REGISTERED No. D. 221
The Gazette of India
EXTRAORDINARY
PART I—Section I
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No.
13]
NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1966/PAUSA 13, 1887
Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed
as a separate compilation.
PRESIDENT'S SECRETARIAT
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 13th January 1966
No. 2-Pres./66.—The sudden demise at
Tashkent of Shri Lal
Bahadur Shastri in the early hours of Tuesday, the 11th January,
1966, has plunged the nation into deep distress and grief. Shri Lal
Bahadur Shastri went to Tashkent in the cause of peace and it is a
great tragedy that just when his persistent efforts towards a settle-
ment for an honourable and enduring peace in this sub-continent
achieved fruition, fate delivered a cruel blow and removed him
from our midst.
Born in 1904, at Mughalsarai in
Uttar
Pradesh, Lal Bahadur
Shastri lost his father while he was still an infant. How this infant,
( 3 1 )
g a
THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY
[PMU ]-SEC. 1]
born in a modest environment, rose to the highest political office in
this country, is an inspiring saga of noble endeavour, unwavering
sincerity of purpose, and a high sense of patriotism and integrity in
public life.
Lai Bahadur Shastri was only 17 years old when the call came
from Mahatma Gandhi and without hesitation he plunged himself in
the freedom struggle- He was soon imprisoned. On release he
entered the Kashi
Vidyapeeth at
Varanasi and came under the
influence of the savant, Dr. Bhagwan Das. He
took the Shastri
degree from the Vidyapeeth and re-entered active politics.
At the age of 23, Lai Bahadur Shastri was married to Shrimati
Lalita Devi, who has always stood by him as a steadfast companion
to the very end of his life of sacrifice and devotion to the Nation.
Lai Bahadur Shastri had participated in all the mass movements
launched during India's fight for freedom and was imprisoned as
many as seven times. In 1946, he was elected to the Uttar Pradesh
Legislative Assembly and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary
to the Chief Minister- Subsequently, he was appointed Minister of
Police and Transport. This portfolio he held for nearly five years
In 1952, when the first general elections were held in India after
the attainment of Independence. La] Bahadur Shastri was entrusted
by the Congress party with the task of
organising the election
campaign; the great success which the party secured at the polls in
these elections was in no small measure due
to his organising
capacity-
Lai Bahadur Shastri became a member of the Rajya Sabha in the
first session of Parliament. He was appointed Union Minister for
Transport and Railways in 1952. Four years later, he resigned bis
ministership, because he felt he was constitutionally responsible for
a railway accident in which many lives had been lost- This was
symbolic of his staunch faith in and sincere endeavour to live up to
the highest traditions of parliamentary democracy. Expressing his
deep appreciation of this step in Parliament, the late Prime Minister
Nehru described
Lai Bahadur
Shastri as a man of the highest
Integrity with devotion to high ideala.
The call to assume the responsibility of a high public office came
to Lai Bahadur Shastri again in 1957, when he was elected to the
Lok Sabha and was assigned the portfolio of Transport and Com-
munications in the
Union
Cabinet. In
March 1958, he became
Minister for Commerce and Industry. Later, on the death of Shri
Gobind Ballabh Pant, in April 1961, the important portfolio of Home
Affairs was entrusted to him.
As Minister for Home Affairs, Lai Bahadur Shastri brought into
play his gifts as an able administrator, and he handled a number of
complex and intricate political and administrative problems with
[PART 1-SEC. 1]
THF. GAZETTE OF INDTA EXTRAORDINARY
33
sagacity and skilL He had great capacity for resolving 'differences
and brought to bear on disputes and discords the healing touch of
his great personal charm, gentle persuasion and deep understanding.
One of the
difficult
problems which he
solved
soon after his
assumption of the office of Horn? Minister was the language issue in
Assam. Amongst the important matters which received his special
attention during his tenure as Homo Minister was the promotion of
emotional integration amongst the people of India, a matter which
always remained uppermost in his mnid-
In August 1963, Lai Bahadur Shastri resigned from the office of
Home Minister, to devote himself to the task of the re-vitalisation
of the Congress organisation. Soon after, he was called upon to join
the Union Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio. In that capacity
he lightened the burden of the heavy responsibilities of the late
Prime Minister and on the passing away of Shri Jawahar Lai Nehru
the mantle of that great leader fell on Lai Bahadur Shastri.
The smoothness with which the change-over took place was the
measure of the nation's confidence in Lai Bahadur Shastri's capacity
to direct the affairs of the country. And the nation was soon to find
that its trust in him was fully justified.
The onerous responsibilities
of his high office unfolded his great qualities of leadership. In terms
01 time, the tenure of Lai Bahadur Shastri was a short one.
How-
ever, during the span of nineteen months that Lai Bahadur Shastri
was Prime Minister the country passed through a period of such
severe stress
and strain as would test the mettle of the highest
leadership. During a crucial phase of our
history, bristling with,
serious internal as well as external problems, he guided the destinies
of the nation with strength, determination, wisdom and far-sighted
statesmanship. A man of genuine humbleness of spirit and of
unfailing courtesy, Lai Bahadur Shastri was essentially a man of
peace. He sought peace in the country, peace with her neighbours,
and peace throughout the world. His concept of peace, however,
was one of peace with honour, and behind his modesty and
soft
exterior lay firmness of purpose and a resolute will- When, there-
fore, the challenge came a few months ago, it found Lai Bahadur
Shastri a firm sentinel of the country's honour, freedom and terri-
torial integrity. In this hour of crisis, he provided the nation with
a determined and inspiring leadership under which the entire nation
rose as one man to meet effectively the threat of aggression. These
hostilities, which were not of India's
seeking, however, did not
deflect Lai Bahadur
Shastri
from his quest for peace and good
neighbourliness; the Tashkent ngreement was his finest hour and
n measure of his sincere effort in [he direction of peace-
Lai Bahadur Shastri was a man of the people. Both as an
individual and as a leader, lie endeared himself to the people. His
life was one of .complete dedication to the service of the nation.
Even in frail health, he did not permit himself rest or respite. His
tragic end, which came in the wake of his vigorous pursuit of the
?A
THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY
[PAW I-SEC. 1]
Tashkent talks, in complete disregard of mental and physical strain,
was characteristic of his devotion to the service of the country and
to the cause of peace.
The country has lost Lai Bahadur Shastri when it had great need
for his services and the people had discovered in true measure his
great qualities of character and leadership. It is for the people of
this country to prove worthy of the legacy which Lai Bahadur
Shastri has left behind and to strive whole-heartedly and unitedly
for the fulfilment of the great tasks to which he addressed himself
and for which he lived and died.
On the eve of his death he said to the Defence Minister, "We have
now to fight for peace with the same courage and determination as
we fought against aggression". The nation can never forget those
words which sum up his message to India and to the world-
Y. D. GUNDEVTA, Secy.
PRINTED IN INDIA BY THE CENERAI MANAGEJJ, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ITKS.S,
NEW DELHI AND PUBLISHED BY TILE MANAGER OF PUBLICS IOX3, DtXIJI, 19f)6