Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's Congress Party had fared badly in the South Calcutta by-election last month, and Calcutta's Communist hoodlums had been increasingly cocky ever since. Last week, Nehru flew into Calcutta to see for himself how dangerous the city's Communists really were.
At Dum Dum airport, Nehru refused a closed car, chose an open model in which, standing erect all the way, he rode through eight miles of churning crowds. In the Shambazaar district, a group of youths shouted, "Traitor Nehru," and threw shoes at him, the ultimate Indian insult.
That night, Nehru went to Calcutta's vast central park, the Maidan,...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
