Lal Bahadur Shastri: War, Slogan, and Tashkent — MCQs with Answers (Set 1)

The correct answer is Uruwa. Shastri coined ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ (‘Hail the Soldier, Hail the Farmer’) at Uruwa village, reflecting the twin pressures of the 1965 war and food scarcity facing India at the time.

The correct answer is Ariyalur. A first accident at Mahbubnagar in August 1956 killed around 112 people, but Nehru refused Shastri’s resignation then. After a second accident at Ariyalur in November 1956 killed around 144 people, Shastri insisted again, and Nehru accepted.

The Tashkent Agreement (January 1966) was an agreement between India and Pakistan, signed after the 1965 war, to withdraw forces to pre-war positions and restore peace. It was not with the Soviet Union, did not create Bangladesh, and did not involve Mongolia.

Shastri is the only Indian Prime Minister to have died outside India. He died of an official heart attack hours after signing the Tashkent Agreement, though genuine irregularities have kept unresolved suspicion alive for decades.

Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin mediated the talks in Tashkent, which produced the agreement signed by Shastri and Ayub Khan on 10 January 1966.

Pakistan’s Operation Gibraltar, launched in August 1965, infiltrated thousands of personnel into Kashmir disguised as locals to try to spark an uprising, triggering the full-scale war fought from 6 to 23 September 1965.

Nehru died on 27 May 1964, and after a brief interim period under Gulzarilal Nanda, Shastri was sworn in as Prime Minister on 9 June 1964.

Shastri first offered to resign after the August 1956 Mahbubnagar accident, but Nehru refused. After the November 1956 Ariyalur accident, Shastri insisted again, and this time Nehru accepted — even though 30 MPs argued the fault lay with the Railway Board.

Shastri’s sudden death in Tashkent, just hours after signing the agreement, remains a subject of ongoing public speculation and debate.

The Tashkent Agreement of 1966, formally ending the 1965 war, was negotiated with Soviet mediation between India and Pakistan.

The 1965 Indo-Pakistani War ended in a ceasefire without a decisive territorial outcome for either side.

Shastri coined the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’, honouring both the armed forces and farmers during a period of war and food scarcity.

Lal Bahadur Shastri became India’s second Prime Minister after Nehru’s death in 1964, remembered for his simplicity and understated leadership.