🇮🇳 India: Tryst with Destiny (1947)

📜 Tryst with Destiny - 1947

Above is a photo of the first page of the handwritten draft of the speech. The entire speech is written over six pages. For this issue of Signpost, we will cover only the famous first paragraph of the speech, shown handwritten above, and reproduced below verbatim from ETH Zürich, with specific words and phrases highlighted for semiotic analysis below:

1️⃣ What was happening?

The road to independence in the subcontinent is arguably one of the most studied and storied historical events in the world. This summary is not meant to be comprehensive, so please feel free to read up more if you’d like to know more.

By 1947, two years after the end of the Second World War, several European colonies in Asia and Africa were demanding independence from their colonial masters after having fought on the side of their colonial rulers, many of whom were victors. Nowhere was this push more fervent than in India, which had historically been the colonial centre of Britain’s empire and where the indigenous independence movement was growing stronger. While there may have been disagreement between Indian political and civic leaders about how to approach independence, all were agreed that independence was necessary.

Britain, exhausted after the war, was no longer capable of ruling and administering a colony of such size from so far away. With a burgeoning political movement centred around religion, Britain and the political leaders of the day decided that the best possible decision was to split the region, and close to 400 million people, into two countries: India and Pakistan.

The dates formalised for the independent nations were 14th August for Pakistan, and 15th August for India.

2️⃣ Who wrote this and to whom?

The speech was written by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. The Cambridge-educated barrister called for Indian independence back in 1929 when he became president of the (as of writing) 139 year-old Indian National Congress (INC), the centrist, big tent party of Indian politics.

The speech was delivered, interestingly, on 14th August (as reflected in the second line of the speech), the day of Pakistan’s independence, to the Indian Constituent Assembly.

IMPLICATIONS

🫱🏼‍🫲🏽 TRUST: Then and Now

I’d like to pause here to mention two things. One, I’m Indian, so in many ways it can be argued that I am perhaps too close to this particular text. And two, I am using a 2025 lens to assess what was written in 1947. Make of both of these what you will.

Nehru was a prolific writer, having written several books and speeches since translated and studied several times over. His love of language is clear. His speech is pulling double duty. On the one hand, it’s to announce and celebrate the emergence of an independent Indian state. On the other, it’s to look forward, hopeful, ambitious, with the naive perspective of a young nation intent on reshaping the world.

And while history ranks this speech as one of the greatest of the 20th century (which it is), let’s remember what happened next: India’s partition into two states led to tremendous suffering, with historical experts putting the upper limit on deaths at 2 million, and displaced peoples at 20 million. As critically acclaimed as Nehru’s speech was, it did not prepare the people for this trauma.

Then there’s the fact that Harrow-and-Cambridge-educated-anglophile Nehru decided to deliver the speech in English, and a very poetic English at that. There were perhaps a few reasons for this, one being that it did not overtly support any specific community of local language speakers (fact: India’s states are organised by language), and the other that this speech was as much for the world and the past colonial masters as it was for new Indian citizens. Which means that it’s likely that the speech’s immediate impact was not understood, or even felt, by most Indians, where English was spoken by mostly upper, educated, urban elites, or less than 5% of the population.

So while, in hindsight, Nehru’s words cut very differently than what we explored previously with Indonesia’s and Singapore’s declarations of independence, it’s legacy in building trust with the vast majority of Indians is not immediately obvious.

👑 POWER: Then and Now

Nehru went on to serve as prime minister for 16 years, becoming the first and longest serving prime minister in the country, a feat only matched first by his daughter, Indira Gandhi, and recently by current prime minister Narendra Modi (who will serve for 15 years by the end of his current tenure). Nehru effectively remade the Indian National Congress, establishing a political dynasty that lasts to this day. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, became India’s first and only female prime minister (who was assassinated), while his grandson Rajiv Gandhi was also prime minister (and was also assassinated). His great grandson, Rahul Gandhi, is the current leader of the opposition in India’s parliament, previously serving as party president.

The Nehru family’s historical legacy and name, along with the Indian National Congress (it is impossible to separate the family from the party) are being severely reassessed, and some cases rewritten, in political and legislative circles in the current Indian government under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, despite being out of power since 2014, the party still survives, performing better than expected in the 2024 general elections by winning 99 seats, it’s best performance in a decade. Since independence, the INC has contributed 6 prime ministers and has ruled India for 54 years (out of 78).

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

It’s 14th August 1947. You are the new leader of what will become the world’s largest democracy at midnight. You are charged to deliver a speech to mark the occasion.

Tell me your reasoning. In next week’s issue, I’ll highlight the most thought-provoking responses.

LAST WEEK’S RESPONSES

I suppose hindsight makes us more ambitious.

NEXT WEEK ON SIGNPOST

Next week, we move away from politics and dive into the world of business, by analysing the world’s shortest (and my favourite) speech of all time: the announcement of the original Sony Playstation.

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