Nehru, Jawaharlal (1889-1964)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1964 June 4 p. 1, 3

Birth date: 1889 Nov 14

text of obituary:

. . .

Nehru Called 'Man Of Grace, Great Stature'

The death of Jawaharlal Nehru, prime minister of India, May 27, brought to a close the career of Asia's top political leader and the world's foremost “neutralist.”

Statesmen of various nations called him a man “of grace, peace and great stature . . . one of the great historical figures of our generation.”

Nehru, a wealthy, London-educated Brahmin, had been a close disciple of Gandhi. He led India's campaign for independence from Britain, then served as its first prime minister. His death came unexpectedly as result of heart attack, although he had been in ill health for some time.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners, converging upon New Delhi from all parts of India watched as Nehru's body was cremated near the spot where Gandhi was cremated after his assassination by a Hindu fanatic in January, 1948.

Shortly afterward Lal Bahahdur Shastri, 59, a close associate of Nehru, was chosen by the ruling Congress Party as the country's new prime minister. Shastri, a reserved and retiring man, is virtually unknown among international leaders and it is yet uncertain whether he will maintain the neutralist position held by his predecessor.