As the only woman prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi has been subject to both praise for her leadership and criticism for the controversial decisions she took during her tenure. The Congress party, recently launched an year-long celebration to commemorate her political life through a series of programmes and events to mark her 100th birthday.
President Pranab Mukherjee, who has spent a large part of his political career in the Congress party, said on one such occasion that Indira Gandhi’s biggest strength was her connect with the common people, particularly grassroots workers of the party, daughter-in-law and party president Sonia Gandhi, and described her as a “rare figure who shaped the destiny of her land”.
Speaking passionately about her mother-in-law, Sonia Gandhi said, “Indira Gandhi was not a figure of history to me. She was my mother-in-law and we lived under the same roof, sharing joys and sorrows. It is from her that I learnt about India, its culture and values. It is from her that I imbibed my earliest political lessons.”
Meanwhile, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT), New Delhi, is presenting “I Am Courage”, a year-long campaign at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum (IGMM) to engage with not just those who remember the leader, but also the younger generation who can draw inspiration from the milestones of her life. And while the event has been observed every year since 1985 after she was assassinated by her own bodyguards in 1984, this special edition is also being marked by the launch of an official website that will chronicle the life and times of Indira Gandhi with quotes, images and videos.
Housed at 1, Safdarjung Enclave, the IGMM is where Indira Gandhi lived and died. Some rooms in the house, including her bedroom, study, drawing room and dining room, are maintained exactly as they were during her lifetime. It remains one of the most visited house museums in the world, with several thousand visitors a day from India and abroad.
The IGMT has also combed through a large archival collection of more than 90,000 photographs and archival material to select about 220 images (many of which have been made public for the first time) for a photographic exhibition entitled “Indira: A Life of Courage”.
Co-curated by Pramod Kumar K.G. and Deepthi Sasidharan, the exhibition is on at Swaraj Bhawan, the ancestral home of the Nehru family in Allahabad. In 2017, it will go on a five-city tour, including the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai (February), the Harrington Street Art Centre in Kolkata (April) and the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bengaluru (August), before returning to IGMM for the conclusion of the centenary year in November.
Suman Dubey, IGMT secretary and a close friend of the Gandhi family, said, “We want to bring her life to the young people of this country, who may read about her as a figure from recent history but who deserve and need to know much more about a person who contributed so much to making India what it is today.”
Indira Gandhi’s fierce independence and courage made her an admired and respected world leader. Apart from being named “Woman of the Millennium” in a poll by the BBC in 1999, she was voted the greatest Indian prime minister in a poll by “India Today” magazine.
Even though acknowledged as one of India’s most powerful and charismatic leaders, her birth centenary is drawing mixed reactions in the country.
Computer engineer Nardeep Bhalla is staunchly opposed to the year-long celebration. “I am appalled to see hundreds of banners all over the city proclaiming the celebrations. It is all a sham. Youngsters like me neither believe in such unnecessary show nor appreciate the money spent on such frivolities. The Congress party, just like their leader, has only given slogans to the country. Poverty, education and jobs — all these issues have remained neglected for decades. They should spend their money, time and energy on causes such as shelters for the homeless.”
Nonetheless, as Sonia Gandhi put it: “Some dismissed Indira Gandhi as weak and incapable. Others called her a tyrant. But with the trust of her countrymen and women, painstakingly won, and with her dedication to their cause, she went on to serve her people, sacrificing her very life.”
Though the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has ignored the celebrations, some of its leaders still remember Indira Gandhi with respect. “Indira Gandhi’s dynamism and unpredictability was the source of her power. By abolishing the privy purses, which were part of the country’s burden of feudal privilege, she left the country’s influential princes fretting. No one expected her to split the [Congress] party in 1969, but she did.
“The 1971 India-Pakistan war was ignited due to a widespread massacre launched by the West Pakistan army against the minority Hindu population and Bengalis living in East Pakistan, which led many to flee the country and take refuge in India. After repeated failures to get a response from the international community on the matter, she led India to a decisive victory against Pakistan, leading to the creation of an independent Bangladesh,” Bishnu Pada Ray of the BJP says.
An MP from the lone Andaman & Nicobar Islands constituency, Ray recalled that even former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha (lower house of the parliament), had effusively praised Indira Gandhi when Bangladesh was liberated.
“In the 1971 Lok Sabha elections, the voters delivered a decisive verdict in her favour. She promised to sweep away the old order and usher in a new era of prosperity, but despite promises, there seemed no end to corruption. The masses believed in her ‘Garibi Hatao’ [eradicate poverty] slogan, even as the Indian economy continued to remain in a shambles. So, barring some judgment errors, Indira Gandhi contributed to India’s integrity and development. Therefore I believe the nation should celebrate her birth centenary.”
