05-NEHRU'S TRIBUTE TO STALIN IN INDIAN PARLIAMENT

NEHRU ON STALIN

Death of Marshal Stalin

March 5, 1953

By Jawaharlal Nehru

The Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs (Shri Jawaharlal Nehru):

"When we think of Marshal Stalin, all kinds of thoughts come to our minds, at least to my mind, and the panorama of history for the last 35 years passes before our eyes. All of us here are children of this age and have been affected by it in many ways. We have grown up not only participating in our struggles in this country but participating in another way with the mighty struggles that have taken place in this world, and been affected by them.

And so looking back at these 35 years or so, many figures stand out, but perhaps no single figure has moulded and affected and influenced the history of these years more than Marshal Stalin. He became gradually almost a legendary figure, sometimes a man of mystery, at other times a person who had an intimate bond not with a few but with vast numbers of persons. He proved himself great in peace and in war. He showed an indomitable will and courage which few possess, but perhaps when history comes to be written many things will be said about him and I do not know what opinions, what varying opinions, subsequent generations may record, but every one will agree that here was a man of giant stature, a man such as few who had molded the destinies of his age, a man – although he succeeded greatly in war – who ultimately would be remembered by the way he built up his great country.