A Tribute to Mrs. Indira Gandhi,the former Prime Minister of India as flashed by me on the f.b. on Oct.27,2010.

Bishwanath Singh .October 27, 2010


5  photos of Mrs Indra Gandhi

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Bishwanath Singh

How many of us are aware that Indian history has witnessed so far to only one female Prime Minister who was the third Prime Minister of India and the daughter of the first Prime Minister of India and was assassinated while going on the way ...to her office as Prime Minister of India? She was none else than Indira Priyadarshani Gandhi wh...ose Parents were Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru & Kamla Nehru,Her charm, intelligence and charisma made her a powerful statesperson, much loved and admired by over billions of People at large living far & wide .She married Feroz Gandhi in March 1942 inspite of resentment.Two illustrious sons were born to them on the 20 th of August 1944 & the 14 th of December 1946The young Sanjay Gandhi a rising star of Indian Politics had died in air crash on the23 rd June 1980 while she was alive.The elder one Rajiv Gandhi who had succeeded after her death as Prime Minister of India was also assassinated while he was in electioneering tour on the 21st May 1991 at Sriperumbudur while,he was President of All India Congress Party.Let us pay our most respectful homage to her & also to both of her illustrious sons who are no more on this worldly earthIndira Priyadarshani Gandhi was born on 19th November 1917, in Allahabad, she was greatly loved by her parents and her grandfather Motilal Nehru, who was a famous lawyer, and a public figure in his own right. Her father had joined the freedom struggle, so little Indira, or Priyadarshani as she was lovingly called, was exposed to politics from the age of three or four years. Her house Anand Bhawan at Allahabad was the centre of political activity, as all the important leaders stayed there on visiting Allahabad. Mahatma Gandhi was a frequent visitor to her father's residence and she was greatly affected by his thinking. A visit to the Sabarmati Ashram left an indelible mark on her psyche and she was impressed by the simple, hard life and patriotic feelings that she witnessed there. She had passed her Matric from Pune University and was then sent on to Shantiniketan, formed by Rabindranath Tagore. Here she was made to lead a strict highly disciplined life). Subsequently, she went to England and sat for the University of Oxford entrance examination, but she failed and spent a few months at Badminton School in Bristol, before clearing the exam in 1937 and joining Somerville College, Oxford. During this period, she was frequently meeting Feroze Gandhi, whom she knew from Allahabad, and who was studying at the London School of Economics whom she had decided to marry. Returning to India in 1941, she married Feroze Gandhi in March 1942 according to Hindu rituals. much against the wishes of the conservative Hindu community, as Feroz Gandhi was a Parsi..Her father was strongly opposed to her marriage with Feroz Gandhi who was very elder to her and even approached Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to dissuade the young couple, but to no avail. However, over the years, father-in-law and son-in-law resolved their differences, especially with Feroze adopting Gandhi Ji's ideology. In 1942, she joined the 'Quit India' Movement along with her husband and was arrested and jailed. When Indira's father was in jail he used to write beautiful, long letters to her about his patriotic feelings and the current political situation. This led her to understand the intricacies of the nation, better than the most. she served her father unofficially as a personal assistant during his tenure as the first Prime Minister of India. After her father's death in 1964 she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha and became a member of Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting. The then Congress Party President K. Kamaraj was instrumental in making Indira Gandhi the Prime Minister after the sudden demise of Shastri. Gandhi soon showed an ability to win elections and outmaneuver opponents. She introduced more left-wing economic policies and promoted agricultural productivity. She led the nation as Prime Minister during the decisive victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan and creation of an independent Bangladesh. A period of instability led her to impose a state of emergency on June 26, 1975 , the Congress Party and Indira Gandhi herself lost the next general election for the first time in 1977.due to unrest and current political situation prevailing that time.. This led her to understand the intricacies of the nation, better than the most. Janta Party leaders like J.P. Narayan were arrested and jailed during state of emergency. But Mrs. Gandhi lost out to them in the next election in 1977 due to the alleged authoritarian excesses during the period of emergency and was re-elected to power in 1980. Later, in Punjab there was a demand for a separate state of Khalistan, and by & large hard core Sikh were up in arms. But their demands were not met and this was the cause of her ultimate assassination. On Wednesday, October 31, 1984, when Indira Gandhi was proceeding to her office, she was gunned down by her own bodyguards. This day has gone down in History as national Unity Day, as a tribute to the memory of a Great lady, leader and statesperson. Indira Gandhi will be remembered for her commendable efforts in the development and progress of science, space exploration, irrigation, as well as policies like the nationalization of banks and the 20-point programme.Let us join to pay our most respectful homage to her who will be remembered for long because of her towering personalty as one of the most successful statesman of the world of her time!

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f.b.
October 27,2010.

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