CHURCHILL’S TRIBUTE

Sir Winston Churchill (1874–1965) was one of Britain’s most distinguished statesmen. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945. Western historians note that he led Britain from near defeat to victory in World War II.

Churchill was a leader in war, not in peace. The political awareness of the British people deserves recognition, for immediately after the war, when general elections were held, they did not vote for their wartime hero. They believed Churchill was not the right person to lead the nation’s reconstruction.

Churchill possessed many striking qualities. One of them was described by Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit in her autobiography. In response to India’s demand for independence, Churchill had once declared that he had not become the Prime Minister of the British Empire to preside over its liquidation. It was, therefore, no surprise that we did not love him. What was surprising, however, was that when he finally met my brother (Jawaharlal Nehru) after the formation of the Interim Government, the two developed mutual regard and spoke openly. When they parted, Churchill paid Nehru this memorable tribute: “I want to say that you have conquered two of man’s greatest enemies—hate and fear.”—Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, The Scope of Happiness: a Personal Memoir, 1979, p. 283