Indira Gandhi ,Indira Gandhi: Leading India for Fifteen Years,history of Indira Gandhi,about indira gandhi

                                                       

                                       Indira Gandhi 

                                Indira Gandhi: Leading India for Fifteen Years

Today’s protagonist was one of the key playerson the giant chessboard that was Asia at the height of the Cold War. Born into a political family, she rose throughIndia’s political system until she became the first and only female Prime Minister ofher country. Her name was Indira Gandhi. In one of her speeches, she advised her followersto maintain a ‘bias toward action,’ or to encourage societal change, even if requiredpainstakingly small steps. Her life was definitely true to that principle:as the second longest-running Indian Prime Minister, Mrs. Gandhi won a war, oversaw thebirth of a new State, broke the traditional non-aligned stance of India, and even madeof her country a nuclear super-power. But it was her internal policies that madeher mandate controversial, and eventually turned her into a target of hatred.

 in whichwe will look at the private and public life of Indira Gandhi, and how it all led to afateful appointment with the very people who were meant to protect her. Setting a good exampleIndira Gandhi was born Indira Nehru on the November 19th, 1917, in Allahabad, in thestate of Uttar Pradesh, India. She was the first-born child of Kamala andJawaharlal Nehru, who were no ordinary family. Kamala came from a conservative family ofKashmiri Brahmins -- the category of priests and teachers, according to the traditionalIndian caste system. This initially shy girl became an independenceactivist after meeting her future husband, Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was a well-educated lawyer and one ofthe most active members of the Indian Independence Movement, fighting for self-rule against theBritish Empire.

 As such, he was a close associate to the MahatmaGandhi, and would later serve as the first Prime Minister of an independent India. While Nehru and Gandhi’s fight for independencethrough non-cooperation is widely known, Kamala’s role may have been overlooked. Beginning in 1921, Kamala was actively involvedin the Non-Cooperation movement, organising boycotts and picketing lines against shopsselling British goods. When her husband was jailed by the colonialauthorities, Kamala shed her natural shyness to deliver speeches to thousands of followerson his behalf. With such fierce examples set by both herparents, it is no wonder that little Indira wanted to join the active struggle as earlyas possible.

 At age five, she carried out her first actof rebellion: she sacrificed her beloved doll – made in England – by throwing it ontoa bonfire of imported British goods. Two years later, in 1924, the Nehru familywelcomed a second child, a boy, also born in November. Unfortunately, the newborn died after onlytwo days, and Indira grew up as an only child. In 1929, she escalated her commitment to thecause of self-determination. As a girl of only 12, Indira became a leaderwithin an organisation numbering 60,000 young revolutionaries, called Vanar Sena, or ‘MonkeyBrigade’. This name was inspired by the traditionalepic Ramayana, in which an army of monkeys helps Prince Rama to defeat the despotic andmonstrous Ravana. The Vanar Sena’s mission was less bellicose,but still dangerous, as it involved managing the communications and logistics that poweredmass demonstrations and protests.

In March 1930, Indira and Kamala were participatingin one of such protests outside Ewing Christian College in Allahabad. Indira's mother suddenly collapsed, due toa heat stroke. An eighteen-year old student of the Collegerushed to her aid. His name was Feroz Gandhi -- no relation tothe Mahatma. This chance encounter would prove one themost important for Indira’s life so far. Feroz became a good friend of both Indiraand her mother, even helping to look after Kamala when she later contracted tuberculosis. By 1936, Kamala moved to Switzerland to treather tuberculosis, but this was in vain: she passed away on February 28, 1936, while herhusband was in prison. Shortly after her mother’s death, Indiratraveled to Britain to enroll at Somerville College in Oxford to complete her studies. She never attained a degree, though, as herconcentration may have been swayed by a big distraction, one that happened to be studyingat the nearby London School of Economics: Feroz Gandhi. Mrs and Mr GandhiIndira and Feroz rekindled their friendship, which turned into a courtship, and then intoan engagement.

