Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi was the first woman ever elected to lead a democracy. She was the Prime Minister from 1966-77 and then again between 1980-84 till her death at the hands of her own bodyguards. A paradox she may seem for during the time that she served India as a Prime Minister, she was known as a dictator as well as one of the most charismatic leaders of India.

Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 and was the only child of Jawaharlal and Kamala Nehru. The active participation of both her parents in India's independence struggle of India from the British, Indira Gandhi 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 journalist Feroze Gandhi with whom she eventually 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 confidante and traveled with Nehru. Simultaneously, she was steadily making her way 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 the fourth 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 program.

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, Gandhi 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 demonstrations 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 voluntary sterilization program. 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 an emergency for the good of India. The constitutional rights of the citizens were limited and the press was under strict censorship overnight. Meanwhile, her eldest son, Sanjay Gandhi, ordered the removal of slum dwellings, and in an attempt to curb India's growing population, initiated a highly resented program of forced sterilization.

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 airplane 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 Bindranwale, and the Golden Temple was stripped clean of Sikh terrorists. However, the Golden Temple was damaged, and Mrs. Gandhi earned the undying hatred of Sikhs who bitterly resented her action in their sacred space. 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.

Her death led to sectarian violence across India during which over a 1000 people died of which many were Sikhs.

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. On the domestic front, however, her autocratic methods often clashed with her democratic principles. She had an authoritarian streak and rarely tolerated dissent. In many respects, Indian democracy was irreparably harmed during her rule. Apart from her infamous imposition of the internal emergency, the use of the army to resolve internal disputes greatly increased in her time.

After her death, her second son, Rajiv Gandhi, was sworn in as head of the Congress party and Prime Minister.



Quick Look : : Life Line
1917, November 19: Date of birth
1930: founded the Bal Chakha Sangh and was part of the Vanas Sena---a children's organization which ran messages to help the Congress Party or Freedom Movement during the non-cooperative movement.
-Goes to study in England and joins Somerville college in Oxford.
1938: joins the Indian National Congress
1942: marries Feroze Gandhi
1942: The couple is soon imprisoned at the Naini Central jail, Allahabad on September 11, 1942 on charges of subversion
1943, May 13: released from Naini Central jail
1947-1964: remains with her father as his hostess and close supporter
1947: under Gandhi's instructions, she works in riot-affected areas of Delhi.
1953-57: serves as the Chairman of the Central Social Welfare Board
1955: becomes a member of the working Committee and Central Election Committee
1956: member of Central Parliamentary Board
1956-60: Becomes the President of the All India Youth congress
1960: Feroze Gandhi, her husband, dies
1964: Nehru, her father, dies
1964: she is elected to the parliament in his place
1964-66: serves as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting
1966: becomes the Prime Minister after the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri
1971: calls for a general election and wins by an enormous margin
-declares war with Pakistan over Bangladesh
-sends India's first satellite into space
-her period in office is marked by severe economic troubles.
1973: there are demonstrations across the country due to high inflation, poor state of the economy, rampant corruption and the poor standards of living.
1974: tests the explosion of a nuclear device.
1975, June: the High Court of Allahabad found her guilty of illegal practices during the last election campaign and ordered her to vacate her seat.
-She responded by declaring a state of emergency.
1977: Indira Gandhi calls for early elections but loses
-she faces charges of corruption and authoritarianism
-is expelled from parliament and is imprisoned.
1978: is released from prison.
-Resigns from the congress party
-Becomes leader of the Indian National Congress
-Wins a seat through a by-election
1980: is re-elected as the Prime Minister
-Sanjay Gandhi, her youngest son, dies in a plane crash
1984, June: in an attempt to crush the secessionist movement in Punjab, she launched "Operation Blue Star". She sent troops into the "Golden Temple" of Amritsar. This led to the death of Jarnail Singh Bindrawale, the leader of the secessionist movement of Sikh militants.

Books on Indira Gandhi:
Indira Gandhi: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi
-by Katherine Frank
Indira Gandhi, the 'Emergency', and Indian Democracy
- by P. N. Dhar
Indira Gandhi, Speeches and Writings.
- by Indira Gandhi
The assassination of Indira Gandhi
- by Ritu Sarin
Indira Gandhi : Letters to an American Friend, 1950-1984
- by Dorothy Norman
Indira Gandhi and Foreign Policy Making : The Bangladesh Crisis
- by Narottam Gaan
Indira : a biography of Prime Minister Gandhi
- by Krishan Bhatia
Impact of Indira Gandhi on Indian Political System
- by Dhrub Dumar
Indira Gandhi : Daughter of India (Lerner Biographies)
- by Carol Dommermuth-Costa

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रामाक्रिशाना paramhans

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886)
Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was born on February 18, 1836. He was a Bengali religious leader. He was a devotee of the Goddess Kali. As a young man he became a temple priest. He immersed himself in intense meditation and other spiritual practices. He became a teacher of Advaita Vedanta Hinduism. He placed “Spiritual Religion” above “Blind Ritualism”.

