Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit | |
---|---|
![]() Pandit in the Netherlands, 1965 | |
8th President of the United Nations General Assembly | |
In office 15 September 1953 – 21 September 1954[1] | |
Preceded by | Lester B. Pearson |
Succeeded by | Eelco N. van Kleffens |
6th Governor of Maharashtra | |
In office 28 November 1962 – 18 October 1964 | |
Chief Minister | Marotrao Kannamwar P. K. Sawant Vasantrao Naik |
Preceded by | P. Subbarayan |
Succeeded by | P. V. Cherian |
Member of parliament, Lok Sabha | |
In office 1967–1971 | |
Preceded by | Jawaharlal Nehru |
Succeeded by | V. P. Singh |
Constituency | Phulpur |
Personal details | |
Born | Swarup Nehru 20 August 1900 Allahabad, North West Provinces, British India (present day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India) |
Died | 1 December 1990 Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh, India (present-day Uttarakhand) | (aged 90)
Political party | Indian National Congress |
Spouse | |
Children | 3, including Nayantara Sahgal |
Parent(s) | Pandit Motilal Nehru Swarup Rani Nehru |
Relatives | See Nehru–Gandhi family |
Signature | ![]() |
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (née Swarup Nehru;[2] 18 August 1900 – 1 December 1990) was an Indian diplomat and politician who was the 6th Governor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964 and 8th President of the United Nations General Assembly from 1953 to 1954, the first woman appointed to either post. Hailing from a prominent political family, her brother Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of independent India, her niece Indira Gandhi the first female Prime Minister of India and her grand-nephew Rajiv Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India. Pandit was sent to London as India's most important diplomat after serving as india's envoy to the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Nations. Her time in London offers insights into the wider context of changes in Indo–British relations. Her High-Commissionership was a microcosm of inter-governmental relations.[3]
Personal life
Vijaya Lakshmi's (born Swarup)[2] father, Motilal Nehru (1861–1931), a wealthy barrister who belonged to the Kashmiri Pandit community,[4] served twice as President of the Indian National Congress during the Independence Struggle. Her mother, Swaruprani Thussu (1868–1938), who came from a well-known Kashmiri Pandit family settled in Lahore,[5] was Motilal's second wife, the first having died in child birth. She was the second of three children; Jawaharlal was eleven years her senior (b. 1889), while her younger sister Krishna Hutheesing (b. 1907-1967) became a noted writer and authored several books on their brother.
In 1919, she secretly married Syud Hossain, a Muslim journalist and later first Indian Ambassador to Cairo,[6] but Mahatma Gandhi and, family members like Pandit Nehru, separated the couple.[7][8][9][10][11]
In 1921, she was married to Ranjit Sitaram Pandit (1921–1944), a successful barrister from Kathiawar, Gujarat and classical scholar who translated Kalhana's epic history Rajatarangini into English from Sanskrit. Her husband was a Maharashtrian Saraswat Brahmin, whose family hailed from village of Bambuli, on the Ratnagiri coast, in Maharashtra. He was arrested for his support of Indian independence and died in Lucknow prison in 1944, leaving behind his wife and their three daughters Chandralekha Mehta, Nayantara Sehgal and Rita Dar.
She died in the year of 1990.
Her daughter Chandralekha was married to Ashok Mehta and has three children- Arjun, Minakshi and Manjari. Her second daughter Nayantara Sahgal, is a well-known novelist. She was married to Gautam Sahgal and had three children - Nonika her eldest daughter, son Ranjit, and her youngest daughter Gita Sahgal. Nayantara married E. N. Mangat Rai in 1979. Her third daughter was Rita who was married to Avatar Krishna Dhar and has two children, son Gopal, and daughter Jyoti. She worked in Redcross.
Gita Sahgal, Nayantara's youngest child, is the writer and journalist on issues of feminism, fundamentalism, and racism, director of prize-winning documentary films, and human rights activist, is one of her granddaughters.
