Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, had firm views on insulating the Army from extraneous influences. In the nascent stage of the republic, he laid down several guidelines to maintain the impartial and apolitical image of the defence services.
Ten years after independence, the West Bengal Government wrote to the Ministry of Defence seeking a plot of land in Barrackpore to set up a memorial for Mangal Pandey, the Indian soldier who sparked the first war of Independence from that town in 1857. In his letter to Dr B C Roy, the chief minister of West Bengal, Nehru told him that this was not a good idea and that Mangal Pandey was not a good example to set for the Army.
A resident of Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, and a sepoy in 34th Native Infantry in the East India Company, Mangal Pandey objected to the use of animal fat for greasing the cartridges of the new Enfield Rifles. Influenced by the refusal of fellow soldiers at Behrampore to use the greased cartridges, he broke into open mutiny on March 29, 1857, at Barrackpore near Calcutta. He was tried by a court martial on April 6 and hanged at Barrackpore on April 8, 1857.
Documents in the Nehru Archives include a letter the first prime minister wrote to Dr Roy on August 3, 1957, pertaining to a memorial for Mangal Pandey. Nehru wrote that Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon had told him that a request had come from the West Bengal Government for a plot of land in Barrackpore that belonged to the defence ministry.
“It is proposed, I am told, to put up some kind of a memorial column or something like it there in honour of Mangal Pandey, the sepoy who fired the first shot in 1857. I rather doubt if it will be proper or advisable to use a piece of land belonging to our Defence establishments for this purpose.
Whatever we may think of Mangal Pandey’s act, it is not a good example to set to the men in our Army, and to have this memorial in land appertaining to the Army would be to draw very particular attention to this,” said Nehru.
The then prime minister added that personally, he did not think any ornate memorial was necessary for the purpose. “Perhaps, a plaque somewhere will be enough. But, if you want some kind of a memorial, I would suggest that it should be put up somewhere else, and not on land belonging to our military,” he wrote.
In a note written in February 1953, Nehru said the principle that units of the Indian Army should not formally participate in religious or similar functions was a sound one.
“If they are allowed to take such part, then naturally we shall have to extend this to every religion. Any other course would be discrimination. Then again, our units may be composite and might not represent as a whole a particular religious faith. That would create difficulties,” he wrote.
Nehru said the fact that the state forces had ceased to exist as such and had been integrated into the Indian Army was also an important factor bearing on this question. The sentiment attached to the state forces participating in such religious functions is no longer applicable, or, at any rate, is very little applicable, he said.
“The only question was as to whether this practice should be suddenly ended or progressively stopped. I gather from these papers that this is no sudden decision now and that for the last three years there has been an attempt to lessen its scope. I agree, therefore, that the orders issued already should stand. To go back upon them would make it much more difficult to bring about the change desired later,” he said.
Nehru referred to a telegram received from the Maharaja of Travancore on the subject. “A letter should be written to him explaining in some detail the policy we pursue and the attempts that have been made to put an end to this practice gradually. While appreciating his desire to continue the old practice, it should be pointed out to him that this will lead to all kinds of difficulties in various parts of India,” he said.
Nehru pointed out that these orders relate to units participating in the religious functions. “There is no ban on individual soldiers, who may not be on duty, seeing these functions. They will not take part in the formal processions, etc,” he said.