Like Indira, Feroz was also well-educatedinvolved in the independence movement, and he loved Indira. Despite all this, his potential father-in-lawNehru, objected to the union. Nehru simply had a personal dislike of theyoung Gandhi, and as father of the bride, he was entitled to a powerful opinion. As the Nehrus were a family under the spotlight,many ordinary citizens also chipped in to criticise the engagement, on the basis thathe was a Parsi, not a Hindu like Indira, or that non-arranged marriages were not the norm. In fact, there was such a public outcry againstthe match that the other Gandhi, the Mahatma, had to offer a public statement of support,which included the request: "I invite the writers of abusive letters toshed your wrath and bless the forthcoming marriage." Despite the objections and the abuse, Indirataught everybody a lesson in determination by marrying Feroz on March 26, 1942.

Two years later, Indira gave birth to herfirst son Rajiv, followed in 1946 by Sanjay. Unfortunately, this marriage was not a happyone. Feroz began having extramarital affairs almostimmediately. Things only got worse after August 15, 1947. This is the date in which Nehru became thefirst Prime Minister of an independent India, to which he added the title of Foreign Ministerin the October of the same year. In this capacity, Nehru handled the firstof many crises over Kashmir, a border region disputed with Pakistan. As work kept on piling up on Nehru’s desk,he enlisted his daughter Indira to help as his personal assistant. This was an unofficial role, although it becameapparent to him and to the leadership of his party – the Indian National Congress, orINC – that Indira’s contribution was key to carrying out his functions. Indira was spending more and more time withhis father’s cabinet, eventually moving away from her hometown of Allahabad to thecapital, Delhi.

Her two sons followed her, while Feroz decidedto stay back to concentrate on his work editing ‘The National Herald’ … but this arrangementalso gave him free rein to pursue more clandestine liaisons. During this de facto separation, Indira appearedto be completely absorbed by her administerial and political duties. This is probably the truth; however, we shouldmention that a book published in 1978 presents a different image. This is the autobiography of M.O.Mathai, PrivateSecretary to Prime Minister Nehru from 1946 to 1959. The 28th chapter, titled ‘She,’ was removedfrom the final edition, but it has recently re-emerged thanks to Indian online media. According to the chapter, Indira tried toseduce Mathai in November 1947, and quite aggressively so. He yielded the day after, but due to beingcompletely inexperienced, Indira had to first ‘educate’ him by giving him two booksabout sex and the female anatomy.

 The chapter alleges that the clandestine relationshipcontinued for more than 10 years, until the winter of 1958. While visiting Indira on urgent official business,Mathai caught her with another man, a yoga instructor. This chapter may have not even been writtenby Mathai, and even if it were, Indira’s close associates strongly refuted these rumours. According to a former leader of the IndianNational Congress, Natwar Singh, it would have been materially impossible for Indirato carry out some dangerous liaisons. According to Singh,“It was just not possible for her to have an affair, there were security men under thebed! … Of course, you’re not made of wood butthis is the price you pay – you don’t have a private life.” First Steps on the Political SceneDespite their marital issues, the Gandhis presented a united front in the arena of Indianpolitics. During the Parliamentary Elections in 1951-52,Indira became the campaign manager for Feroz. Indira clearly had a knack for campaigningand succeeded in securing a victory for her husband.

After starting to serve as an MP, Feroz hadto move to Delhi, but he did not join his family, preferring to live in a separate house. From then on, both Gandhis made their bidto grow in status within the ruling party, the Indian National Congress, although admittedlyin two very different fashions. Feroz did so by exposing the corruption withinhis father-in-law’s government. He exposed a major scandal involving bribespaid by prominent insurance companies to the Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari. Because of this, Feroz began to emerge asthe new rising star within India’s political circles. On the other hand, Indira was following anotherroute, rising from the inside of the INC party’s structure. In 1955, Indira first became a member, andthen a president, of the working committee of the Indian National Congress -- the innercircle that decided the party’s policies. In 1958, Feroz suffered a heart attack duringa state visit to Bhutan.

 Indira rushed him back to Delhi and took careof him for the following year. She still managed to advance her career withinthe party, and in 1959, Indira became President of the Indian National Congress. Marred by poor health, Feroz could not matchher rise, On the September 8, 1960, he suffered another cardiac arrest. This time, it was fatal. The marriage of Indira and Feroz had not beenthe happiest. In addition to affairs and long periods ofseparation, their life was marred by frequent, vicious arguments.

