V. K. Krishna Menon

Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon
File:VK Krishna Menon 1948.jpg V. K. Krishna Menon in 1948
Defence Minister of India
In office 17 April 1957 – 31 October 1962
Preceded by	K. N. Katju
Succeeded by	Yashwantrao Chavan
Member of the Lok Sabha from Bombay
In office 1957–1967
Indian Ambassador to the United Nations
In office 1952–1962
Member of the Rajya Sabha
In office 1953–1967
Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In office 1947–1952
Personal details
Born	predecessor3 (1896-05-03)3 May 1896 Calicut, Malabar district, Madras Presidency, British India successor4 predecessor5 successor5
Died	6 October 1974(1974-10-06) (aged 78) Delhi, India predecessor4 successor4 predecessor5 successor5
Resting place	predecessor3 successor3 predecessor4 successor4 predecessor5 successor5
Nationality	India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spousesuccessor4	Unmarried
Parent	predecessor3 successor3 predecessor4 successor4 predecessor5 successor5
Alma mater	Presidency College, Chennai Madras Law College University College London London School of Economics
Source	Parliament of India

Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (Malayalam: വി. കെ. കൃഷ്ണമേനോന്‍, Hindi: वि. के. कृष्ण मेनोन्) (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974), commonly referred to as Krishna Menon, was an Indian nationalist, diplomat and statesman, described as the second most powerful man in India by Time Magazine and others, after his ally and intimate friend, Jawaharlal Nehru. Described as "vitriolic, intolerant, impatient, and exigent – yes, but generous, sensitive, considerate, a great teacher too, and a great man" by Lord Listowell, the last British secretary of state for India, Menon was an influential and controversial figure on the world scene, and the architect of the Third Bloc foreign policy of non-alignment. He headed India's diplomatic missions to both the United Kingdom and United Nations, and was repeatedly elected to both houses of the Indian Parliament from multiple constituencies, serving as Defence Minister of India from 1957 to 1962. Menon cofounded Penguin Books in 1935 with Sir Allen Lane, and also created the Sainik Schools. He is the first Malayalee to have won the Padma Vibhushan.

Early life and education

Menon was born at Panniyankara in Kozhikkode, Kerala, in the Vengalil family of British Malabar. His father Vakil Komathu Krishna Kurup, Ayancheri, Vadakara, the son of the Raja of Kadathanadu, was a wealthy and influential lawyer. His mother was the granddaughter of Raman Menon who had been the Dewan of Travancore between 1815 and 1817, serving Gowri Parvati Bayi. Menon had his early education in Thalassery. In 1918 he graduated from Presidency College, Chennai, with a B.A. in History and Economics.

While studying in the Madras Law College, he became involved in Theosophy and was actively associated with Annie Besant and the Home Rule Movement. He was a leading member of the 'Brothers of Service', founded by Annie Besant who spotted his gifts and helped him travel to England in 1924.

Life and activities in England

In London, Menon pursued further education at the London School of Economics and University College, London, where Harold Laski described him as the best student he had ever had. In 1930 Menon was awarded an M.A. in Psychology with First Class Honours from University College, London, for a thesis entitled "An Experimental Study of the Mental Processes Involved in Reasoning", and in 1934 he was awarded an M.Sc. in Political Science with First Class Honours from the London School of Economics, for a thesis entitled "English Political Thought in the Seventeenth Century", becoming a barrister at law in the Middle Temple shortly thereafter.

During these years, Menon became a passionate proponent of India's freedom, working as a journalist and and as secretary of the India League from 1929 to 1947, and a close friend of fellow Indian nationalist leader and future Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as such literary figures as E.M. Forster, whose A Passage to India he secured the publication of, according to Shashi Tharoor.

During the 1930s he worked as an editor for Bodley Head and Twentieth Century Library, and in 1934 cofounded Penguin and Pelican Books with colleague Sir Allen Lane. In 1934 he was admitted to the English bar, and after joining the Labour Party he was elected borough councillor of St. Pancras, London. St. Pancras later conferred on him the Freedom of the Borough, the only other person so honoured being Bernard Shaw. In 1932 he inspired a fact-finding delegation headed by Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson to visit India. Menon served as its Secretary and edited its report entitled 'Conditions In India'.

The origins of what would become the policy of non-alignment were evident in Menon's personal sympathies even in England, where he simultaneously condemned both the British Empire and Nazi Germany, although he did march several times in anti-Nazi demonstrations. When asked whether India would prefer to be ruled by the British or the Nazis, Menon famously replied that "(one) might ask well ask a fish if it prefers to be fried in butter or margarine".

