Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru

This volume covers the short period from May 1 1957 to July 31 1957. This volume opens with Jawaharlal Nehru's public speech at the Ramlila Grounds in Delhi on May 10 1957. Nehru recalled how he used to listen to tales of what happened in 1857-58 in Allahabad, Delhi, Lucknow, and other places. These stories make a deep impression on him and filled him with anger. According to Nehru, the great outburst of 1857 was an expression of the people's anger against the British takeover of the country. He did not think it was a coordinated movement: but there was a general feeling of resentment spread over the whole of North India and one spark was enough to ignite a whole conflagration. While the bulk of the collection in this volume deals with "External Affairs," the volume is replete with documents which show Nehru's concern about the issue of food scarcity and shortage of foreign exchange at this point in time. The sections on "Minorities and Weaker Sections" has documents that illustrate Nehru's commitment to a pluralist society.