Madhavan K. Palat, editor of the ‘Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru’, on former PM Jawaharlal Nehru

"Archives tend to reveal dark secrets. But Nehru did not keep secrets. One of the things that struck me was his enormous decency, he never wrote a nasty word, although he was famous for being short-tempered. He invariably supported his subordinates, whereas I would get impatient reading some of their absurd letters to him.

What I long ago assumed to be weakness in him was, I can see, his determination to bring people together, to keep this highly fragmented country united. Contradictions have to be managed, they cannot be eliminated. He even permitted the RSS to parade officially in the Republic Day march-past in 1963. He was the most unifying, the least divisive, of all our leaders since Independence; those who demonise him today could afford to learn from him the best in Indian nationalism."

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