In his thirst for the divine, Ramakrishna followed different religious paths including various branches of Hinduism. But finally he reached to conclusion that all religions lead to the same goal. Ramakrishna said that his experience of nirvikalpa Samadhi convinced him that the Gods of various religions are merely so many interpretations of the Absolute and that the ultimate reality could never be expressed in human terms. Through many of his Sikh devotees he learned of their faith and its great founders. This exposure to Sikhism and Buddhism further confirmed his experience of the Universality of spiritual truth.

Ramakrishna also believed that his experience of nirvikalpa Samadhi gave him an understanding of the two sides of maya (illusion) which are avidyamaya and vidyamaya. Avidyamaya represents the dark forces of creation which keep the world system on lower planes of consciousness. Vidyamaya, on the other hand, represents the higher forces of creation which elevate human beings to the higher planes of consciousness. With the help of vidyamaya, the devotees can achieve the ultimate goal of becoming mayatita, which means free from maya.

He revitalized Hinduism which had been fraught with excessive ritualism and superstition in the nineteenth century and helped it better respond to challenges from Islam, Christianity, and the dawn of the modern era. The four key concepts in Ramakrishna’s teachings were the following:

The oneness of existence
The divinity of human beings
The unity of God
The harmony of religions

The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Swami Vivekananda, but it was his spiritual master, Ramakrishna, who directly provided the main impetus for this movement. Although the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj preceded the Ramakrishna Mission, their influence on a larger level was limited. The life and teachings of this Man of God have had a tremendous impact on the world at large as well as on the people of India.

Among his many other noteworthy characteristics were his universality and child-like purity, intense sincerity, his vast knowledge of thins spiritual and human, and his extraordinary power to transform lives.

His whole life was literally an uninterrupted contemplation of God. He reached a depth of God-consciousness that transcends all time and place and has a universal appeal. Through his Godly life Sri Ramakrishna proved that the revelation of God takes place at all times and that realizing God is not the monopoly of any particular age, or people. In him deepest spirituality and broadest catholicity stood side by side. In the present day world, threatened by nuclear war and torn by religious intolerance, Ramakrishna’s message of harmony gives us hope and shows the right way.

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna:



I tell you the truth: there is nothing wrong in your being in the world. But you must direct your mind towards God.

There is one whom you may call your own, and that is God.

Money can fetch you bread alone. Do not consider it as your sole end and aim.

You see many stars in the sky at night, but not when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day? O, man because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not there is no God.

Seekest thou God? Then seek him in man! His Divinity is manifest more in man than in any other object. Man is greatest manifestation of God.

Women naturally whether good or not, whether chaste or unchaste, should always be regarded as images of the Blissful Divine Mother.

The ego that asserts, ‘I am the servant of God’ is the characteristic of the true devotee. It is the ego of vidya (knowledge), and is called the ‘ripe’ ego.

Let me be condemned to be born over and over again, even in the form of a dog, if so I can be of help to a single soul.

To become great, one must be humble. The tree laden with fruit always bends low. So if you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.

If you say, ‘I am a sinner’, eternally, you will remain a sinner to all eternity. You ought to rather repeat, ‘I am not bound. I am not bound. Who can bind me? I am the son of God, the King of Kings’.


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अटल बिहारी .....

Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee's political career stretches over 50 years. Over the course of his career, he was elected to the Lok Sabha (House of the People) nine times and twice to the Raj Sabha (House of the Lords). And he twice served as the Prime Minister of India. The first time he served as a Prime Minister, it was for a short time between May 16 and May 31, 1996. The BJP had won the largest number of parliamentary seats in 1996 elections but they failed to form a coalition and therefore, Vajpayee had to resign. However, he became the Prime Minister again on October 13, 1999 when the Bharitiya Janata Party (BJP) won the most number of seats in the parliament and he headed a coalition government---the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

He began to be seriously interested in politics from his college days when he was a student of Law and Political Science. He then went on to participate in the Quit India Movement and a career in journalism. But his career in journalism lasted only till 1951 when he joined the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS).

