Indira Gandhi इि识믌दरा गाधँी

Indira Gandhi

3rd Prime Minister of India

In office

14 Jan 1980 – 31 October 1984

President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Zail Singh

Preceded by Charan Singh

Succeeded by Rajiv Gandhi

In office

24 January 1966 – 24 March 1977

President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Zakir Husain

V. V. Giri

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

Deputy Morarji Desai

Preceded by Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting)

Succeeded by Morarji Desai

Minister of External Affairs

In office

9 March 1984 – 31 October 1984

Preceded by P. V. Narasimha Rao

Indira GandhiFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Hindustani: [ˈɪnːdɪrəˈɡaːnd̪ɦi]; née Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31October 1984) was a key 20th century stateswoman,a central figure of the Indian National Congressparty, and to date the only female Prime Minister ofIndia. Indira Gandhi was the only child of India's firstPrime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She served asPrime Minister from 1966 to 1977 and then againfrom 1980 until her assassination in 1984, makingher the second­longest­serving Prime Minister afterher father.

Gandhi served as her father's personal assistant andhostess during his tenure as prime minister between1947 and 1964. She was elected Congress Presidentin 1959. Upon her father's death in 1964, Gandhirefused to enter Congress party leadership contestand instead chose to become a cabinet minister in thegovernment led by Lal Bahadur Shastri. In Congress'party parliamentary leadership election held in early1966 upon the death of Shastri, she defeated her rival,Morarji Desai, to become leader and thus succeedShastri as the prime minister of India.

As the Prime Minister of India, Gandhi was knownfor her political ruthlessness and unprecedentedcentralisation of power. She went to war withPakistan in support of the independence movementand war of independence in East Pakistan, whichresulted in an Indian victory and the creation ofBangladesh, as well as increasing India's influence tothe point where it became the regional hegemon ofSouth Asia. Gandhi also presided over a controversialstate of emergency from 1975 to 1977 during whichshe ruled by decree. She was assassinated in 1984 byher Sikh bodyguards a few months after she orderedthe storming of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar tocounter the Punjab insurgency.

Contents

1 Early life and career2 First term as Prime Minister between

1966 and 19712.1 Verdict on electoral malpractice2.2 State of Emergency (1975–1977)

Succeeded by Rajiv Gandhi

In office

22 August 1967 – 14 March 1969

Preceded by M. C. Chagla

Succeeded by Dinesh Singh

Minister of Defence

In office

14 January 1980 – 15 January 1982

Preceded by Chidambaram Subramaniam

Succeeded by R. Venkataraman

In office

30 November 1975 – 20 December 1975

Preceded by Swaran Singh

Succeeded by Bansi Lal

Minister of Home Affairs

In office

27 June 1970 – 4 February 1973

Preceded by Yashwantrao Chavan

Succeeded by Uma Shankar Dikshit

Minister of Finance

In office

16 July 1969 – 27 June 1970

Preceded by Morarji Desai

Succeeded by Yashwantrao Chavan

Minister of Information and Broadcasting

In office

9 June 1964 – 24 January 1966

Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri

Preceded by Satya Narayan Sinha

Succeeded by Kodardas Kalidas Shah

Personal details

Born Indira Priyadarshini Nehru

19 November 1917

Allahabad, United Provinces,

British India

Died 31 October 1984 (aged 66)

New Delhi, India

Political party Indian National Congress

Spouse(s) Feroze Gandhi

2.3 Rule by decree2.4 Rise of Sanjay

3 1977 election and opposition years3.1 In opposition and return to power

4 1980 elections and third term4.1 Operation Blue Star (attack on

Golden temple)4.2 Assassination

5 Foreign policy5.1 South Asia5.2 Middle East5.3 Asia­Pacific5.4 Africa

6 Economic policy6.1 Green Revolution and the Fourth

Five Year Plan6.2 State of Emergency and the Fifth

Five Year Plan6.3 Operation Forward and the Sixth

Five Year Plan6.4 Inflation and unemployment

7 Domestic policy7.1 Nationalisation7.2 Administration7.3 Social reform7.4 Language policy7.5 National security7.6 Nuclear Program of India

8 Family and personal life9 Awards10 Legacy11 See also12 References

12.1 Notes12.2 References12.3 Sources

13 Further reading14 External links

Early life and career

Indira Gandhi was born Indira Nehru in a Kashmiri

Pandit family on 19 November 1917 in Allahabad.[1]

Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, was a leading figure inIndia's political struggle for independence fromBritish rule, and became the first Prime Minister of

the Union (and later Republic) of India.[2] She wasthe only child (a younger brother was born, but died

young),[3] and grew up with her mother, KamalaNehru, at the Anand Bhavan; a large family estate in

Allahabad.[4] She had a lonely and unhappy

childhood.[5] Her father was often away, directing

Children Rajiv

Sanjay

Parents Jawaharlal Nehru

Kamala Nehru

Alma mater Visva­Bharati University

Somerville College, Oxford

Religion Hinduism

Signature

Young Indira with Mahatma Gandhiduring his fast in 1924. Indira, who isdressed in a khadi garment, isfollowing Gandhi's advocacy thatkhadi be worn by all Indians insteadof British­made textiles

political activities or being incarcerated in prison,while her mother was frequently bed­ridden withillness, and later suffered an early death from

tuberculosis.[6] She had limited contact with her

father, mostly through letters.[7]

Gandhi was mostly taught at home by tutors, andintermittently attended school until matriculation in1934. She was a student at the Modern School inDelhi, St Cecilia's and St Mary's Christian conventschools in Allahabad, the Ecole Internationale inGeneva, the Ecole Nouvelle in Bex, and the Pupils'

Own School in Poona and Bombay.[8] She and her mother Kamala Nehru moved to Belur Math

headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission where Swami Ranganathananda was her guardian[9] later shewent on to study at the Viswa Bharati University in Shantiniketan. It was during her interview thatRabindranath Tagore named her Priyadarshini, and she came to be known as Indira Priyadarshini

Nehru.[10] A year later, however, she had to leave university to attend to her ailing mother in

Europe.[11] While there, it was decided that Gandhi would continue her education at the University of

Oxford.[12] After her mother died, she briefly attended the Badminton School before enrolling at

Somerville College in 1937 to study history.[13] Gandhi had to take the entrance examination twice,

having failed at her first attempt with a poor performance in Latin.[13] At Oxford, she did well inhistory, political science and economics, but her grades in Latin—a compulsory subject—remained

poor.[14][15] She did, however, have an active part within the student life of the university, such as the

Oxford Majlis Asian Society.[16]

During her time in Europe, Gandhi was plagued with ill­healthand was constantly attended by doctors. She had to makerepeated trips to Switzerland to recover, disrupting her studies.She was being treated there in 1940, when the Nazi armiesrapidly conquered Europe. Gandhi tried to return to Englandthrough Portugal but was left stranded for nearly two months.She managed to enter England in early 1941, and from therereturned to India without completing her studies at Oxford. Theuniversity later awarded her an honorary degree. In 2010,Oxford further honoured her by selecting her as one of the tenOxasians, illustrious Asian graduates from the University of

Oxford.[17]

During her stay in Great Britain, young Gandhi frequently mether future husband Feroze Gandhi (no relation to MahatmaGandhi), whom she knew from Allahabad, and who was

studying at the London School of Economics. The marriage took place in Allahabad according to Adi

Dharm rituals though Feroze belonged to a Zorastrian Parsi family of Gujarat.[18]

