On this day:
Nehru appeals for disarmament
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru makes an impassioned speech for nuclear disarmament in New Delhi. Nehru's leading role in the struggle for Indian independence earned him nine jail terms from the British. Like his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru fought British authority through acts of passive resistance. In 1929, Nehru became president of the Indian National Congress and declared that they would accept nothing less than full independence for India. When the nation finally achieved autonomy in 1947, he became India's first prime minister. He advocated nonalignment for India in the divided Cold War world, and sought diplomatic and nonviolent solutions in his conflicts with other nations. On November 27, 1957, he appealed to the United States and the USSR to end nuclear tests and begin disarmament, which, he said, would save humanity from the ultimate disaster. He died in 1964.