Delhi-based Sonia Seth, an executive with a multinational insurance company, feels that it is important to honour 100 years of Indira Gandhi as during her reign as prime minister, “she took some extremely strong decisions despite some world leaders not seeing eye-to-eye with her ... she proved them wrong.”
However, Anisha Soin, a student, said, “We should celebrate her centenary but certainly not go overboard. She, too, had flaws although I admit that she was instrumental in putting India on the international map; but other political leaders have been equally steadfast.”
Early days
Born on November 19, 1917, Indira was the only child of Kamla and Jawaharlal Nehru. She grew up in a family of freedom fighters who fought for the country’s independence. Her political apprenticeship began by her father’s side. As a young girl she played her part in India’s struggle for freedom by forming a “vaanar sena” (monkey brigade) that spied on the police and distributed flags.
She was elected Congress party president in 1959. After Jawahalal Nehru’s death in 1964, Indira Gandhi was appointed a member of the Rajya Sabha. She became a cabinet minister, serving as Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Lal Bahadur Shastri government.
After the untimely death of Shastri two years later, she was appointed the prime minister, serving the nation until 1977.
As prime minister, she brought about a radical change in the country’s economic, political, national and international policies. With the introduction of the Green Revolution, she brought about remarkable change in the agricultural production, bringing the country out of chronic food shortages and famine, and for the first time in history gave the country food security.
Among other achievements, she boldly nationalised banks — a move that later helped protect India from the worst of global recessions. With exceptional political skills and a steely resolve, she also gave an impetus to India’s nuclear and space programmes.
Stumbling blocks
Although Indira Gandhi remained at the helm for a total of 17 years, controversial issues did arise during her tenure.
The biggest blot on her political career was when she unilaterally declared a state of Emergency across the country. It remains one of the most controversial periods in independent India’s history. Officially issued by then President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, it lasted 21 months (June 1975 until March 1977), with considerable changes to the Indian Constitution being made. The order also bestowed upon the prime minister the authority to rule by decree, allowing elections to be suspended and civil liberties to be curbed.
For much of that period, most of Indira Gandhi’s political opponents were imprisoned and the press was subjected to censorship by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, leading to furore all over the country. Several atrocities were reported, including a forced mass-sterilisation campaign spearheaded by her younger son Sanjay Gandhi.
Using the armed forces to resolve numerous internal issues and disputes, she went on to encourage a culture of sycophancy and bias.
Eventually, when elections were held, the opposition appealed to the people that it was their chance to choose between democracy and dictatorship. The result was not surprising. The Congress party was defeated and both Indira Gandhi and her son lost their seats.
As the Janata party led by Morarji Desai came to power, he ordered the arrest of Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi on charges of planning to kill opposition leaders during the Emergency. The move boomeranged as none of the charges could be proved. In the meantime, Indira Gandhi began gaining public sympathy. She bounced back to power in 1980.
However, most of her efforts were spent resolving the political problems of Punjab. A secessionist movement had been initiated by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale who, along with his troops, had set up base in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the sacred place of worship for the Sikh community. Along with his supporters, Bhindrawale started a hate campaign against the government, the moderate Sikhs and Hindus.
Importantly, the culpability of the Punjab problem goes to Indira Gandhi herself. Irked by the Akali Dal party’s resistance to the Emergency and the Akali Dal-Janata Party combine coming to power after defeating the Congress in 1977 assembly elections, she had propped up Bhindrawale to destabilise them and divide the Sikhs in Punjab.
Senior lawyer Arvind Kumar said, “It may surprise people, but it is extremely important for the young generation to acquaint themselves with the truth that obsessed with power and short-term goal, Indira Gandhi had sunk to a political low. By the time she realised that Bhindrawale had become out of control, it was too late.”
To suppress the militants and clip Bhindrawale’s wings, she initiated Operation Blue Star, a campaign by the Indian Army to flush him and his men out of the Golden Temple — Sikhism’s holiest shrine in Amritsar. While the raid was successful, many civilians lost their lives and the temple complex was hugely damaged. Because of this, Indira Gandhi earned the wrath and hatred of the Sikhs, and a section of the community declared Bhindrawale a martyr.
In hindsight, Operation Blue Star turned out to her biggest political blunder which led to her assassination. Deeply outraged by Operation Blue Star, her own Sikh bodyguards avenged the insult by shooting her to death at her official residence on the morning of October 31, 1984. Her elder son Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister after her death.
Nilima Pathak is a journalist based in New Delhi.