In the 1950s, Indira, now Mrs. Indira Gandhi after her marriage, served her father unofficially as a

personal assistant during his tenure as the first Prime Minister of India.[19] Towards the end of the1950s, Indira Gandhi served as the President of the Congress. In that capacity, she was instrumental ingetting the Communist led Kerala State Government dismissed in 1959. That government had the

Indira Nehru c. early 1930s

distinction of being India's first ever elected Communist

Government.[20] After her father's death in 1964 she wasappointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house) andbecame a member of Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet as Minister of

Information and Broadcasting.[21] In 1966, after Shastri's death,the Congress legislative party elected Indira Gandhi overMorarji Desai as their leader. Congress party veteran, Kamaraj

was instrumental in achieving Indira's victory.[22]

First term as Prime Minister between1966 and 1971

Following a poor showing in the 1967 general election, IndiraGandhi started progressively moving to the left in the politicalspectrum. In 1969, after falling out with senior party leaders ona number of issues, the party president S. Nijalingappa expelled

her from the party.[23][24][25] Gandhi, in turn floated her ownfaction of the Congress party and managed to retain most of theCongress MPs on her side with only 65 on the side of Congress(O) faction. The policies of the Congress under Indira Gandhi,prior to the 1971 elections, also included proposals for theabolition of Privy Purse to former rulers of the Princely statesand the 1969 nationalization of the fourteen largest banks inIndia.

The internal structure of the Congress Party had withered following its numerous splits, leaving itentirely dependent on her leadership for its election fortunes. Garibi Hatao (Eradicate Poverty) was thetheme for Gandhi's 1971 bid. On the other hand, the combined opposition alliance had a two word

manifesto of "Indira Hatao" (Remove Indira).[26][27] The Garibi Hatao slogan and the proposed anti­poverty programs that came with it were designed to give Gandhi an independent national support,based on rural and urban poor. This would allow her to bypass the dominant rural castes both in and ofstate and local governments; likewise the urban commercial class. And, for their part, the previouslyvoiceless poor would at last gain both political worth and political weight. The programs createdthrough Garibi Hatao, though carried out locally, were funded and developed by the CentralGovernment in New Delhi. The program was supervised and staffed by the Indian National Congressparty. "These programs also provided the central political leadership with new and vast patronage

resources to be disbursed... throughout the country.",[28]

The biggest achievement of Indira Gandhi after the 1971 election was India's decisive victory in theIndo­Pakistani War of 1971, that led to the formation of independent Bangladesh. At that time she was

hailed as Goddess Durga by opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.[29][30][31] [32] In the electionsheld for State assemblies across India in March 1972, the Congress(R) swept to power in most states

riding on the post­war "Indira wave".[33]

Despite the victory against Pakistan, the Congress government faced numerous problems during thisterm. Some of these were due to high inflation which was in turn caused by war time expenses, droughtin some parts of the country and more importantly, the 1973 oil crisis. The opposition to Gandhi in

With Richard Nixon, 1971

1973­75 period, after the Indira wave had receded, was strongest in Bihar and Gujarat. In Bihar,Jayaprakash Narayan, the veteran leader came out of retirement to lead the protest movement

there.[33]

Verdict on electoral malpractice

On 12 June 1975 the High Court of Allahabad declared Indira Gandhi's election to the Lok Sabha voidon grounds of electoral malpractice. In an election petition filed by Raj Narain (who later on defeatedher in 1977 parliamentary election from Rae Bareily), he had alleged several major as well as minorinstances of using government resources for campaigning. The court thus ordered her stripped of herparliamentary seat and banned from running for any office for six years. The Prime Minister must be amember of either the Lok Sabha (the lower house in the Parliament of India) or the Rajya Sabha (theupper house). Thus, this decision effectively removed her from office. Gandhi had asked one of hercolleagues in government, Mr Ashoke Kumar Sen to defend her in court.

But Gandhi rejected calls to resign and announced plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. The verdictwas delivered by Mr Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha at Allahabad High Court. It came almost four yearsafter the case was brought by Raj Narain, the premier's defeated opponent in the 1971 parliamentaryelection. Gandhi, who gave evidence in her defence during the trial, was found guilty of dishonestelection practices, excessive election expenditure, and of using government machinery and officials for

party purposes.[34] The judge, however, rejected more serious charges of bribery against her.

Gandhi insisted that the conviction did not undermine her position,despite having been unseated from the lower house of parliament, LokSabha, by order of the High Court. She said: "There is a lot of talk aboutour government not being clean, but from our experience the situationwas very much worse when [opposition] parties were forminggovernments". And she dismissed criticism of the way her CongressParty raised election campaign money, saying all parties used the samemethods. The prime minister retained the support of her party, whichissued a statement backing her. After news of the verdict spread,hundreds of supporters demonstrated outside her house, pledging theirloyalty. Indian High Commissioner BK Nehru said Gandhi's convictionwould not harm her political career. "Mrs Gandhi has still todayoverwhelming support in the country," he said. "I believe the primeminister of India will continue in office until the electorate of Indiadecides otherwise".

State of Emergency (1975–1977)

Gandhi moved to restore order by ordering the arrest of most of the opposition participating in theunrest. Her Cabinet and government then recommended that President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declarea state of emergency because of the disorder and lawlessness following the Allahabad High Courtdecision. Accordingly, Ahmed declared a State of Emergency caused by internal disorder, based on theprovisions of Article 352(1) of the Constitution, on 25 June 1975.

Rule by decree

Within a few months, President's Rule was imposed on the two opposition party ruled states of Gujaratand Tamil Nadu thereby bringing the entire country under direct Central rule or by governments led

by the ruling Congress party.[35] Police were granted powers to impose curfews and indefinitelydetain citizens and all publications were subjected to substantial censorship by the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting. Finally, the impending legislative assembly elections were indefinitelypostponed, with all opposition­controlled state governments being removed by virtue of theconstitutional provision allowing for a dismissal of a state government on recommendation of thestate's governor.

Indira Gandhi used the emergency provisions to change conflicting party members.

Unlike her father Jawaharlal Nehru, who preferred to deal with strong chief ministers incontrol of their legislative parties and state party organizations, Mrs. Gandhi set out toremove every Congress chief minister who had an independent base and to replace each ofthem with ministers personally loyal to her...Even so, stability could not be maintained in

the states...[36]

President Ahmed issued ordinances that did not require debate in the Parliament, allowing Gandhi torule by decree.

