history when a plunge has to be taken in some direction ... If war is thrust upon us, we shall fight with all our strength. But I shall do my utmost to avoid war."

Already mollified, Acharaya J. B. Kripalani of the People's Socialist Party complained: "What the critics want is not the abandonment of neutrality but of passivity." Since Nehru seemed to be promising as much, his political opponents were left complaining that Nehru was "intolerant" of criticism. Rejecting the charge, Nehru gaily referred to the old fable: "This is an animal, and it is very wicked. When anyone attacks it, it defends itself." He added, amidst laughter: "Am I not even to defend my views when they are attacked?"

Finding Nehru too strong, the opposition unlimbered its heaviest artillery against unpopular Defense Minister Krishna Menon. A member of the right-wing Jan Sangh Party described Krishna Menon as "a grave security risk" and denounced him as a controversial figure of doubtful antecedents whose "pronounced Communist leanings" made him "singularly" unfitted for his job.

Patriot's Card. Nehru let Krishna Menon defend himself, and the lean, vinegary minister went swiftly on the offensive. He refused to answer attacks on his integrity or patriotism and snapped: "When the time comes when I have to carry a card of patriotism, it will not be worth it." He taunted those opponents who challenged his qualifications with the acid remark that government ministers, "rightly or wrongly, are not appointed by the opposition." Krishna Menon told Parliament that troop movements toward the border, "consistent with our resources," had taken place, and boasted that Indian armament production had nearly doubled since 1957.

Closing the debate, Nehru first gave support and tribute to Krishna Menon as a man who was sometimes wrong ("I know his faults"), but who had, nevertheless, "the deepest patriotism." Of himself, Nehru said dramatically: "If this house thinks my manner of carrying on in this situation is not adequate, then the honorable members are free to choose another Prime Minister." The result was a thunderous voice vote of confidence which drowned out the one or two "Noes" of stubborn dissenters.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.