27 May marks the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was a key figure in India’s independence and growth as a nation. Considered to be the political heir of Mohandas K. Gandhi, he became the first Prime Minister of India in 1947. Upon his death in 1964, Indian newspapers repeated Nehru’s own words that he spoke at the time of Gandhi’s assassination: “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere.”
Nehru visited the UW-Madison campus on 4 November, 1949. Wisconsin Governor Oscar Rennebohm remarked upon the occasion of his visit “We know the meaning of Gandhi’s noble work, the resolved way of peace,” he said. “We, too, are a heterogeneous people, with different mother tongues, religions, and cultures. Like you, we, too, are learning to dwell together in peace.”