Introduction to Jai Jawan Jai Kisan
The Slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” is a well-known slogan which was given by the second Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shatri in the year 1965. Since then, this slogan has been used many times on various platforms by many leaders, activists and the general public.
What does the slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” mean?
The Second Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri first gave the slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” in the year 1965 at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi while giving a speech in a public gathering. This was after Pakistan’s attack on India, which happened right after Lal Bahadur Shatri took over the post of Prime Minister after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the first Prime Minister of India.
During this time, when the country was being attacked, there was also a scarcity of food which had left the farmers distressed. Therefore, in an effort to encourage both the soldiers and the farmers, Lal Bahadur Shatri came up with the slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” which means “Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer”.
The aim of this slogan was to raise enthusiasm in the soldiers to fight for the country and defend the country from the attack and to raise enthusiasm within the farmers to increase production of the food grains which would help to tackle the scarcity of food in the country.
Over the years there have been many variants of the original slogan like “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Jai Vigyan” which was given by Atal Bihari Vajpaye in the year 1998 adding the “Jai Vigyan” part which means “Hail Science”. Another variant given by our current Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan” in which the “Jai Anusandhan” part is added which means “Hail the research”.
In the year 2009, Dr. Kailash Chandra Mishra restated the slogan as “Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan Jai Vigyan Jai Vidwaan”, adding the “Jai Vidwaan” part which means “Hail the learned”. This was done to signify that knowledge is the driving force for the development of the nation.
The impact of the slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan” is such that even today this slogan is used all over the country and is a matter of pride for the people who find their emotions reflected through the slogan. After the war of 1965 was won and the food scarcity was overcome, the slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan” became a matter of national pride.
