The year 1921 was the year of Khaddar, Charkha, Gandhi cap and direct confrontation with the British government.
By November, the volunteer group formed by Nehru had organized strikes against the British government in many cities one after the other.
On November 22, 1921, the Volunteer Force was declared illegal and on December 6, Nehru and his father Motilal were arrested by the police.
MJ Akbar writes in Nehru's biography 'Nehru the Making of India', "Motilal Nehru was looking over some papers in his office at Anand Bhawan when a servant came and told him that the police had reached the gate of Anand Bhawan. The police officer coming behind very politely addressed Motilal Nehru and showed him the search warrant to search the building."
"Motilal replied that he was ready to search his house but it would take at least six months for you to get this search done. The police officer did not understand how to respond to this sarcasm of Motilal Nehru but somehow he managed to tell Motilal Nehru that he also had a warrant to arrest both the father and the son."
Arrested again within three months
Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested the same night and taken to Lucknow.
This was Nehru's first arrest. After this, he remained in jail for a total of 3259 days in his political career.
After the trial there, Nehru was sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of Rs 100. But due to a technical error in this decision, Nehru was released within three months. As soon as he was released, Nehru once again started holding rallies and creating an atmosphere against the government.
The result was that within three months he was arrested again.
Adopting a non-cooperative attitude, he refused to admit his crime and give any argument in his defense.
Yes, he definitely gave a statement on this occasion.
He said, "In fact, jail has become a place like heaven for us. Ever since our beloved and saintly leader (Mahatma Gandhi) has been sentenced, it has become a place of pilgrimage for us. Serving our country is a great privilege in itself, but serving the country under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi is an even greater privilege."
spinning yarn and reading books
Jawaharlal Nehru was hoping that this time he would be sentenced to a longer sentence.
He probably didn't like the fact that he was released early last time, especially considering that his father was still in jail.
Sarvepalli Gopal writes in his biography of Jawaharlal Nehru, "Nehru once said that he felt alone while living outside the prison. His heartfelt wish was to return to the prison as soon as possible. This time he was not disappointed because he was sentenced to 18 months."
"He was kept in Lucknow District Jail. Those who visited him in the jail were ill-treated. So Nehru stopped meeting outsiders altogether. Staying in jail boosted his self-esteem. He spent his time in jail walking and running. He spent most of his time spinning yarn and reading. His favorite subjects were history, travel literature and romantic poetry."
When handcuffed and put into third class compartment
But this time too he was released prematurely because UP announced amnesty to all political prisoners on January 21, 1923.
Soon Jawaharlal was behind bars for the third time.
He entered Nabha in Punjab on 21 September with a Sikh contingent. He was to return to Delhi by train the same evening. The local administration ordered him not to enter Nabha. The administration said that because of them peace in the area could be disturbed.
Nehru replied to this by saying that he had already entered the Nabha border before receiving the order and now he could not disappear into thin air. He and his colleagues have no intention of leaving Nabha.
Jawaharlal Nehru writes about this incident in his autobiography, "I was arrested along with my companions, handcuffed and shackled and brought to the station and we were made to sit in a third class compartment in the night train."
"After 24 hours, our handcuffs and shackles were removed. We were kept in Nabha jail. The conditions in this jail were very bad. We neither got any books or newspapers to read nor were we allowed to take bath or change clothes for two days. I and my companions were sentenced to two and a half years of rigorous imprisonment. But this sentence was postponed. We were asked to leave Nabha and never return there. We left Nabha that very night. Gave."
When Nehru returned from Nabha to Allahabad, he was welcomed as a hero.
Newar woven in jail
In 1930, Nehru was once again arrested during Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha. He was kept in solitary confinement in the barrack of dangerous criminals. The height of the prison walls there was 15 feet. Because of this, it became very difficult to see the sky during the day and the stars at night.
Sarvepalli Gopal writes, "To escape the monotony of the prison, Nehru started working out with a rigorous routine. He would wake up at the crack of dawn. He would run for a mile along the prison walls and then walk briskly for some distance."
"He would spend the rest of his day spinning yarn on the charkha and reading. Initially, when he was not even allowed to keep the charkha, he started weaving newads to keep himself busy, which he continued later on."
"But as a disciplined Congress worker, his main interest was in spinning the charkha. During his six-month jail stay, he spun 30,000 yards of yarn on the charkha and 750 yards on the spindle."
Arrested once again after stopping the train
On December 26, 1931, Jawaharlal Nehru was once again arrested at Iradatganj station near Allahabad.
At that time he was going to Bombay to meet Mahatma Gandhi. He was prohibited from leaving Allahabad city. He was arrested for disobeying this order.
Nehru writes in his autobiography, "When I looked out of the window of my compartment, there was a police car standing near the railway line. Within a few moments, several policemen boarded my compartment. I and Tassaduq Ahmed Khan Sherwani, who was accompanying me, were arrested. We were taken to Naini jail."
Nehru and Sherwani were prosecuted under the UP Emergency Powers Ordinance. Sherwani was sentenced to six months' imprisonment while Nehru was sentenced to two years and a fine of Rs 500.
