Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of free India, can also be credited as a freedom fighter who has served one of the longest time in the British colonial prisons. In a span of around 25 years, from 1921 to 1945, he was arrested 9 times and spent 3,262 days in jail.
Of these, 3,262 days of the life of Nehru lie buried in different prisons – Lucknow, Nabha, Naini (Prayagraj), Bareilly, Dehradun, Kolkata, Almora, Gorakhpur, and Ahmednagar Fort. The first imprisonment lasted 87 days, from December 6, 1921 to March 2, 1922; the second 265 days, from May 11, 1922 to January 31, 1923; the third 12 days, from September 22, 1923 to October 4, 1923; the fourth 180 days, from April 14, 1930 to October 11, 1930; the fifth 99 days, from October 19, 1930 to January 26, 1931; the sixth 612 days, from December 26, 1931 to August 30, 1933; the seventh 569 days, from February 12, 1934 to September 4, 1935; the eighth 398 days, from October 31, 1940 to December 3, 1941; and the ninth 1,040 days from August 9, 1942 to June 15. 1945.
On the evening of 6 December 1921, Nehru was arrested for the first time by the British colonial police from the Congress Office at Allahabad (now Prayagraj). He was a leading young face of the Non-Cooperation and Khilafat Movements led by Mahatma Gandhi. At the time, Congress leaders were asking people to observe hartal (strike) on 9 December when the Prince of Wales was slated to visit.
The warrant was issued on the basis of a report (submitted on 4 December to the SP of Lucknow) by Sub-Inspector Hari Singh which stated, “I beg to bring to your kind notice that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru of Allahabad, Mr. Khaliq-uz-Zaman, Syed Mohammed Nawab, joint secretary of the Town Congress Committee Volunteer Corps, and Dr. Shivaraj Narain of Wazirganj were distributing notices in Hindi and Urdu in a motor car throughout the city with red notices on all the four sides of the motor-car- “Observe Hartal on the 9th of December 1921″. The first notice was an appeal to shop-keepers and Ekka, tonga and motor drivers by Pandit Motilal Nehru, to observe complete hartal without the fear of Government (as it cannot interfere with private matters) on the dates when H.R.H. The Prince of Wales visits these places.
In the court of the City Magistrate, Lucknow, the trial was held on 15 December. After charges were read by the judge, cross examination of Nehru started. The examination went like;
Question: “Are you a member of the Central Volunteer Board, appointed on 24th or 25th of November 1921, to organise Volunteer Corps in the United Provinces?”
Nehru: “I do not recognise the British Government in India, and I do not regard this as a court. I regard these proceedings as farce or show. This court carries out what has already been decided.”
Question: “Did you attend a meeting of the Congress Committee on the 3rd of December, 1921, in Lucknow?”
Nehru: “I do not wish to give a reply to this question, or to any question.”
When the magistrate asked Nehru to elucidate what he meant by his answer to the first question, he replied that he had decided not to answer any question.
The judge while passing the judgement noted, “The accused does not plead and the only statement he makes is that he does not recognise the Government of India and the court, and regards his trial as a farce.”
The judgement was passed as, “I convict Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru under section 17(1) of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, and sentence him to six months’ simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 100, in default to simple imprisonment for one month.”
Nehru would not remain in jail for six months and was released after 87 days on 2 March 1922 only to be arrested again on 11 May 1922.
(The Views expressed are personal to author)
