New Delhi: During Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to Singapore in 1946, several people had gathered outside a community centre to welcome him and in a melee that broke out when they tried to have a glimpse of him, Edwina Mountbatten, who was also waiting there, was knocked over.
As a leading member of the Congress, Jawaharlal Nehru was invited to Singapore mid-March to meet Indian troops and study the conditions of the large Indian community in Malaya.
The British authorities were not keen on allowing Nehru meet the Indian troops, fearing trouble. But Louis Mountbatten, who was associated with the South East Asia Command (SEAC) there, insisted that Jawaharlal Nehru be obliged.
This anecdote is from a new book ‘The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves’ by Andrew Lownie.
“Louis Mountbatten recognised that he (Nehru) might well be India’s first Prime Minister and if he was not treated well that British actions would only further ferment anti-British feelings,” the book, published by HarperCollins India, states.
Mountbatten insisted that he would meet Nehru at the airport and accompany him to the town in his open-topped limo to the St John Ambulance Indian welfare centre, where Edwina would be waiting.
“All went well until Nehru’s arrival at the centre. The delighted crowd rushed at him, knocking Edwina over in the process,” Lownie writes.
Mountbatten and Nehru linked arms and charged the crowd to rescue Edwina, who had crawled between people’s legs and had come out at the far end of the room, got on a table and shouted that she was all right,” the authors states.
“A door was kicked in and eventually the party escaped the mob. It had been an unusual introduction to what would become a crucial relationship,” Lownie further states.
This was the first time that Nehru and the Mountbattens met. That night, they also dined together.
PTI