As soon as Sherwani heard the order, she asked whether religious discrimination is being practiced even in court decisions?
Senior journalist Frank Moraes writes in his biography of Jawaharlal Nehru, "Nehru's eating habits changed in jail. Like all Kashmiri Brahmins, he was a non-vegetarian since childhood. But in jail, he became a complete vegetarian. On the advice of Gandhiji, he had already given up smoking."
Nehru got angry at the insult to mother and wife.
For the first time, jail life started affecting Nehru's health.
He started having pain in his teeth. He was first kept in Naini jail and after a few weeks he was sent to Bareilly jail.
This was the first time after Nabha in Bareilly that his cell was locked at night. Meeting family members also became difficult in this regard. Because the jailer and the policemen started being present during the meeting and they started writing down the conversation.
Sarvepalli Gopal writes, "The situation worsened when his mother was beaten in a lathicharge in April and she was badly injured. When she and his wife Kamala came to meet Nehru in jail, the jailer insulted them. What's more, the jailer banned Nehru from meeting anyone for a month."
"Nehru was so angered by this that he announced that he would not meet anyone even after a month because he did not want to give the jailer another opportunity to insult his mother and wife. After eight months, on Gandhi's advice, he started meeting people again."
love squirrels and dogs
Nehru's favorite yoga asana in jail was Shirshasana. Shirshasana not only gave him physical energy but also served as psychological inspiration.
Frank Moraes writes, "Nehru's main pastime in jail was to watch the antics of squirrels. In Dehradun jail, Nehru had adopted two dogs. Later the dogs also had babies. Nehru started taking care of them too. Snakes, scorpions and centipedes also kept visiting his jail cell."
"Nehru was particularly troubled by centipedes. One night he felt something moving on his feet, he immediately switched on his torch and saw a centipede walking on his feet. Nehru jumped down from his bed."
Birla's request rejected
In August, when the condition of ailing Kamala Nehru worsened, the UP government released Nehru for a few days.
After 11 days, when Kamala's condition improved a bit, Nehru was sent back to jail. In June 1934, he started writing his autobiography in jail and completed the work on February 14, 1935.
It was decided that Kamala should be taken to Europe for treatment. For the first time Nehru was worried about money. He had no source of income. A little money came from the royalties of his books. With its help he had to meet the entire expenses of Anand Bhawan.
Sarvepalli Gopal writes, "These days, after hearing about Nehru's financial difficulties, a person from the Birla family offered to give him a monthly amount. The Birla family used to give such amount to many prominent Congress leaders."
"When Nehru came to know about this offer, he did not like it. He rejected the offer. With the help of his small savings, he arranged for Kamala, Indira and their doctor to go to Europe."
Nehru did not like to cry in public
When Nehru was imprisoned in Aliganj jail, his cousin BK Nehru married Fori, a Hungarian woman.
Since Nehru was the head of the family, Fori was taken to Aliganj Jail in Calcutta to meet Nehru. When the meeting time ended and the prison door was being closed, Fori could not control her tears.
BK Nehru writes in his autobiography 'Nice Guys Finish Second', "This could not remain hidden from Jawaharlal's eyes. The next day he wrote a letter to Fori and said, now that you are going to become a member of the Nehru family, you should also learn the rules and regulations of the family. The first thing you should pay attention to is that no matter how big the pain, Nehru never cried in front of anyone."
Spent the longest time in Ahmednagar jail
Nehru stayed in Ahmednagar jail for the last time. He had never spent such a long period of time in any jail before.
From August 9, 1942 to June 15, 1945 i.e. a total of 1040 days.
First he was taken to Poona by train. People recognized him at Poona station.
Meera Ben writes in her book 'The Spirit's Pilgrimage', "When the police saw people running towards Jawaharlal Nehru, they started lathi-charging them. Jawaharlal quickly jumped from the train window onto the platform. Four policemen together overpowered him and with great difficulty put him back on the train. After reaching Ahmednagar, the police officer apologized to Nehru for whatever had happened. Asked. He made it clear that he was only following orders."
Gardening and badminton in jail
The entire working committee of Congress was closed in Ahmednagar, they had no contact with the outside world. Leave aside newspapers and meetings, he was not even allowed to write letters. The outside world did not even know where he was kept.
Sarvepalli Gopal writes, "Later, he was allowed to read newspapers and write two letters to his family every week, but Nehru did not get any benefit from this, because both his daughter and sister were lodged in the jails of UP. The government there did not allow him to receive and write letters passed by Nehru's censor. Later, Nehru was allowed to order some books from outside, but these books were scanned regularly before giving them to Nehru."
The result was that some leaders stopped talking to each other. Nehru himself worked very hard to avoid this tension. He would cook food, take care of the sick, play badminton and volleyball matches and also do gardening.
On April 13, 1944, he started rewriting his incomplete book and on September 7, 1944, he completed the book.
The name of that book was 'Discovery of India'.
From December 1921 to June 15, 1945, Nehru spent 3,259 days of his life i.e. about 9 years in British jails.