According to Indira’s biographer SagarikaGhose, this was because both were extreme individualist, with an urge to dominate theother. And yet Indira remembered those confrontationswith fondness: “I like to think that those quarrels enlivenedour life, because without them, we would have had a normal life but banal and boring. We didn’t deserve a normal banal and boringlife.” Taking Centre StageShortly after the death of Indira’s husband, her father’s health began declining. It did not help that in July 1962, India andChina entered a War over some border disputes, which ended with a Chinese victory in November. Nehru’s conditions worsened, leading tohis death on May 27, 1964. Nehru was succeeded as Prime Minister by LalBahadur Shastri, who appointed Indira as Minister of Information and Broadcasting. As a Minister, Indira proved very adept atbuilding her image with well-planned publicity stunts, such as the one taking place duringthe Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. This confrontation over the control of theKashmir border region took place from the 5th of August to the 22nd of September in1965, when a UN resolution finally imposed a ceasefire. That summer, Indira planned a holiday retreatat Srinagar, in Kashmir.

Despite repeated warnings by the securityforces that Pakistani troops had advanced very close to her hotel, Indira Gandhi refusedto move. The incident fetched her huge national andinternational media attention. It would take only a few months for Indirato take a role at the centre of the stage. On the 11th of January 1966, Prime MinisterShastri died. Immediately, his fellow party members begansquabbling and plotting to appoint a successor. The leadership of the Indian National Congresswas by then split into two currents, one more conservative, the other with socialist leanings. These divisions made them unable to settleon a candidate, and so they started considering an appointment for Indira Gandhi.

They had been led to believe that she wasa goongi Gudiya, or ‘dumb doll’, easily manipulated. The perfect compromise candidate, then! After much deliberation, Indira was chosenas the Prime Ministerial candidate by the Congress high command. Indira campaigned hard and emerged victoriouson January 24, 1966. At the age of 49, Indira Gandhi had becomethe Prime Minister of one of the largest and most populous countries on Earth. She was not the first ever woman to be electedhead of state or head of government; in fact she was only the third. The honour to be the first belongs to KhertekAnchimaa, Chairwoman of the Tuvan’s People Republic, from 1940 to 1944. The country was annexed by the USSR and doesnot exist anymore. The first-elected Prime Minister of a stillexisting country was Sirimavo Bandaranaike: in 1960, she became the head of Governmentin Sri Lanka, back then called Ceylon. So, Mrs Gandhi may have not set a record interms of timing, but she could wield an amount of power that her predecessors definitelycould not boast. And that power was just about to increase. From Strength to StrengthWhen Mrs. Gandhi was elected, the INC party was split in two opposing factions. Of the two, Indira sided with the socialist-leaningone. The INC was further weakened when new parliamentaryelections took place in 1967, and the party lost 60 seats in the lower house. In normal situations, this landslide defeatwould spell the fall of the cabinet in charge. But the person in charge of the cabinet wasnot your normal Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi proved that her tenacity tocling to power was unparalleled.

In order to ensure the survival of her government,Mrs. Gandhi went as far as forging a coalition with the Socialist and Communist Parties,something unthinkable a few years earlier, during her father Jawaharlal’s term in office. Why do I say unthinkable? Nehru may have had a moderate interest insocialist political and economic reform, but in the context of the Cold War he definitelyavoided siding with the Socialist Bloc. Nor with the Capitalist Bloc, for that matter. Nehru, alongside Egypt’s Nasser and Yugolsavia’sTito, was one of the key leaders of the ‘non-aligned’ countries. While the world debated capitalism versuscommunism, India was mostly uninterested in taking a side.