Political career
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Vijaya_Lakshmi_Pandit_at_The_Doon_School.jpg/300px-Vijaya_Lakshmi_Pandit_at_The_Doon_School.jpg)
Pandit was the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post in pre-independent India. In 1937, she was elected to the provincial legislature of the United Provinces and was designated minister of local self-government and public health.[12][13] She held the latter post until 1938 and again from 1946 to 1947.[14][15] In 1946, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces.[16]
Following India's freedom from British occupation in 1947 she entered the diplomatic service and became India's ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1947 to 1949,[17][18] the United States and Mexico from 1949 to 1951,[19][20] Ireland from 1955 to 1961 (during which time she was also the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom),[21] and Spain from 1956 to 1961.[22] Between 1946 and 1968, she headed the Indian delegation to the United Nations. In 1953, she became the first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly[23] (she was inducted as an honorary member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority in 1978 for this accomplishment[24]).
Hon. Members that Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit has resigned her seat in the House with effect from 17 December 1954.[25]
In India, she served as Governor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964, after which she was elected to the Indian parliament's lower house, Lok Sabha, from Phulpur, her brother's former constituency from 1964 to 1968.[26] Pandit was a harsh critic of Indira Gandhi's years as Prime Minister especially after her niece had declared the emergency.
Pandit retired from active politics after relations between them soured. On retiring, she moved to Dehradun in the Doon Valley in the Himalayan foothills.[27] She came out of retirement in 1977 to campaign against Indira Gandhi and helped the Janata Party win the 1977 election.[28] She was reported to have considered running for the presidency, but Neelam Sanjiva Reddy eventually ran and won the election unopposed.[29]
In 1979, she was appointed the Indian representative to the UN Human Rights Commission, after which she retired from public life. Her writings include The Evolution of India (1958) and The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir (1979).
Academics
She was the member of Aligarh Muslim University Executive Council.[30]
She was an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford, where her niece studied Modern History.[31] A portrait of her by Edward Halliday hangs in the Somerville College Library.[32]
See also
References
- ^ "Presidents of the General Assembly | United Nations". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
- ^ a b Nehru, Krishna (1945). With No Regrets: An Autobiography. New York: The John Day Company.
- ^ Rakesh Ankit, "Between Vanity and Sensitiveness: Indo–British Relations During Vijayalakshmi Pandit’s High-Commissioner (1954–61)." Contemporary British History 30.1 (2016): 20–39.
- ^ Moraes 2008, p. 4.
- ^ Zakaria, Rafiq A Study of Nehru, Times of India Press, 1960, p. 22
- ^ "Embassy of India, Cairo, Egypt : List of former Ambassadors". www.eoicairo.gov.in. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ Kumar, Anuj (3 August 2016). "View from the other side". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ Reddy, Sheela (17 March 2017). "Excerpt: Mr and Mrs Jinnah". mint.
- ^ MERCHANT, MINHAZ (31 March 2017). "Mrs Jinnah's love jihad in Mahatma Gandhi's time". www.dailyo.in.
- ^ "Syud Hossain: A Fascinating Footnote from India's Freedom Struggle". The Wire. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ "Syud Hossain: A forgotten ambassador brought back to life". South Asia Monitor. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
- ^ Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi (1939). "First Person, Singular". So I became a Minister. Allahabad: Kitabistan. pp. 141–143. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ Welcome address from Chairman of Municipal Board, Agra, to Smt. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit honouring her as Minister of Local Self Government and Health, and highlighting the poor civic conditions of Agra (in Hindi). Allahabad: Sainik Press. 1938. Retrieved 12 September 2022 – via Allahabad Museum.
- ^ Khan, Abdul Majid (1946). "Lakshmi Resigns". The Great Daughter of India. Lahore: Indian Printing Works. p. 152. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi (1979). "Interim Government". The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir. New York: Crown Publishers Inc. pp. 200–201, 203, 204–205. ISBN 0-517-53688-9. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi (1979). "Interim Government". The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir. New York: Crown Publishers Inc. pp. 225. ISBN 0-517-53688-9. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
- ^ "India's Ambassador to Moscow: Mrs. V. L. Pandit's choice certain". The Indian Express. Vol. 15, no. 83. Madras. 7 June 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ Appointment of Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as Ambassador for India in USSR and fixation of her pay and allowance. New Delhi: Department of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations: External Affairs Wing. 1947. p. 11. Retrieved 11 September 2022 – via National Archives of India.