Rise of Sanjay

The Emergency saw the entry of Gandhi's younger son, Sanjay, into Indian Politics. Sanjay wieldedtremendous power during the emergency without holding any Government office. According to MarkTully, "His inexperience did not stop him from using the Draconian powers his mother, Indira Gandhi,

had taken to terrorise the administration, setting up what was in effect a police state."[37]

It was said that during the Emergency he virtually ran India along with his friends, especially Bansi

Lal.[38] It was also quipped that Sanjay Gandhi had total control over his mother and that thegovernment was run by the PMH (Prime Minister House) rather than the PMO (Prime Minister

Office).[39][40][41]

1977 election and opposition years

In 1977, after extending the state of emergency twice, Indira Gandhi called elections to give theelectorate a chance to vindicate her rule. Gandhi may have grossly misjudged her popularity byreading what the heavily censored press wrote about her. In any case, she was opposed by the Janataalliance of Opposition parties. Janata alliance, with Jai Prakash Narayan as its spiritual guide, claimedthe elections were the last chance for India to choose between "democracy and dictatorship." TheCongress Party split during the election campaign of 1977: veteran Gandhi supporters like JagjivanRam, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and Nandini Satpathy were compelled to part ways and form a newpolitical entity, CFD (Congress for Democracy), primarily due to intra­party politicking and also dueto circumstances created by Sanjay Gandhi. The prevailing rumour was that Sanjay had intentions ofdislodging Gandhi and the trio stood between that. Gandhi's Congress party was crushed soundly inthe elections. The public realized the statement and motto of the Janata Party alliance. Indira andSanjay Gandhi both lost their seats, and Congress was cut down to 153 seats (compared with 350 inthe previous Lok Sabha), 92 of which were in the South. The Janata alliance, under the leadership ofMorarji Desai, came into power after the State of Emergency was lifted. The alliance parties later

1984 USSR commemorativestamp

merged to form the Janata Party under the guidance of Gandhian leader, Jayaprakash Narayan. Theother leaders of the Janata Party were Charan Singh, Raj Narain, George Fernandes and Atal BihariVajpayee.

In opposition and return to power

Since Gandhi had lost her seat in the election, the defeated Congressparty appointed Yashwantrao Chavan as their parliamentary partyleader. Soon afterwards, the Congress party split again with Gandhifloating her own Congress (I) faction. She won a bye­election from the

Chikamagalur constituency to the Lok sabha in 1978.[42] However, theJanata government's Home Minister, Choudhary Charan Singh, orderedthe arrest of her and Sanjay Gandhi on several charges, none of whichwould be easy to prove in an Indian court. The arrest meant that IndiraGandhi was automatically expelled from Parliament. These allegationsincluded that she "‘had planned or thought of killing all opposition

leaders in jail during the Emergency’".[43] In response to her arrest,Indira Gandhi's supporters hijacked an Indian Airlines jet and

demanded her immediate release.[44] However, this strategy backfireddisastrously. Her arrest and long­running trial gained her greatsympathy from many people. The Janata coalition was only united by itshatred of Gandhi (or "that woman" as some called her). The partyincluded right wing Hindu Nationalists, Socialists and former Congress party members. With so littlein common, the Morarji Desai government was bogged down by infighting. In 1979, the governmentstarted to unravel over the issue of dual loyalties of some members to Janata and the RSS. Theambitious Union Finance minister, Charan Singh, who as the Union Home Minister during theprevious year had ordered arrest of Gandhi, took advantage of this and started courting the Congress(I). After a significant exodus from the party to Charan Singh's faction, Desai resigned in July 1979.Charan Singh was appointed Prime Minister, by President Reddy, after Indira and Sanjay Gandhipromised Singh that Congress (I) would support his government from outside on certain

conditions.,[45][46] The conditions included dropping all charges against Indira and Sanjay. SinceCharan Singh refused to drop the charges, Congress (I) withdrew its support and President Reddydissolved Parliament in August 1979.

Before the 1980 elections Gandhi approached the then Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed AbdullahBukhari and entered into an agreement with him on the basis of 10­point programme to secure the

support of the Muslim votes.[47] In the elections held in January, Congress returned to power with alandslide majority.

In 1979, when she visited Madurai, some hooligans attacked her. Nedumaran saved her from the

attacks.[48][49]

1980 elections and third term

The Congress (I) under Gandhi swept back to power in January 1980. Elections soon after to Stateassemblies across the country also brought back Congress ministries in the state with Sanjay Gandhichoosing loyalists to lead the states. Sanjay soon died in an air crash early into this term. Gandhi bythis stage only trusted her family members and therefore decided to bring in her reluctant pilot son,Rajiv into politics.

Operation Blue Star (attack on Golden temple)

In the 1977 elections, a coalition led by the Sikh­majority Akali Dal came to power in the northernIndian state of Punjab. In an effort to split the Akali Dal and gain popular support among the Sikhs,Indira Gandhi's Congress helped bring the orthodox religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to

prominence in Punjab politics.[50][51] Later, Bhindranwale's organisation Damdami Taksal becameembroiled in violence with another religious sect called the Sant Nirankari Mission, and he was accused

of instigating the murder of the Congress leader Jagat Narain.[52] After being arrested in this matter,

Bhindranwale disassociated himself from Congress and joined hands with the Akali Dal.[53] In July1982, he led the campaign for the implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, which demandedgreater autonomy for the Sikh­majority state. Meanwhile, a small section of the Sikhs, including someof Bhindranwale's followers, turned to militancy after being targeted by government officials and police

in support of the Resolution.[54] After several futile negotiations, Indira Gandhi ordered the Indianarmy to enter the Golden Temple in order to subdue Bhindranwale and his followers. In the resultingOperation Blue Star, the shrine was damaged and many civilians were killed. The State of Punjab wasclosed to international media, its phone and communication lines shut. To this day the events remaincontroversial with a disputed number of victims; Sikhs seeing the attack as unjustified and Bhindrawalebeing declared the greatest Sikh martyr of the 20th century by Akal Takht (Sikh Political Authority) in2003.

Assassination

The day before her death (30 October 1984) Indira Gandhi visited Orissa where she gave her lastspeech:

I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow...I shall continue to serve until my lastbreath and when I die, I can say, that every drop of my blood will invigorate India and

strengthen it.[55]

Indira Gandhi delivered her last speech at the then Parade Ground in front of the Secretariat of Orissa.After her death, the Parade Ground was converted to the Indira Gandhi Park which was inauguratedby her son, Rajiv Gandhi.

On 31 October 1984, two of Gandhi's bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, shot her with theirservice weapons in the garden of the Prime Minister's residence at 1 Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. Theshooting occurred as she was walking past a wicket gate guarded by Satwant and Beant. She was tohave been interviewed by the British actor Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish

television. Beant Singh shot her three times using his side­arm and Satwant Singh fired 30 rounds.[56]

Beant Singh and Satwant Singh dropped their weapons and surrendered. Afterwards they were takenaway by other guards into a closed room where Beant Singh was shot dead. Kehar Singh was laterarrested for conspiracy in the attack. Both Satwant and Kehar were sentenced to death and hanged inDelhi's Tihar Jail.

Indira Gandhi was brought at 9:30 AM to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where doctorsoperated on her. She was declared dead at 2:20 PM. The post­mortem examination was conducted by ateam of doctors headed by Dr. T.D. Dogra. Dr. Dogra stated that as many as 30 bullet wounds were

sustained by Indira Gandhi, from two sources, a Sten gun[57][58] and a pistol. The assailants had fired31 bullets at her, of which 30 had hit; 23 had passed through her body while 7 were trapped inside her.

Shakti Sthala, the place where IndiraGandhi was cremated at New Delhi

Today, the spot where Indira Gandhiwas assassinated is marked by a glassopening in the crystal pathway at theIndira Gandhi Memorial

Indira Gandhi & Nicolae Ceaușescu

Dr. Dogra extractedbullets to establish theidentity of the weaponsand to match eachweapon with the bulletsrecovered by ballisticexamination. The bulletswere matched withrespective weapons atCFSL Delhi.Subsequently Dr. Dograappeared in the court ofShri Mahesh Chandra asan expert witness (PW­5), and his testimony

lasted several sessions. The cross examination was conducted by

Shri P. N. Lekhi, the defence counsel.[59] Salma Sultan gave thefirst news of assassination of Indira Gandhi on Doordarshan'sevening news on 31 October 1984, more than 10 hours after she

was shot.[60][61] She died two weeks and five days before her67th birthday.