The BJS was the precursor of the BJP. In 1957, he was elected to the second Lok Sabha. Over the decades, he was an active member of the Lok Sabha and the Raj Sabha. He also became the leader of the BJS and eventually the BJP too. In 1994, he was given Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant Award for the Best Parliamentarian.

Over the course of his political career, he managed to establish his reputation as a man of the masses, a poet and an inspiring orator. After becoming the Prime Minister, he seemed to have softened BJP's reputation of being anti-muslim. He advocates the development of India as a nuclear power as he supported nuclear tests in Pokran in 1998. He pressed for the continuation of free market reforms and encouraged women's rights.

In 1994, he was conferred the highest civilian award---the Padma Bhushan award.

Some of the titles of the books that he published are:

Lok Sabha Mein Atalji (a collection of speeches)
Mrityu Ya Hatya, Amar Balidan, Kaidi Kavirai Ki Kundalian (a collection of poems written in jail during Emergency)
New Dimensions of India's Foreign Policy (a collection of speeches delivered as External Affairs Minister during 1977-79)
Jana Sangh Aur Musalman
Three Decades in Parliament (Speeches in three volumes)
Amar Aag Hai(a collection of poems) 1994
Meri Ekyavan Kavitayen
Four Decades in Parliament (English)-4 Volumes of Speeches in Parliament, 1957-95

लाल बहादुर sastri

Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904-1966)
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born in Moghalsarai, which is also spelt as Mughalsarai, on October 2, 1904. His parents were Sharada Prasad and Ramdulari Devi. Though his parents were Srivatsavas, Shastri dropped his caste identity in his early years. His father died when he was only a year old. His mother with the help of her father took care of the children. Lal Bahadur acquired virtues like boldness, love of adventure, patience, self-control, courtesy, and selflessness in his childhood.

His abandoned his studies to take part in the non-cooperation movement started by Gandhi in 1921. He was given the title ‘Shastri’ at Kashi Vidya Peetha in 1926. During his four years’ stay there, he was very much influenced by the lectures of Dr. Bhagawandas on philosophy. In his later life, Shastri displayed poise in the midst of conflict and confusion which he learnt from his teacher, Bhagawandas.

After coming out from Kashi Vidya Peeth, he became the life-member of The Servants of the People Society which was started by Lala Lajpat Rai in 1921. The aim of the society was to train youth who were prepared to dedicate their lives to the service of the country. Shastri earned the love and affection of Lajpat Rai by his earnestness and hard work. Later he became the President of the society. In 1927, Shastri married Lalitha Devi who was from Mirzalyur.

Lal Bahadur Shastri took a leading role in ‘Salt Satyagraha’ which was intensified by 1930. He also advised people not to pay land revenue and taxes to the British government. He was sent to prison for two and half years for doing so. From this time onwards prison became his second home. He was sent to prison seven times and was forced to spend nine long years in various prisons on different occasions.

Going to prison became a blessing in disguise for him. He spent time reading number of books. He became familiar with the works of western philosophers, revolutionaries, and social reformers. He translated the autobiography of Madam Curie, a French scientist who discovered Radium, into Hindi. He was a ideal prisoner. The greatness of Shastri was that he maintained his self-respect even in prison.

After Independence, he became the Minister of police in the ministry of Govind Vallabh Panth. In 1951, he was appointed as the General Secretary of Lok Sabha before regaining a ministerial post as Railways Minister. He resigned following a rail disaster near Ariyalur. He returned to the Cabinet following the general elections, first as Minister of Transport, and then in 1961, he became the Home Minister.

Nehru died in office on May 27, 1964, and left something of a vaccum.Though eclipsed by such stalwarts of the congress party as Kamaraj, and Morarji Desai, the Finance Minister in Nehru’s government, Shastri emerged as the consensus candidate in the midst of the party warfare. The ruling congress party Shastri unanimously as its leader. He became the Prime Minister on June 9, 1964. He became the Prime Minister of India at a very crucial time in Indian history.

The first problem he had to face after becoming the P.M was the one caused by Pakistan. After the Chinese aggression, when India’s confidence in her strength had been shaken, Pakistan was creating trouble along the borders. But Shastriji would not yield to the wickedness of Pakistan. He first tried to earn the good-will and support from the other nations for India. He attended a meeting of non-aligned nations and explained India’s position. Pakistan was awaiting to swallow Kashmir into its territory. She pushed her forces across the eastern border into the Rann of Kuch in Gujarat in 1965. Shastri faced the problem with great tact. But later there was a large scale invasion of the territory by Pakistani soldiers which lead to the break out of war along the cease-fire line on the Kashmir border. Addressing the Nation on 13th August 1965, Shastri referred to Pakistan threats and said, “Force will be met with force”.