Now, though, Nehru’s daughter and successor,far from being an easily swayed ‘doll’, was taking decisive action to steer Indiainto a much clearer Socialist direction. Domestically, in 1969, Mrs Gandhi’s cabinetnationalised the fourteen largest banks in India, as well as the four most importantoil companies. Other reforms included the abolition of privilegesfor the Maharajas, who still held power in several of India’s States. Finally, Mrs. Gandhi initiated an agriculturalreform based on the Green Revolution concepts developed by US Scientist Norman Borlaug:a combination of mechanised agriculture and development of new breeds of high-yield plants. Thanks to Gandhi’s reforms, India, normallybeset by periodic famines, became an exporter of surplus rice and wheat. As far as foreign policy goes, Indira Gandhi’stime in office was marked by tension and outright hostility toward China, Pakistan, and theUS. At the same time, India signed a Peace, Friendshipand Cooperation treaty with the Soviet Union in August 1971, marking a further drift awayfrom equidistant non-alignment and towards the Socialist Bloc.

But let’s proceed in order. The enmity with China dated back from the1962 war and was exacerbated by Beijing’s nuclear tests in 1967. The shadow of this atomic threat promptedGandhi to start pursuing India’s own nuclear program. Within just seven years, the country was ableto perform their first underground detonation. The rivalry with Pakistan over Kashmir wasas old as India’s independence and had resulted already in two border wars. The two countries were about to enter a furtherconflict in 1971. At that time, Pakistan was split into twoseparate territories, East and West Pakistan, separated by Northern India. Islamabad’s armed forces launched a violentcounter-insurgency campaign in the Eastern half to suppress the Awami League, an independentistmovement.

The result of this internal struggle was thatabout 10 million East Pakistani citizens fled into India as refugees. The unprecedented humanitarian crisis stretchedIndia’s resource to the limit, and it prompted Indira Gandhi to harshly condemn the repressionon the 31st of March. Soon, she started doing something more thanjust speaking sternly -- Indira started supporting the Awami League in their independence fight. This was effectively a war by proxy againstPakistan, a calculated move to weaken the hostile neighbour and create a friendliergovernment on the North Eastern border. Toward the end of the year, this local conflicttook on regional, then international connotations. To put it simplyPakistan did not like India. China did not like India. So, China supported Pakistan. Enter a new player: the US. China and the Soviet Union were not best palsanymore, so Nixon sought a rapprochement with Mao. Ergo: the US liked China, who liked Pakistan. The US planned to help Pakistan, should Indiadeclare war.

All this implies that:If China dislikes India, and If the US dislike India,India is going to make friends with a country those two also dislike: the Soviet Union. Hence the Peace, Friendship and Cooperationtreaty I mentioned earlier! In December of 1971, the conflict by proxyagainst Pakistan became a full-fledged war. On the 3rd of December, Pakistan decided toretaliate against India’s involvement with the Awami League by bombing Indian air fieldsin the western regions of Punjab and Kashmir. The Indian government under Indira Gandhihad proven able to take quick, decisive actions, and the military was no different. The Indian air force retaliated on the 4thand quickly achieved air superiority. On the ground, the Army launched a quick attackinto East Pakistan, converging on the regional capital, Dhaka.

On the 9th of December, the war risked escalatingbeyond the Indian subcontinent, when Nixon ordered for a US fleet to head toward thetheater of action. What may have happened, if the US provideddirect support to Pakistan? We will never know: by the 16th of December,Dhaka had fallen to the Indian Army and the separatist forces of the Awami League. The Indian victory in the third war with Pakistanwas a personal triumph for Indira Gandhi, and resulted in the birth of a new nation:East Pakistan seceded and became Bangladesh. After the peace had been signed, the PrimeMinister issued a clear warning in an interview with media, to powers both foreign and domestic:“I am not a person to be pressured — by anybody or any nation." State of EmergencyThe 1970s had begun well for Mrs. Gandhi, and she would soon score another triumph. In 1972, the INC faced the Socialist Partyin national parliamentary elections. Gandhi’s party triumphed in the ballot boxes,thanks to the recent victory over Pakistan and to her campaign promise to eradicate poverty. The defeated Socialist leader, Raj Narain,raised allegations of corruption and electoral malpractice. Soon, Socialist and other opposition partiestook to the street, protesting against Gandhi’s government. As the decade progressed, Gandhi’s economicand social reform were largely nullified by rising inflation and a generally poor stateof the economy.