Gandhi was cremated on 3 November near Raj Ghat. The sitewhere she was cremated is today known as Shakti Sthala. Herfuneral was televised live on domestic and international stations,including the BBC. Following her cremation, millions of Sikhswere displaced and nearly three thousand were killed in anti­

Sikh riots.[62] Rajiv Gandhi on a live TV show said of the

carnage, "When a big tree falls, the earth shakes."[63]

Foreign policy

South Asia

In 1971, Gandhi intervened in the Pakistani Civil War in support of East Pakistan. India emerged

victorious in the resulting conflict to become the regional hegemon of South Asia.[64] India had signeda treaty with the Soviet Union promising mutual assistance in the case of war, while Pakistan received

active support from the United States during the conflict.[65] U.S. President Richard Nixon dislikedGandhi personally, referring to her as a "witch" and "clever fox" in his private communication with

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.[65] Relations with the U.S. became distant as Gandhi developedcloser ties with the Soviet Union after the war. The latter grew to become India's largest trading

partner and its biggest arms supplier for much of Gandhi's premiership.[66] Nixon later wrote of the

war: "[Gandhi] suckered [America]. Suckered us.....this woman suckered us."[67]

India's new hegemonic position as articulated under the "Indira Doctrine" led to attempts to bring the

Himalayan states under the Indian sphere of influence.[68] Nepal and Bhutan remained aligned with

India, while in 1975, after years of building up support, Gandhi annexed Sikkim to India.[69] This was

denounced as a "despicable act" by China.[70]

Indira Gandhi with JacquelineKennedy in New Delhi, 1962

India maintained close ties with neighbouring Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) following theLiberation War. Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman recognized Gandhi's contributions to theindependence of Bangladesh. However, Mujibur Rahman's pro­India policies antagonised many inBangladeshi politics and the military, who feared that Bangladesh had become a client state of

India.[71][72] The Assassination of Mujibur Rahman in 1975 led to the establishment of Islamist

military regimes that sought to distance the country from India.[73] Gandhi's relationship with themilitary regimes was strained, due to her alleged support of anti­Islamist leftist guerrilla forces in

Bangladesh.[73] Generally, however, there was a rapprochement between Gandhi and the Bangladeshiregimes, although issues such as border disputes and the Farakka Dam remained an irritant in bilateral

ties.[74] In 2011, the Government of Bangladesh conferred its highest state award posthumously on

Gandhi for her "outstanding contribution" to the country's independence.[75]

Gandhi's approach to dealing with Sri Lanka's ethnic problemswas initially accommodating. She enjoyed cordial relations withPrime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. In 1974, India ceded thetiny islet of Kachchatheevu to Sri Lanka in order to saveBandaranaike's socialist government from a political

disaster.[76] However, relations soured over Sri Lanka's turnaway from socialism under Junius Jayewardene, whom Gandhi

despised as a "western puppet."[77] India under Gandhi wasalleged to have supported LTTE militants in the 1980s to put

pressure on Jayewardene to abide by Indian interests.[78]

Nevertheless, Gandhi rejected demands to invade Sri Lanka inthe aftermath of Black July 1983, an anti­Tamil pogrom carried

out by Sinhalese mobs.[79] Gandhi made a statementemphasizing that she stood for the territorial integrity of SriLanka, although she also stated that India cannot "remain asilent spectator to any injustice done to the Tamil

community."[79][80]

India's relationship with Pakistan remained strained following the Shimla Accord in 1972. Gandhi'sauthorization of the detonation of a nuclear device at Pokhran in 1974 was viewed by Pakistani leaderZulfikar Ali Bhutto as an attempt to intimidate Pakistan into accepting India's hegemony in thesubcontinent. However, in May 1976, Gandhi and Bhutto both agreed to reopen diplomatic

establishments and normalize relations.[81] Following the rise to power of General Zia­ul­Haq inPakistan in 1978, India's relations with its neighbour reached a nadir. Gandhi accused General Zia of

supporting Khalistani militants in Punjab.[81] Military hostilities recommenced in 1984 following

Gandhi's authorization of Operation Meghdoot.[82] India was victorious in the resulting Siachen

conflict against Pakistan.[82]

Middle East

Gandhi remained a staunch supporter of Palestinians in the Arab­Israeli conflict and was critical of the

Middle East diplomacy sponsored by the United States.[77] Israel was viewed as a religious state andthus an analogue to India's arch rival Pakistan. Indian diplomats also hoped to win Arab support incountering Pakistan in Kashmir. Nevertheless, Gandhi authorized the development of a secret channel

Indira Gandhi meeting the Shah ofIran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi andShahbanu Farah Pahlavi during theirstate visit to India in 1970

of contact and security assistance with Israel in the late 1960s.Her lieutenant, Narasimha Rao, later became Prime Ministerand approved full diplomatic ties with Israel in 1992.[83]

India's pro­Arab policy had mixed success. Establishment ofclose ties with the socialist and secular Baathist regimes to some

extent neutralized Pakistani propaganda against India.[84]

However, the Indo­Pakistani War of 1971 put the Arab andMuslim states of the Middle East in a dilemma as the war was

fought by two states both friendly to the Arabs.[85] Theprogressive Arab regimes in Egypt, Syria, and Algeria chose toremain neutral, while the conservative pro­American Arabmonarchies in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and United ArabEmirates openly supported Pakistan. Egypt's stance was metwith dismay by the Indians, who had come to expect close co­

operation with the Baathist regimes.[84] But, the death of Nasser in 1970 and Sadat's growingfriendship with Riyadh, and his mounting differences with Moscow, constrained Egypt to a policy of

neutrality.[84] Gandhi's overtures to Muammar Gaddafi were rebuffed.[85] Libya agreed with the Arab

monarchies in believing that Gandhi's intervention in East Pakistan was an attack against Islam.[85]

The 1971 war temporarily became a stumbling block in growing Indo­Iranian ties.[84] Although Iranhad earlier characterized the Indo­Pakistani war in 1965 as Indian aggression, the Shah had launchedan effort at rapprochement with India in 1969 as part of his effort to secure support for a larger Iranian

role in the Persian Gulf.[84] Gandhi's tilt towards Moscow and her dismemberment of Pakistan wasperceived by the Shah as part of a larger anti­Iran conspiracy involving India, Iraq, and the Soviet

Union.[84] Nevertheless, Iran had resisted Pakistani pressure to activate the Baghdad Pact and draw in

the Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO) into the conflict.[84] Gradually, Indian and Iraniandisillusionment with their respective regional allies led to a renewed partnership between the

nations.[86] Gandhi was unhappy with the lack of support from India's Arab allies during the war withPakistan, while the Shah was apprehensive at the growing friendship between Pakistan and the Gulf

states, specially Saudi Arabia, and the growing influence of Islam in Pakistani society.[86] There was

an increase in Indian economic and military co­operation with Iran during the 1970s.[86] The 1974

India­Iranian agreement led to Iran supplying nearly 75 percent of India's crude oil demands.[87]

Gandhi appreciated the Shah's disregard of Pan­Islamism in diplomacy.[86]