Diplomacy and foreign affairs

After India gained independence in 1947, Menon was appointed high commissioner to the United Kingdom, a post in which he remained until 1952.

United Nations

In 1952, Menon accepted the command of the Indian delegation to the United Nations, a position he would hold until 1962. During this period, Menon pioneered a novel foreign policy for India, which he dubbed the non-alignment in 1952, charting a third course between the USA and USSR. Menon was particularly critical of the United States, and frequently expressed sympathies with Soviet policies, earning the ire of many Indians by voting against a UN resolution calling for the USSR to withdraw troops from Hungary, although he reversed his stance three weeks later under pressure from New Delhi. Menon also supported the admission of China to the United Nations, which earned him the enmity of many American statesmen, including Senator William F. Knowland.

Speech on Kashmir

On 23 January 1957 Menon delivered an unprecedented eight-hour speech defending India’s stand on Kashmir; to date, the speech is the longest ever delivered in the United Nations Security Council, covering five hours of the 762nd meeting on the 23 of January, and two hours and forty-eight minutes on the 14th, reportedly concluding with Menon's collapse on the Security Council floor. During the filibuster, Nehru moved swiftly and successfully to consolidate Indian power in Kashmir. Menon's passionate defense of Indian sovereignty in Kashmir enlarged his base of support in India, and led to the Indian press temporarily dubbing him the 'Hero of Kashmir'.

Defence Minister

Krishna Menon became a member of the Rajya Sabha in 1953. On February 3, 1956, he joined the Union Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio. In 1957 he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bombay, and in April of that year he was named minister of defence under Prime Minister Nehru. He was behind the conception of Sainik Schools in India, under the aegis of Sainik School Society, which runs over 24 schools across India. However, after India's defeat in the Sino-Indian War of 1962, he resigned from office for the country's lack of military preparedness. In 1967 he lost his parliamentary seat.

1962 Elections in North Bombay and Goa

In the October 1961, Menon, the sitting Defence Minister, was challenged by the 74-year-old Acharya Kripalani, a prior president of the Indian National Congress and close associate of the deceased Mohandas Gandhi. The race soon became the highest-profile in India, with the Sunday Standard remarking that "no political campaign in India has ever been so bitter or so remarkable for the nuances it produced". The race, which witnessed the direct intervention of Jawaharlal Nehru, was widely viewed as of tremendous importance due to personas and influence of the two candidates, who were seen as avatars for two distinct ideologies. Having previously endorsed Menon's foreign policies, Kripalani relentlessly attacked Menon's persona, seeking to avoid direct confrontation with the prestige of Nehru and the Congress Party.

With the race looming, Menon aggressively addressed the issue of Indian sovereignty over the Portuguese colony of Goa, in a partial reprise of his earlier defense of Indian Kashmir. In New York, Menon met US Ambassador and twotime presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson behind closed doors., before defending India's policy to the United Nations. Menon's spearheading of the Indian annexation of Goa had subtle ramifications throughout Asia, as in the case of Indonesian president Sukarno, who refrained from invading the Portuguese colony of East Timor partially from fear of being compared to Menon.

Ultimately, Menon won in a landslide, nearly doubling the vote total of Kripalani, and winning outright majorities in all six of North Bombay's districts. The electoral results established Menon as second only to Nehru himself in Indian politics.

Election to Parliament from Midnapore

In 1969, Menon contested a seat in the Lok Sabha from Midnapore, running as an independent in a by-election, and defeating his Congress rival by a margin of 106,767 votes in the May of that year.

Election to Parliament from Trivandrum

In 1971 Menon contested and won a seat in Parliament from Trivandrum, in his homestate of Kerala.

Personal Life

Menon was an intensely controversial figure during his life, and has remained so even well after his death. Widely described as brilliant and arrogant, he was known for the sheer force of his personality.

A complex man, Menon dressed expensively in bespoke Savile Row suits, while maintaining an otherwise ascetic lifestyle, abstaining from tobacco, alcohol, and meat.

Death

Menon died at the age of 78 on October 6, 1974, whereupon Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi remarked that "a volcano is extinct".

Further reading

• V. K. Krishna Menon: a personal memoir by Janaki Ram (1997)
• Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon
• P. N. Haksar: Krishna: As I knew him
• Statements by V. K. Krishna Menon at the United Nations
• T. J. S. George: `Krishna Menon', Jonathan Cape, 1964.
• Theft of two statues of Menon from a London park
• Neglect of Krishna Menon memorial project alleged
• `Yours Krishna Menon', play on Krishna Menon by Lalit Mohan Joshi

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