65 Facts About Jawaharlal Nehru University

1. In 1955, Jawaharlal Nehru University was awarded Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.

2. Jawaharlal Nehru University was a prolific writer in English and wrote a number of books, such as The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, and his autobiography, Toward Freedom.

3. Jawaharlal Nehru University ordered the raising of an elite Indian-trained "Tibetan Armed Force" composed of Tibetan refugees, which served with distinction in future wars against Pakistan in 1965 and 1971.

4. Jawaharlal Nehru University accepted the arbitration of the UK and World Bank, signing the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 with Pakistani ruler Ayub Khan to resolve long-standing disputes about sharing the resources of the major rivers of the Punjab region.

5. Jawaharlal Nehru University had a powerful ally in the US president Dwight Eisenhower who, if relatively silent publicly, went to the extent of using America's clout in the International Monetary Fund to make Britain and France back down.

6. In 1956, Jawaharlal Nehru University had criticised the joint invasion of the Suez Canal by the British, French and Israelis.

7. In 1954, Jawaharlal Nehru University signed with China the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, known in India as the Panchsheel, a set of principles to govern relations between the two states.

8. Jawaharlal Nehru University was then at the peak of his popularity in India; the only criticism came from the far-right.

9. Jawaharlal Nehru University was hailed by many for working to defuse global tensions and the threat of nuclear weapons after the Korean War.

10. Jawaharlal Nehru University envisioned the development of nuclear weapons and established the Atomic Energy Commission of India in 1948.

11. Jawaharlal Nehru University led newly independent India from 1947 to 1964, during its first years of independence from British rule.

12. Jawaharlal Nehru University championed secularism and religious harmony, increasing the representation of minorities in government.

13. Jawaharlal Nehru University launched initiatives such as the provision of free milk and meals to children to fight malnutrition.

14. In December 1953, Jawaharlal Nehru University appointed the States Reorganisation Commission to prepare for the creation of states on linguistic lines.

15. Jawaharlal Nehru University declared the new republic to be a "Union of States".

16. Jawaharlal Nehru University had led the Congress to a major victory in the 1957 elections, but his government was facing rising problems and criticism.

17. Jawaharlal Nehru University emerged from this—his ninth and last detention—only on 15 June 1945.

18. In October 1940, Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University, abandoning their original stand of supporting Britain, decided to launch a limited civil disobedience campaign in which leading advocates of Indian independence were selected to participate one by one.

19. Jawaharlal Nehru University had hoped to elevate Maulana Azad as the pre-eminent leader of Indian Muslims, but in this, he was undermined by Gandhi, who continued to treat Jinnah as the voice of Indian Muslims.

20. Jawaharlal Nehru University declared that the only two parties that mattered in India were the British Raj and Congress.

21. Jawaharlal Nehru University was elected in his place and held the presidency for two years.

22. Jawaharlal Nehru University elaborated the policies of the Congress and a future Indian nation under his leadership in 1929.

23. Jawaharlal Nehru University was one of the leaders who objected to the time given to the British—he pressed Gandhi to demand immediate actions from the British.

24. In 1928, Gandhi agreed to Jawaharlal Nehru University's demands and proposed a resolution that called for the British to grant dominion status to India within two years.

25. Jawaharlal Nehru University was one of the first leaders to demand that the Congress Party should resolve to make a complete and explicit break from all ties with the British Empire.

26. Jawaharlal Nehru University was one of the first nationalist leaders to realise the sufferings of the people in the states ruled by Indian princes.

27. Jawaharlal Nehru University worked closely with Subhas Chandra Bose in developing good relations with governments of free countries all over the world.

28. Jawaharlal Nehru University represented India and was elected to the Executive Council of the League against Imperialism that was born at this meeting.

29. Jawaharlal Nehru University joined the movement and rose to become secretary of Besant's Home Rule League.

30. Jawaharlal Nehru University welcomed and encouraged the rapprochement between the two Indian communities.

31. Jawaharlal Nehru University emerged from the war years as a leader whose political views were considered radical.

32. Jawaharlal Nehru University confessed that he viewed the war with mixed feelings.

33. Jawaharlal Nehru University had developed an interest in Indian politics during his time in Britain as a student and a barrister.

34. Jawaharlal Nehru University dressed in cadet uniform at Harrow School in England.

35. Jawaharlal Nehru University went to Trinity College, Cambridge in October 1907 and graduated with an honours degree in natural science in 1910.

36. Jawaharlal Nehru University described his childhood as a "sheltered and uneventful one".

37. Jawaharlal Nehru University was the eldest of three children, two of whom were girls.

38. Jawaharlal Nehru University showed extraordinary restraint when Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950.

39. Jawaharlal Nehru University had studied Marx and admired Soviet attempts at planned economic development, but his socialism was not of the doctrinaire variety.

40. Jawaharlal Nehru University took an active part in the Constituent Assembly in framing the constitution of the Indian Republic, which was inaugurated on 26 January 1950.

41. Jawaharlal Nehru University was a rationalist and a humanist and was remarkably free from religious passions and prejudices.

42. Jawaharlal Nehru University was thrilled by the tremendous response of the people to Gandhi's call.

43. Jawaharlal Nehru University disliked factional and communal politics and kept out of them.

44. Jawaharlal Nehru University wrote voluminously, especially while in prison; his notable works include Glimpses of World History, comprising letters to his daughter (Indira Gandhi), and The Discovery of India (1946).

45. Jawaharlal Nehru University became an avid supporter of Gandhi and joined the non-cooperation movement launched by him in 1920.

46. Jawaharlal Nehru University sought closer relations with nonaligned Asian states, with India in the role of leader.

47. Jawaharlal Nehru University took pride in the Community Development Program, established to raise the standard of living in the villages.

48. Jawaharlal Nehru University became prime minister and minister of external affairs of independent India in 1947.

49. In 1945, as Congress president, Jawaharlal Nehru University was pressed into negotiations with the Moslem League and the viceroy.

50. Jawaharlal Nehru University refused to accept dominion status, as did the rest of Congress leadership.

51. Jawaharlal Nehru University refused, and the struggle between the Congress and the Moslem League was under way.

52. Jawaharlal Nehru University spoke eloquently against imperialism and became convinced of the need for a socialist structure of society.

53. Jawaharlal Nehru University remarked, "I took to the crowd, and the crowd took to me, and yet I never lost myself in it.

54. Jawaharlal Nehru University was drawn into the first civil disobedience campaign as general secretary of the United Provinces Congress Committee.

55. Jawaharlal Nehru University was "filled with shame and sorrow … at the degradation and overwhelming poverty of India.

56. At the age of 15 Jawaharlal Nehru University left for England, where he studied at Harrow and Cambridge and then for the bar in London.

57. Under the influence of a tutor Jawaharlal Nehru University joined the Theosophical Society at 13.

58. Jawaharlal Nehru University was educated at home by tutors, most of them English or Scottish.

59. Jawaharlal Nehru University was an only child until the age of 11, after which two sisters were born.

60. Jawaharlal Nehru University has awarded honorary doctorate degrees to people like Shinzo Abe, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Vladimir Putin.

61. Jawaharlal Nehru University is the foremost university in India, and a world-renowned center for teaching and research.

62. Jawaharlal Nehru University is known for its alumni who now occupy important political and bureaucratic positions.

63. Jawaharlal Nehru University was established in 1969 by an act of parliament.

64. Jawaharlal Nehru University is a public university located in New Delhi, India.

65. Jawaharlal Nehru University has appointed Right wing Hindutva ideologue, Rajiv Malhotra as a visiting professor.