Asia­Pacific

One of the major developments in Southeast Asia during Gandhi's premiership was the formation ofthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967. Relations between ASEAN and Indiawas mutually antagonistic. ASEAN in the Indian perception was linked to the Southeast Asia TreatyOrganization (SEATO), and it was therefore, seen as a pro­American organisation. On their part, theASEAN nations were unhappy with Gandhi's sympathy for the Viet Cong and India's strong links withthe USSR. Furthermore, they were also apprehensions in the region about Gandhi's future plans,particularly after India played a big role in breaking up Pakistan and facilitating in the emergence ofBangladesh as a sovereign country in 1971. India's entry into the nuclear weapons club in 1974

contributed to tensions in Southeast Asia.[88] Relations only began to improve following Gandhi'sendorsement of the ZOPFAN declaration and the disintegration of the SEATO alliance in the

aftermath of Pakistani and American defeats in the region. Nevertheless, Gandhi's close relations withreunified Vietnam and her decision to recognize the People's Republic of Kampuchea in 1980 meantthat India and ASEAN were not able to develop a viable partnership.[88]

Africa

Although independent India was initially viewed as a champion of anti­colonialism, its cordialrelationship with the Commonwealth of Nations and liberal views of British colonial policies in East

Africa had harmed its image as a staunch supporter of the anti­colonial movements.[89] Indiancondemnation of militant struggles in Kenya and Algeria was in sharp contrast to China, who had

supported armed struggle to win African independence.[89] After reaching a high diplomatic point inthe aftermath of Nehru's role in the Suez Crisis, India's isolation from Africa was complete when onlyfour nations; Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Libya supported her during the Sino­Indian War in

1962.[89] After Gandhi became Prime Minister, diplomatic and economic relations with the states

which had sided with India during the Sino­Indian War were expanded.[89] Gandhi began negotiationswith the Kenyan government to establish the Africa­India Development Cooperation. The Indiangovernment also started considering the possibility of bringing Indians settled in Africa within theframework of its policy goals to help recover its declining geo­strategic influence. Gandhi declared the

people of Indian origin settled in Africa as "Ambassors of India."[89] Efforts to rope in the Asiancommunity to join Indian diplomacy, however, came to naught, partly because of the unwilligness ofIndians to remain in politically insecure surroundings and partly due to the exodus of African Indians

to Britain with the passing of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act in 1968.[89] In Uganda, the AfricanIndian community even suffered persecution and eventually expulsion under the government of Idi

Amin.[90]

Foreign and domestic policy successes in the 1970s enabled Gandhi to rebuild India's image in the eyes

of African states.[89] Victory over Pakistan and India's possession of nuclear weapons showed the

degree of India's progress.[89] Furthermore, the conclusion of the Indo­Soviet treaty in 1971 andthreatening gestures by the major western power, the United States, to send its nuclear armed TaskForce 74 into the Bay of Bengal at the height of the East Pakistan crisis had enabled India to regain its

anti­imperialist image.[89] Gandhi firmly tied Indian anti­imperialist interests in Africa to those of the

Soviet Union.[91] Unlike Nehru, she openly and enthusiastically supported liberation struggles in

Africa.[91] At the same time, Chinese influence in Africa had declined owing to its incessant quarrels

with the Soviet Union.[89] These developments permanently halted India's decline in Africa and helped

reestablish its geo­strategic presence.[89]

Economic policy

Gandhi presided over three Five­Year plans as Prime Minister,[92] two of which succeeded in meeting

the targeted growth.[92]

There is considerable debate regarding whether Gandhi was a socialist on principle or out of political

expediency.[93] S. K. Datta­Ray described her as "a master of rhetoric...often more posture thanpolicy", while The Times journalist, Peter Hazelhurst, famously quipped that Gandhi's socialism was

"slightly left of self­interest."[94] Critics have focused on the contradictions in the evolution of herstance towards communism; Gandhi being known for her anti­communist stance in the 1950s with

Meghnad Desai even describing her as "the scourge of [India's] Communist Party."[95] Yet, she laterforged close relations with Indian communists even while using the army to break the Naxalites. Inthis context, Gandhi was accused of formulating populist policies to suit her political needs; beingseemingly against the rich and big business while preserving the status quo in order to manipulate the

support of the left at times of political insecurity, such as the late 1960s.[96][97] Although Gandhi cameto be viewed in time as the scourge of the right­wing and reactionary political elements of India, leftistopposition to her policies emerged. As early as 1969, critics had begun accusing her of insincerity andmachiavellism. The Indian Libertarian wrote that: "it would be difficult to find a more machiavellianleftist than Mrs Indira Gandhi...for here is Machiavelli at its best in the person of a suave, charming

and astute politician."[98] Rosser wrote that "some have even seen the declaration of emergency rule in

1975 as a move to suppress [leftist] dissent against Gandhi's policy shift to the right."[93] In the1980s, Gandhi was accused of "betraying socialism" after the beginning of Operation Forward, an

attempt at economic reform.[99] Nevertheless, others were more convinced of Gandhi's sincerity anddevotion to socialism. Pankaj Vohra noted that "even the late prime minister’s critics would concedethat the maximum number of legislations of social significance was brought about during her tenure...[and that] she lives in the hearts of millions of Indians who shared her concern for the poor and

weaker sections and who supported her politics."[100]

In summarizing the biographical works on Gandhi, Blema S. Steinberg concluded she was decidedly

non­ideological.[101] Only 7.4% (24) of the total 330 biographical extractions posit ideology as a

reason for her policy choices.[101] Steinberg noted Gandhi's association with socialism was superficial;only having a general and traditional commitment to the ideology, by way of her political and family

ties.[101] Gandhi personally had a fuzzy concept of socialism. In one of the early interviews she hadgiven as Prime Minister, Gandhi had ruminated: "I suppose you could call me a socialist, but you haveunderstand what we mean by that term...we used the word [socialism] because it came closest to whatwe wanted to do here – which is to eradicate poverty. You can call it socialism; but if by using that

word we arouse controversy, I don't see why we should use it. I don't believe in words at all."[101]

Regardless of the debate over her ideology or lack of thereof, Gandhi remains a left­wing icon. She has

been described as the "arguably the greatest mass leader of the last century."[100] Her campaignslogan, Garibi Hatao (Eng: Remove Poverty), has become the iconic motto of the Indian NationalCongress. To the rural and urban poor, untouchables, minorities and women in India, Gandhi was

"Indira Amma or Mother Indira."[102]

Green Revolution and the Fourth Five Year Plan

Gandhi inherited a weak and troubled economy. Fiscal problems associated with the war with Pakistanin 1965, along with a drought­induced food crisis that spawned famines, had plunged India into the

sharpest recession since independence.[93][103] The government responded by taking steps toliberalize the economy, and by agreeing to the devaluation of the currency in return for the restoration

of foreign aid.[103] The economy managed to recover in 1966 and ended up growing at 4.1% over

1966–1969.[96][104] But, much of that growth was offset by the fact that the external aid promised bythe United States government and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development(IBRD), meant to ease the short­run costs of adjustment to a liberalized economy, never

materialized.[103] American policy makers had complained of continued restrictions imposed on theeconomy. At the same time, Indo­US relations were straining due to Gandhi's criticism of theAmerican bombing campaign in Vietnam. While it was thought, at the time, and for decades after, thatPresident Johnson's policy of withholding food grain shipments was to coerce Indian support for the

Indira Gandhi meeting PresidentLyndon B. Johnson in the Oval Officeon 28 March 1966

war, in fact, it was to offer India rainmaking technology that he wanted to use as a counterweight to

