This column goes to print on November 14, Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary. That much-admired as well as much-maligned man has been in the news recently, when his name and words were briefly invoked by a young American public figure. It may thus be useful to recall what another young American public figure once thought about Jawaharlal Nehru. His name was Dr Martin Luther King.

As a doctoral student in the early 1950s, Dr King devoured books about Gandhi and the Indian freedom movement. These acquainted him with the work of Gandhi’s charismatic lieutenant and chosen successor. He also appears to have read Nehru’s Autobiography. In November 1958, Dr King, then not yet thirty, was bold enough to send the Indian Prime Minister a copy of his newly published book, Stride Toward Freedom, which dealt with that epochal event in the civil rights movement, the Montgomery bus boycott. The copy posted to Delhi bore this inscription: “In appreciation for your genuine good-will, your broad humanitarian concern, and the inspiration that your great struggle for India gave to me and the 50,000 Negroes of Montgomery.”

Nehru wrote back acknowledging receipt, saying: “I have long been interested in the work that you have been doing and more especially, in the manner of doing it. This book will give me a greater insight into this and so I welcome it.” He added: “I understand that there is a chance of your coming to India. I shall look forward to meeting you.”

Photographs from history. Nehru with Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. Probably 1959. pic.twitter.com/Ij0KPQJMvn

King was indeed visiting India soon, his visit arranged by other old associates of Gandhi’s, including Kaka Kalelkar and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. King and his wife Coretta arrived in India on February 10, 1959. On landing at Delhi airport, he read out this brief statement to the assembled journalists:

“My Friends,
For a long while I have looked forward to visiting your great country.
To other countries I may go as a tourist, but to India I come as a pilgrim.
This is because India means to me Mahatma Gandhi, a truly great personality of the ages.
India also means to me Pandit Nehru and his wise statesmanship and intellectuality that are recognised the world over.”

Nehru had invited the visiting American couple for dinner to Teen Murti Bhavan on February 13. While working in........

© Scroll.in