Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 and was the only child of Jawaharlal and Kamla Nehru. The active participation of both her parents in India’s independence struggle from the British, Indira was drawn to politics at an early age. It was as if politics and politicians always surrounded her.
By the time she was about twelve years old, she headed what came to be known as the Monkey Brigade. The monkey brigade consisted of children who warned the independence movement leaders of their arrest. Being its leader, she delivered speeches while other children actually warned the people who were going to be arrested. The Congress figured that the British would not suspect children of participating in such involvement.
She was soon sent to England for her studies where she joined the Somerville College, Oxford. She also spent time in Switzerland primarily because her mother needed to be there due to her ill health. But her mother passed away in 1936.
In 1938, Indira returned to India and joined the Indian National Congress Party. Soon afterwards in 1942, she married to Feroze Gandhi and had two sons—Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi. Soon after the couple was married, they were sent to prison on charges of subversion by the British. Her one and only imprisonment lasted from September 11, 1942 until May 13, 1943 at the Naini Central Jail in Allahabad.
India won its independence from Britain in 1947. In that same year, Indira’s father Jawaharlal Nehru became India’s first Prime Minister. Since her mother’s death, Indira acted as her father’s hostess and travelled with Nehru. Simultaneously, she was steadily making her way and presence felt in the political arena.
She began to associate herself with numerous organizations. From 1953-57 she was Chairman of the Central Social Welfare Board. In 1955, she became a member of the Working Committee and Central Election Committee, the Central Parliamentary Board from 1956, and was the President of the All India Youth Congress from 1956 to 1960.
After the death of her father, Jawaharlal Nehru in1964, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri appointed Indira Gandhi as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting. This position was one of the highest ranking position in the Cabinet as radio and television were an important source to disseminate information to the largely illiterate population of India. As a minister, she encouraged the making of inexpensive radios and started a family planning programme.
But Lal Bahadur Shastri suddenly died of a heart attack in 1966. The contenders for Prime Minister’s post could not agree among themselves and therefore felt that Indira Gandhi would be the best for the position as a prime minister. Hence, she became the Prime Minister in 1966 till India held the next elections in 1967. She won that election in 1967, she became the first woman ever elected to lead a democracy.
In 1971, she was re-elected by campaigning with the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’ (Abolish Poverty).
She rode a wave of success in 1971 with India’s victory in the Indo-Pak war and the launching of the India’s first satellite into space. And with the testing of a nuclear device in 1974, she earned the reputation of a tough and shrewd politician among the middle class.
Simultaneously, by 1973, large-scale demonstra-tions were taking place across Delhi and north India. A large section of the population felt that she was not living up to her promises of ‘Garibi Hatao’. High inflation, rampant corruption and poor standards of living were leading to social unrest.
In an attempt to control population growth, she implemented a sterilization programme. But her adversaries criticized it. She began to face a strong opposition to her administration in general.
By 1975, Indira Gandhi had to face charges of corruption. In June 1975, the High Court of Allahabad found her guilty of using illegal practices during the last election campaign. She was ordered to vacate her seat. There were demands for her resignation.
She responded by declaring a state of emergency on June 25, 1975. During this emergency, the Supreme Court of India overturned the Allahabad High Court’s judgment. Through the powers ensured to her through the emergency, she ordered the arrests of the main opposition leaders.
In her opinion, she declared the emergency for the good of India. The constitutional rights of the citizens were curtailed and the press was under strict censorship overnight.
In early 1977, she thought she had eliminated her opposition and called for fresh elections. Her Congress party lost badly at the polls. She was voted out of power and a newly formed coalition of political parties came to power. Many declared that she was a spent force. But, three years later, she was to return as Prime Minister of India.
Indira Gandhi came to power again as the prime minister in 1980. The same year, however, her son Sanjay was killed in an air crash.
In the post-emergency period, as a prime minister Indira Gandhi was preoccupied by efforts to resolve the political problems in the state of Punjab. In her attempt to crush the secessionist movement of Sikh militants, led by Jarnail Singh Bindranwale, she ordered an assault upon the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, the ‘Golden Temple’. It was from here that Bindranwale and his armed supporters waged their campaign.
‘Operation Bluestar’, waged in June 1984, led to the death of Bhindranwale, and the Golden Temple was stripped clean of militants. However, the Golden Temple was damaged, and Mrs. Gandhi earned the hatred of Sikhs who bitterly resented her action in their sacred shrine.
In November of the same year, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated, at her residence, by two of her own Sikh bodyguards, who claimed to be avenging the insult heaped upon the Sikh nation.
Indira Gandhi was remarkable for her ambition for personal power, her endurance and political tenacity. Mrs. Gandhi acquired a formidable international reputation as a ‘statesman’, and there is no doubt that she was extraordinarily skilled in politics. On the international front, she insisted on India’s independence, gradually loosened ties with the former USSR that were developed in the early 1970s when China seemed menacing. She was proved to be a forceful spokeswoman for the rights of poorer nations.