China's possession of the atomic bomb.[105][106] In light of the circumstances, liberalization became

politically suspect and was soon abandoned.[103] Grain diplomacy and currency devaluation becamematters of intense national pride in India. After the bitter experience with Johnson, Gandhi decided notto request food aid in the future. Moreover, Gandhi's government resolved never again to become "sovulnerably dependent" on aid, and painstakingly began building up substantial foreign exchangereserves.[107] When food stocks slumped after poor harvests in 1972, the government made it a point

to use foreign exchange to buy US wheat commercially rather than seek resumption of food aid.[108]

The period of 1967–75 was characterized by socialistascendency in India which culminated in 1976 with the officialdeclaration of state socialism. Gandhi not only abandoned theshort lived liberalization programme but also aggressivelyexpanded the public sector with new licensing requirements andother restrictions for industry. She began a new course bylaunching the Fourth Five­Year Plan in 1969. The governmenttargeted growth at 5.7% while stating as its goals, "growth with

stability and progressive achievement of self­reliance."[96][109]

The rationale behind the overall plan was Gandhi's Ten PointProgramme of 1967. This had been her first economic policyformulation, six months after coming to office. The programmeemphasized greater state control of the economy with the

understanding that government control assured greater welfare than private control.[96] Related to

this point were a set of policies which were meant to regulate the private sector.[96] By the end of the1960s, the reversal of the liberalization process was complete, and India's policies were characterised as

"protectionist as ever."[107]

To deal with India's food problems, Gandhi expanded the emphasis on production of inputs to

agriculture that had already been initiated by her father, Jawaharlal Nehru.[93] The Green Revolutionin India subsequently culminated under her government in the 1970s and transformed the countryfrom a nation heavily reliant on imported grains and prone to famine to being largely able to feed itself,and become successful in achieving its goal of food security. Gandhi had a personal motive in pursuingagricultural self­sufficiency, having found India's dependency on the U.S. for shipments of grains

humiliating.[110]

The economic period of 1967–75 became significant for its major wave of nationalisations amidst the

increased regulation of the private sector.[93]

Some of the other objectives of the economic plan for the period was to provide for the minimum needsof the community through a rural works program and the removal of the privy purses of the

nobility.[96] Both these, and many other goals of the 1967 program were accomplished by 1974–75.Nevertheless, the success of the overall economic plan was tempered by the fact that annual growth at

3.3–3.4% over 1969–74 fell short of the targeted figure.[96]

State of Emergency and the Fifth Five Year Plan

The price of oil during the 1970senergy crisis. The graph shows sharpincreases in 1973 and again in 1979

The Fifth Five Year Plan (1974–79) was enacted in the backdrop of the state of emergency and the

Twenty Point Program of 1975.[96] The latter was the economic rationale of the emergency, a political

act which has often been justified on economic grounds.[96] In contrast to the reception of Gandhi's

earlier economic plan, this one was criticized for being a "hastily thrown together wish list."[96]

Gandhi promised to reduce poverty by targeting the consumption levels of the poor and enact wideranging social and economic reforms. The government additionally targeted an annual growth of 4.4%

over the period of the plan.[92]

The measures of the emergency regime was able to halt the economic trouble of the early to mid­1970s, which had been marred by harvest failures, fiscal contraction, and the breakdown of the BrettonWoods system of fixed exchanged rate; the resulting turbulence in the foreign exchange markets being

further accentuated by the oil shock of 1973.[104] The government was even able to exceed thetargeted growth figure with an annual growth rate of 5.0–5.2% over the five­year period of the plan

(1974–79).[92][96] The economy grew at the rate of 9% in 1975–76 alone, and the Fifth Plan, became

the first plan during which the per capita income of the economy grew by over 5%.[111]

Operation Forward and the Sixth Five Year Plan

Gandhi inherited a weak economy when she again became Prime Minister in 1980.[112] The precedingyear in 1979–80 under the Janata Party government had led to the strongest recession (−5.2%) in the

history of modern India with inflation rampant at 18.2%.[93][111][113] Gandhi proceeded to abrogatethe Janata Party government's Five Year Plan in 1980 and launched the Sixth Five Year Plan (1980–

85). The government targeted an average growth of 5.2% over the period of the plan.[92] Measures tocheck the inflation were also taken; by the early 1980s inflation was under control at an annual rate of

about 5%.[113]

Although Gandhi continued professing socialist beliefs, the Sixth Five Year Plan was markedly

different from the years of Garibi Hatao. Populist programs and policies were replaced by pragmatism.[

96] There was an emphasis on tightening public expenditures, greater efficiency of the State OwnedEnterprises (SOE), which Gandhi qualified as a "sad thing", and in stimulating the private sector

through deregulation and liberation of the capital market.[114] The government subsequently launched

Operation Forward in 1982, the first cautious attempt at reform.[115] The Sixth Plan went on tobecome the most successful of the Five Year plans yet; showing an average growth of 5.7% over 1980–

85.[92]

Inflation and unemployment

During Lal Bahadur Shastri's last full year in office (1965),inflation averaged 7.7%, compared to 5.2% at the end of

Gandhi's first stint in office (1977).[116] On average, inflation inIndia had remained below 7% through the 1950s and

1960s.[117] But, it then accelerated sharply in the 1970s, from5.5% in 1970–71 to over 20% by 1973–74, due to the

international oil crisis.[116] Gandhi declared inflation the

gravest of problems in 1974 (at 25.2%) and devised a severe anti­inflation program. The governmentwas successful in bringing down inflation during the emergency; achieving negative figures of −1.1%

by the end of 1975–76.[112][116]

Gandhi inherited a tattered economy in her second term; harvest failures and a second oil shock in the

late 1970s had again caused inflation to rise.[112] During Charan Singh's last year in office (1980),

inflation averaged 18.2%, compared to 6.5% during Gandhi's last year in office (1984).[113][116]

General economic recovery under Gandhi led to an average inflation at 6.5% from 1981–82 to 1985–

86; the lowest since the beginning of India's inflation problems in the 1960s.[117]

Unemployment stayed constant at 9% over a nine­year period (1971–80) before declining to 8.3% in

1983.[96][118]

Domestic policy

Nationalisation

Despite the provisions, control and regulations of Reserve Bank of India, most banks in India had

continued to be owned and operated by private persons.[119] Businessmen who owned the banks wereoften accused of channeling the deposits into their own companies, and ignoring the priority sector.Furthermore, there was a great resentment against class banking in India, which had left the poor (the

majority population) unbanked.[120] After becoming Prime Minister, Gandhi expressed the intentionof nationalising the banks in a paper titled, "Stray thoughts on Bank Nationalisation" in order to alleviate

poverty.[121] The paper received the overwhelming support of the public.[121] In 1969, Gandhi movedto nationalise fourteen major commercial banks. After the nationalisation of banks, the branches of thepublic sector banks in India rose to approximate 800 percent in deposits, and advances took a huge

jump by 11,000 percent.[122] Nationalisation also resulted in a significant growth in the geographicalcoverage of banks; the number of bank branches rose from 8,200 to over 62,000, most of which wereopened in the unbanked, rural areas. The nationalization drive not only helped to increase householdsavings, but it also provided considerable investments in the informal sector, in small and medium­sized enterprises, and in agriculture, and contributed significantly to regional development and to the

expansion of India’s industrial and agricultural base.[123] Jayaprakash Narayan, who became famousfor leading the opposition to Gandhi in the 1970s, was solid in his praise for her bank

nationalisations.[120]

Having been re­elected in 1971 on a nationalisation platform, Gandhi proceeded to nationalise the coal,

steel, copper, refining, cotton textiles, and insurance industries.[93] Most of these nationalisations were

made to protect employment and the interest of the organised labour.[93] The remaining private sector

industries were placed under strict regulatory control.[93]