All this only played in the hands of protesters. Narain’s charges were formalised with theHigh Court in Allahabad, who in June of 1975 ruled against the Prime Minister. Now Indira Gandhi was constitutionally expectedto step down from office. But she had already made it clear once: shewasn’t going to be pressured by anybody. As unrest spread throughout the country followingthe court ruling, Mrs Gandhi took this as the perfect occasion to declare a state ofemergency, giving her extraordinary powers to rule by decree. The period of emergency rule lasted two years,and it would be a black moment for Indian democracy. The country became a dictatorship in all butname: as an authoritarian ruler, Indira Gandhi ordered political opponents and other activiststo be jailed, press freedom to be limited. Indira’s main accomplice and confidantewas her second-born son, Sanjay. Taking advantage of extraordinary powers,Sanjay put into practice some pet projects of his: first, the forced removal of slumdwellings.

More importantly, India enacted populationcontrol via forced sterilisation. This draconian measure was considered a necessaryevil to allow for the country to prosper. Indira’s government launched a campaignof vasectomies, starting with public employees: they were required to go through sterilisationto receive their salaries. The campaign was then extended to any malecitizen, who would be offered cash, or even just cooking oil, as an incentive to accepta vasectomy. Sanjay’s plans did not stop there: reportscame out that vasectomies had been performed even on teenage boys, or that men were beingarrested and sterilized. According to an exposé by TIME magazine,between April 1976 and January 1977, 7.8 million Indian boys and men were sterilized -- wellbeyond the initial government target of 4.3 million. At the beginning of 1977, Indira Gandhi putan end to the state of emergency by calling for new elections. The Prime Minister thought that all oppositionhad been effectively suppressed, and this would have been an easy win, one to legitimiseher permanence in office. But I will take a guess here and say thatone half of the electorate was not too keen on Gandhi. You know, the one half that doesn’t liketheir manhood to be messed with by forced surgery …The elections resulted in a crushing defeat for the INC: they lost almost 200 seats comparedto the previous legislature.

 The big winner this time was the Janata Dal,or ‘People’s Party’, a coalition of several smaller parties. Indira accepted defeat and stepped down. Blue StarMrs Gandhi may have left office as Prime Minister, but she still held a seat in Parliament, fromwhich she led the opposition against the Janata Dal. The new government tried to remove her byhaving her jailed briefly twice: in October of 1977, and then again in December of 1978. In both occasions, the charges were corruption. But the plan did not work. As the tenuous alliance within the Janatastarted to crumble, the electorate called for stability – something that Indira andthe INC could guarantee. New elections were called in January 1980,and Mrs Gandhi made a surprising come back as head of the Government. During the same elections, Indira’s sonSanjay won a seat in parliament. By May, Mrs Gandhi made it clear that he washer heir apparent by appointing him as secretary general of the INC.Sanjay’s rise had to stop abruptly June 23, 1980.

For years Sanjay had been practising withsome success in the sport of aircraft aerobatics. That day, too, Sanjay had gone out flying. But while performing aerial loops, he lostcontrol and crashed with his plane, dying on the spot. Older brother Rajiv also had a passion forflying; until then he had not shown any interest in politics, working as a commercial pilotfor Indian Airlines. But after this tragedy, Indira called himback into the fold of family politics. It was clear that she was building the Nehru-Gandhidynastic line. Indira expected the whole family to form aunited front behind Rajiv’s budding political career, including Maneka, Sanjay’s widow. But Indira and Maneka had never got on well,and in 1982, a serious disagreement broke out between the two. Maneka attended a rally held by Sanjay's formerpolitical associates, which was perceived by the Prime Minister as a slight towardsRajiv. Indira ordered Maneka to leave the house inwhich the extended family all lived together.

The daughter-in-law complied, but first shemade sure the press was aware of her unfair eviction. Then, she separated Indira from hers and Sanjay’sson, Varun. Not being able to see her grandson was a hardblow for the Prime Minister. As it turned out, it became one she couldnot recover from, as public troubles piled on top of the private ones. By 1982, Mrs. Gandhi had to face the growthof secessionist movements all over India. Unrest flared up in the regions of AndhraPradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, but the most serious threat came from the Sikh secessionist movementin Punjab, Northwestern India. The movement was led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale,who opposed peaceful negotiations with the government in Delhi. In July of 1982, Bhindranwale establishedhis headquarters within the Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, in Amritsar, Punjab.