- ^ "Woman Ambassador". The Pittsburgh Press. Vol. 65, no. 316. 8 May 1949. p. 33. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
- ^ Appointment of Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit as Ambassador in U.S.A. succession to Shri B.Rama Rau I.C.S. and fixation of her pay and allowances. Grant of Joining time to H.E., Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Ambassador of India in USA. Grant of free air passage to Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and her daughter.... New Delhi: Press Information Bureau. 1949. p. 33. Retrieved 11 September 2022 – via National Archives of India.
- ^ O'Malley, Kate. "Ireland and India: Post-independence Diplomacy". Irish Studies in International Affairs. Royal Irish Academy. 22: 152–153. Retrieved 12 September 2022 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Brittain, Vera (1965). "The Conquest of Britain". Envoy Extraordinary: A Study of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and her contribution to Modern India. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd. p. 135. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
Spain and India had decided in May 1956 to establish diplomatic relations at Embassy level, and now made her the first woman, and probably the first diplomat, to hold three ambassadorships simultaneously. She visited Madrid to present her credentials on October 30, 1957, and was officially photographed with General Franco.
- ^ Oxford Dictionaries, online. "Vijay Lakshmi Pandit". Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
- ^ "Alpha Kappa Alpha 1978". Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Lok Sabha Debates Vol VII, 1954 (PDF). Lok Sabha Secretariat New Delhi. 18 December 1954. p. 12.
- ^ Malaviya, Padma Kant. P.K. Malaviya analyses election defeat and congratulates Mrs. Vijay Lakshmi on her victory in Phulpur Lok Sabha election. New Delhi. p. 1. Retrieved 12 September 2022 – via National Archives of India.
- ^ Indira Gandhi's Aunt Says She Is 'Profoundly Troubled' at Direction India Is Taking, NY Times, 31 October 1976
- ^ Sister Burnishes Nehru's Image, Lest India Forget, NY Times, 22 May 1989
- ^ Nehru's Sister Campaigning for Presidency of India, NY Times,
- ^ Batori (10 December 2015). "Nayantara Sahgal delivers 6th K P Singh Memorial Lecture". Batori. Batori.in. Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ Visit of Shrimati Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit former Governor of Maharashtra to London to receive the Honorary Degree of of[sic] D.C.L. from the Oxford University - Payment of air fare from Bombay to London & back. New Delhi: Ministry of External Affairs. 1965. pp. 1–21. Retrieved 11 September 2022 – via National Archives of India.
- ^ "Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit". Equality and Diversity Unit, University of Oxford. 11 September 2022.
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Further reading
- Ankit, Rakesh. "Between Vanity and Sensitiveness: Indo–British Relations During Vijayalakshmi Pandit's High-Commissionership (1954–61)". Contemporary British History 30:1 (2016): 20–39. doi:10.1080/13619462.2015.1049262.
- Gupta, Indra (2004). India's 50 Most Illustrious Women. New Delhi: Icon Publications. ISBN 81-88086-19-3. OCLC 858639936.
External links
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- A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Mme. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit" is available at the Internet Archive
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- 1900 births
- 1990 deaths
- India MPs 1952–1957
- 20th-century Indian women politicians
- 20th-century Indian politicians
- India MPs 1962–1967
- India MPs 1967–1970
- Ambassadors of India to Ireland
- Ambassadors of India to Mexico
- Ambassadors of India to Spain
- Ambassadors of India to the Soviet Union
- Ambassadors of India to the United States
- Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford
- Governors of Maharashtra
- High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom
- Indian Hindus
- Indian women diplomats
- Kashmiri people
- Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh
- Nehru–Gandhi family
- People from Allahabad district
- Permanent Representatives of India to the United Nations
- Politicians from Allahabad
- Politicians from Dehradun
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- Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly
- Prisoners and detainees of British India
- Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service
- Women in Maharashtra politics
- Women in Uttar Pradesh politics
- Women members of the Lok Sabha
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