During the Indo­Pakistani War of 1971, foreign­owned private oil companies had refused to supplyfuel to the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. In response, Gandhi nationalised oil companies in 1973.After nationalisation the oil majors such as the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the Hindustan PetroleumCorporation (HPCL) and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) had to keep a minimum stock

level of oil, to be supplied to the military when needed.[124]

Administration

Administrative divisions of India 1961–1975. Gandhi established six states, Haryana(1966), Himachal Pradesh (1971), Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura (all 1972), and finallySikkim (1975), bringing up the total of states to 22. She also established Arunachal Pradeshand Mizoram (1972) as Union Territories

In 1966, Gandhiaccepted thedemands of theAkali's toreorganizePunjab onlinguistic lines.The Hindi­speakingsouthern half ofPunjab became aseparate state,Haryana, whilethe Paharispeaking hillyareas in the

north east were joined to Himachal Pradesh.[125] In doing so, she had hoped to ward off the growing

political conflict between Hindu and Sikh groups in the region.[125] However, a contentious issue thatwas considered unresolved by the Akali's was the status of Chandigarh, a prosperous city on thePunjab­Haryana border, which Gandhi declared a union territory to be shared as a capital by both the

states.[126]

Victory over Pakistan in 1971 consolidated Indian power in Kashmir. Gandhi indicated that she wouldmake no major concessions on Kashmir. The most prominent of the Kashmiri separatists, SheikhAbdullah, had to recognize India's control over Kashmir in light of the new order in South Asia. Thesituation was normalized in the years following the war after Abdullah agreed to an accord withGandhi, by giving up the demand for a plebiscite in return for a special autonomous status for Kashmir.In 1975, Gandhi declared the state of Jammu and Kashmir as a constituent unit of India. The Kashmir

conflict remained largely peaceful if frozen under Gandhi's premiership.[127]

In 1972, Gandhi granted statehood to Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura, while the North­EastFrontier Agency was declared a union territory and renamed Arunachal Pradesh. The transition to

statehood for these territories was successfully overseen by her administration.[128] This was followed

by the annexation of Sikkim in 1975.[69]

Social reform

The principle of equal pay for equal work for both men and women was enshrined in the Indian

Constitution under the Gandhi administration.[129]

Gandhi questioned the continued existence of a privy purse for Indian monarchs. She argued the casefor abolition based on equal rights for all citizens and the need to reduce the government's revenuedeficit. The nobility responded by rallying around the Jana Sangh and other right­wing parties that

stood in opposition to Gandhi's attempts to abolish royal privileges.[97] The motion to abolish privypurses, and the official recognition of the titles, was originally brought before the Parliament in 1970.It was passed in the Lok Sabha but felt short of the two­thirds majority in the Rajya Sabha by a single

vote.[130] Gandhi responded by having a Presidential proclamation issued; de­recognizing the princes;

with this withdrawal of recognition, their claims to privy purses were also legally lost.[130] However,

the proclamation was struck down by the Supreme Court of India.[130] In 1971, Gandhi again

motioned to abolish the privy purse. This time, it was successfully passed as the 26th Amendment to

the Constitution of India.[97] Many royals tried to protest the abolition of the privy purse, primarilythrough campaigns to contest seats in elections. They, however, received a final setback when many ofthem were defeated by huge margins.

Gandhi claimed that only "clear vision, iron will and the strictest discipline" can remove poverty.[97]

She justified the imposition of the state of emergency in 1975 in the name of the socialist mission of the

Congress.[97] Armed with the power to rule by decree and without constitutional constraints, Gandhi

embarked on a massive redistribution program.[97] The provisions included rapid enforcement of landceilings, housing for landless labourers, the abolition of bonded labour and a moratorium on the debts

of the poor.[97] North India was at the centre of the reforms; millions of acres of land were acquired

and redistributed.[97] The government was also successful in procuring houses for landless labourers;

according to Frankel, three­fourths of the targeted four million houses was achieved in 1975 alone.[97]

Nevertheless, others have disputed the success of the program and criticized Gandhi for not doingenough to reform land ownership. The political economist, Jyotindra Das Gupta, cryptically questioned

"...whether or not the real supporters of land­holders were in jail or in power?"[97] Critics also accusedGandhi of choosing to "talk left and act right", referring to her concurrent pro­business decisions and

endeavours.[97] Rosser wrote that "some have even seen the declaration of emergency rule in 1975 as a

move to suppress dissent against Gandhi's policy shift to the right."[93] Regardless of the controversyover the nature of the reforms, the long­term effects of the social changes gave rise to prominence of

middle­ranking farmers from intermediate and lower castes in North India.[97] The rise of these newlyempowered social classes challenged the political establishment of the Hindi Belt in the years to

come.[97]

Language policy

Under the Indian Constitution of 1950, Hindi was to have become the official national language by1965. This was not acceptable to many non­Hindi speaking states, who wanted the continued use ofEnglish in government. In 1967, Gandhi made a constitutional amendment that guaranteed the defacto use of both Hindi and English as official languages. This established the official government

policy of bilingualism in India and satisfied the non­Hindi speaking Indian states.[101] Gandhi thus put

herself forward as a leader with a pan­Indian vision.[131] Nevertheless, critics alleged that her stancewas actually meant to weaken the position of rival Congress leaders from the northern states such as

Uttar Pradesh, where there had been strong, sometimes violent, pro­Hindi agitations.[101] Gandhi

came out of the language conflicts with the strong support of the south Indian populace.[131]

National security

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Gandhi had the Indian army crush militant Communist uprisings in theIndian state of West Bengal. The communist insurgency in India was completely suppressed during

the state of emergency.[132][133][134][135]

Gandhi considered the north­eastern regions important, because of its strategic situation.[136] In 1966,the Mizo uprising took place against the government of India and overran almost the whole of theMizoram region. Gandhi ordered the Indian army to launch massive retaliatory strikes in response.The rebellion was suppressed with the Indian Air Force even carrying out airstrikes in Aizawl; this

remains the only instance of India carrying out an airstrike in its own civilian territory.[128][137] Thedefeat of Pakistan in 1971 and the secession of East Pakistan as pro­India Bangladesh led to thecollapse of the Mizo separatist movement. In 1972, after the less extremist Mizo leaders came to thenegotiating table, Gandhi upgraded Mizoram to the status of a union territory. A small­scaleinsurgency by some militants continued into the late 1970s but was successfully dealt with by the

government.[128] The Mizo conflict was definitively resolved during the administration of Gandhi's

son Rajiv. Today, Mizoram is considered as one of the most peaceful states in the north­east.[138]

Responding to the insurgency in Nagaland, Gandhi "unleashed a powerful military offensive" in the

1970s.[139] Finally, a massive crackdown on the insurgents took place during the state of emergencyordered by Gandhi. The insurgents soon agreed to surrender and signed the Shillong Accord in

1975.[140] While the agreement was considered a victory for the Indian government and ended large­

scale conflicts,[141] there has since been spurts of violence by rebel holdouts and ethnic conflict

amongst the tribes.[141]

Nuclear Program of India

Gandhi contributed and further carried out the vision of Jawarharalal Nehru, former Premier of Indiato develop the program. Gandhi authorised the development of nuclear weapons in 1967, in response tothe Test No. 6 by People's Republic of China. Gandhi saw this test as Chinese nuclear intimidation,therefore, Gandhi promoted the views of Nehru to establish India's stability and security interests asindependent from those of the nuclear superpowers.