The Golden Temple is the most prominent centreof worship and pilgrimage for the Sikh faith: within its walls, Bhindranwale began recruitingsupporters and amassing weapons for an armed insurrection. Indira’s government grew more and more concernedabout the Sikh separatist intentions, so eventually, in February1984, the Prime Minister decidedto go on the offensive. The initial plan was to have airborne commandoskidnap Bhindranwale, but this was aborted in favour of a large scale occupation of theGolden Temple by Special Forces: ‘Operation Blue Star’. Blue Star launched on the night between the5th and the 6th of June 1984. The besieged Sikhs answered with heavy fire,including shooting RPGs at armoured vehicles, but after a night of fighting, the Indiancommandos seized the Akal Takhat building, in which Bhindranwale had staged his laststand. The palace was hit by light arms fire, tankshells, and tear gas canisters: by 6am on the 6th, resistance had ceased and Bhindranwale’sbody was discovered among the rubble. 83 troops lost their lives in the assault,versus 492 civilian fatalities. Some of these fatalities were Sikh separatists,but most were civilians.

 The majority of the dead were pilgrims whohappened to be inside the temple at the wrong time. Operation Blue Star was followed by OperationWoodrose, a larger military deployment which included infantry, armour, artillery, andhelicopters confronting Sikh independentists across all of Punjab. Both operations widened the rift between theSikh minority and the rest of the country. Indira Gandhi’s prestige and popularity,which had made a recovery since the 1980 re-election, were heavily tarnished once again. But something much, much worse than a dipin popularity was on the horizon for the Prime Minister.

 On the morning of October 31st, 1984, IndiraGandhi was walking from her official residence toward her office to meet British actor PeterUstinov, who was there to interview her for a BBC documentary. She was walking a few paces ahead of her attendant,as she approached the gates leading out of her gardens. At 9:09 am, Mrs Gandhi folded her hands togreet the two bodyguards stationed at the gates, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. These guards were not related. The Sanskrit word ‘Singh’ means lion,and it is an essential component of all male names among the Sikhs. It was only four months since Operations BlueStar and Woodrose, but the Prime Minister had no reason to mistrust her loyal Sikh bodyguards.

In the case of Beant and Satwant, she hadmade a mistake: the two had been planning their revenge for the massacre at the GoldenTemple. Beant fired the first shots with his revolver,followed by Satwant, who fired his Sten submachine gun on full auto. Indira Gandhi was shot 30 times. She was rushed to a hospital, but her deathwas announced at 1 pm the same day. The following day, ordinary citizens, in manycases aided and supported by police and local authorities, started a series of violent anti-Sikhriots, which resulted in the death of more than 3,000 Sikhs. The death of a leader had sparked a periodof unrest for her country – but that’s another story. LegacyIndira Gandhi had built her political career on the principle of bold action, independentfrom external pressure. This had led to successes like the Green revolution,the victory against Pakistan, the alliance with the USSR, and a stable nuclear programme.

Indira also succeeded in ensuring the continuationof the Nehru/Gandhi dynasty. Shortly after the assassination, her son Rajivwas sworn in as new Prime Minister. Rajiv remained in power for seven years, untilhe, too, was assassinated in May 1991 by a suicide bomber from aSri Lankan militant group,known as the ‘Tamil Tigers’. In 1997, Rajiv’s wife Sonia was electedby INC members as their party President, a key role in setting the policies of the Country. Sonia Gandhi could have easily won over the seat of Prime Minister. But the fact that she is Italian by birth,did not allow her to cover official Government functions, let alone become the head of saidGovernment. In 2017, Sonia continued the Dynastic traditionand handed over direction of the party to her son Rahul. However, this was the story of a strong leader,and as usual, there are shadows behind the triumphs. It is not possible to overlook the excessesof the emergency years, the allegations of corruption, the poor management of the economyand finally the immediate and lasting effects of Operation Blue Star.