The program became fully mature in 1974, when Dr. Raja Ramanna reported to Gandhi that India hadthe ability to test its first nuclear weapon. Gandhi gave verbal authorisation of this test, andpreparations were made in a long­constructed army base, the Indian Army Pokhran Test Range. In1974, India successfully conducted an underground nuclear test, unofficially code named as "SmilingBuddha", near the desert village of Pokhran in Rajasthan. As the world was quiet by this test, avehement protest came forward from Pakistan. Great ire was raised in Pakistan and its Prime Minister,Zulfi Ali Bhutto, described this test as "Indian hegemony" to intimidate Pakistan. Gandhi directed aletter to Bhutto and, later to the world, describing the test for peaceful purposes and India'scommitment to develop its programme for industrial and scientific use.

Family and personal life

A member of the Nehru­Gandhi family, she was married to Feroze Gandhi at the age of 25, in 1942.Their marriage lasted for 18 years, until Feroze died after a heart attack in 1960. They had two sons ­Rajiv (b. 1944) and Sanjay (b. 1946). Her younger son Sanjay had initially been her chosen heir; butafter his death in a flying accident in June 1980, Gandhi persuaded her reluctant elder son Rajiv to quithis job as a pilot and enter politics in February 1981. Rajiv took office as prime minister following hismother's assassination in 1984; he served until December 1989. Rajiv Gandhi himself was assassinatedby a suicide bomber working on behalf of Tamil tigers on May 21, 1991.

Gandhi's yoga guru, Dhirendra Brahmachari, helped her in making certain decisions and also executedcertain top level political tasks on her behalf, especially from 1975 to 1977 when Gandhi declared a

state of emergency and suspended civil liberties."[142][143]

Awards

Portrait of Feroze and Indira GandhiIndira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru,Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi

After leading India tovictory against Pakistanin the Bangladeshliberation war in 1971,President V. V. Giriawarded Mrs. GandhiIndia's highest civilianhonour, the Bharat

Ratna.,[144][145][146] In2011, the BangladeshFreedom Honour(Bangladesh SwadhinataSammanona ),Bangladesh's highestcivilian award, wasposthumously conferredon Indira Gandhi for her

outstanding contributions to Bangladesh's Liberation War.[147]

Legacy

Indira Gandhi is associated with fostering a culture of nepotism in Indian politics and in India's

institutions.[148] She is also almost singularly associated with the period of Emergency rule and the

dark period in Indian Democracy that it entailed,[149] the period of conflict with Khalistan militants in

the western state of Punjab,[150] and being the face of a progressive Indian electorate owing to her

being the first woman elected to hold the office of the Prime Minister of India.[151]

The Indira Awaas Yojana, a central government low­cost housing programme for the rural poor, isnamed after her. The international airport at New Delhi is named Indira Gandhi International Airportin her honour. The Indira Gandhi National Open University, the largest university in the world, is alsonamed after her. Indian National Congress established the annual Indira Gandhi Award for NationalIntegration in 1985, given in her memory on her death anniversary. The Indira Gandhi MemorialTrust also constituted the annual Indira Gandhi Prize.

See also

List of assassinated Indian politiciansList of elected or appointed female heads of government

References

Notes

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Sources

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Further reading

Ved Mehta, A Family Affair: India Under Three Prime Ministers (1982) ISBN 0­19­503118­0Pupul Jayakar, Indira Gandhi: An Intimate Biography (1992) ISBN 978­0­679­42479­6Katherine Frank, Indira: the life of Indira Nehru Gandhi (2002) ISBN 0­395­73097­XRamachandra Guha, India after Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy (2007) ISBN978­0­06­019881­7Inder Malhotra, Indira Gandhi: A personal and political biography (1991) ISBN 0­340­53548­2Indira Gandhi – Iron Lady of India by Dr Sulakshi Thelikorala(http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/11/18/indira­gandhi­iron­lady­india)Midnight Children, Salman Rushdie

External links

Indira Gandhi(https://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Asia/India/Society_and_Culture/History/Personalities/Gandhi%2C_Indira) at DMOZRare pictures of Indira Gandhi (http://www.india­intro.com/jawaharlal­nehru­and­indira­gandhi.html)website of Indira gandhi (http://www.indiragandhi.com/)

on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2010.145. Shankar, A. (1987). Indira Priyadarshini. Children's Book Trust, page 95.146. "Awards earned, awards fixed?". The Hindu. 19 January 2003. Retrieved 24 January 2015.147. Haroon Habib (25 July 2011). "Bangladesh honours Indira Gandhi with highest award". The Hindu.148. Adina Campu (2009). "History as a marker of otherness in Rohinton Mistry's "A fine balance" " (PDF).

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov. Series IV: Philology and Cultural Studies 2 (51): 47.149. Rajgarhia, Mahak (25 June 2014). "40 years on, 7 things you need to know about Emergency imposed by

Indira Gandhi". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 1 July 2015.150. "The Ghosts of Khalistan". The Hindu. 8 October 2012. Retrieved 1 July 2015.151. "This day in history: Jan 19 1966 Indira Gandhi becomes Indian prime minister". history.com. Retrieved

1 July 2015.

Party political offices

Preceded by Uchharangrai Navalshankar

Dhebar

President of the Indian NationalCongress

1959

Succeeded by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Preceded by Devakanta Barua

President of the Indian NationalCongress 1978–1984

Succeeded by Rajiv Gandhi

Political offices

Preceded by Gulzarilal Nanda

Acting

Prime Minister of India 1966–1977

Succeeded by Morarji DesaiChairperson of the Planning

Commission 1966–1977

Preceded by Mahommedali Currim

Chagla

Minister of External Affairs 1967–1969

Succeeded by Dinesh Singh

Preceded by Morarji Desai

Minister of Finance 1969–1970 Succeeded by

Yashwantrao ChavanMinister of Home Affairs 1970–1973

Preceded by Swaran Singh

Minister of Defence 1975

Succeeded by Bansi Lal

Preceded by Charan Singh

Prime Minister of India 1980–1984

Succeeded by Rajiv GandhiChairperson of the Planning

Commission 1980–1984

Preceded by Chidambaram Subramaniam

Minister of Defence 1980–1982

Succeeded by Ramaswamy Venkataraman

Preceded by Narasimha Rao

Minister of External Affairs 1984

Succeeded by Rajiv Gandhi

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indira_Gandhi&oldid=709396711"

Categories: Indira Gandhi 1917 births 1984 deaths 4th Lok Sabha members20th­century Indian people Alumni of Somerville College, OxfordAssassinated heads of government Assassinated Indian politicians Bandung Conference attendeesChildren of Prime Ministers of India Deaths by firearm in India Defence Ministers of IndiaFemale defence ministers Female foreign ministers Female heads of governmentFinance Ministers of India Indian Hindus Indian socialists Jawaharlal Nehru Award laureatesKashmiri people Lenin Peace Prize recipients Ministers for Information and Broadcasting of IndiaMinisters for External Affairs of India Ministers of Internal Affairs of IndiaLok Sabha members from Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha members from KarnatakaLok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Nehru–Gandhi familyPeople educated at Badminton School People from Raebareli People murdered in DelhiPresidents of the Indian National Congress Prime Ministers of IndiaRajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Recipients of the Bharat Ratna Women leaders of India

Women prime ministers

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