Some big Nations feared that if India won a total victory over Pakistan, it would lower their prestige. The Security Council of the United Nations Organization called on India and Pakistan to stop fighting. On the invitation of Kosygin, the Premier of Soviet Russia, Shastri and Ayub Khan met in Tashkent on January 4, 1966. Shastri wished to give one more chance to Pakistan to live in peace and friendship with India. So he signed the treaty of friendship.

Shastriji had suffered heart attacks twice before and during the period of Pakistan war and the following days his body had to bear a very heavy strain. He signed the Joint Declaration on 10th January 1966. He died the same night. Gone was the war hero and the messenger of peace, gone was the great statesman who restored to India her honor and self-respect in the assembly of nations. A tiny, tidy figure. A soul that had lived in perfect purity of thought, word, and deed. Such was this man who had lived in our midst. He belongs to the race of heroes of India.

He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna and a memorial was built for him in Delhi. The slogan, ‘Jai jawan, Jai kisan’ is attributed to Shastri. Lal Bahadur Shastri was a star of great brightness in the history of India.

राजीव gandhi

Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi entered politics only after the death of his brother, Sanjay Gandhi, in 1980. Rajiv Gandhi had not shown much interest in politics till then. He attended college at Cambridge, England; married an Italian, Sonia Gandhi; and worked as a pilot for the Indian Airlines.

Rajiv's mother, Indira Gandhi, was active in India's national politics as she had by then served as the Prime Minister of India. Rajiv Gandhi's brother was an aide to their mother in politics. So when Sanjay Gandhi died, it is said that Indira Gandhi convinced Rajiv Gandhi to enter politics. But Rajiv Gandhi was not new to politics as he was born into a family of politicians. His grandfather, Nehru, was the first Prime Minister of India. His mother, father and brother too were politically very active.

Rajiv Gandhi won his first parliamentary elections to the Lok Sabha in 1981. At that time, Indira Gandhi was re-elected as the Prime Minister and Rajiv Gandhi became her unofficial political advisor. But in 1984, Indira Gandhi's bodyguards assassinated her and Rajiv Gandhi took over as the head of the Congress party and was sworn in as the Prime Minister.

His government encouraged foreign investment, and industry boomed with the loosening of business controls. He sought to increase Indian investments in modern technology. He removed many restrictions on imports and encouraged foreign investment. His critics claim that he was indecisive as he changed his cabinet members frequently. He fired his mother's aides and instead appointed his friends and technocrats. In 1987, he committed the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka in an endeavor to help the government there eradicate militants agitating for a separate Tamil homeland. Though one of the campaign promises of the Congress party was to eliminate corruption in politics, Rajiv Gandhi's tenure as Prime Minister was marred by allegations of corruption. He was accused of receiving "kick-backs" from a Swedish company manufacturing Bofors machine-guns.

In elections in November 1989 Gandhi won his seat, but the Congress Party lost its majority and he resigned as prime minister. He and his party's implications in corruption scandals decreased their credibility as a strong party.

Rajiv Gandhi began to campaign again in 1991. It was while he was campaigning in Tamil Nadu in south India that a Tamil sucide bomber took his life. They said that it was revenge for intervening in Sri Lanka's politics.

In 1998, 26 members of a separatist guerrilla group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were convicted of Gandhi's murder and sentenced to death.

And in 1999, Rajiv Gandhi was posthumously charged with participating in a kickback scheme in a Bofors arms deal.



Quick Look : : Life Line
1944: born in Mumbai
1980: his brother Sanjay dies in a plane crash.
1981: His mother, Indira Gandhi convinces him to join politics.
- he is elected into the parliament
1984: Her bodyguards assassinate Indira Gandhi
- Rajiv Gandhi leads the congress party to a sweeping victory and succeeds his mother as Prime Minister.
1987: sends the Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka mediate an end to Tamil-Sinhalese violence there.
1988: Allegations of corruption in the Bofors scam diminish his popularity.
1989: the congress party loses its parliamentary majority and Rajiv Gandhi resigns as Prime Minister
1991: while campaigning for the elections, he is assassinated by a Tamil militant suicide bomber in Tamil Nadu. They said it was their revenge for india's intervention in the civil war in Sri Lanka.
1998: 26 members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (a separatist guerilla group) are convicted of Rajiv Gandhi's murder and are sentenced to death
1999: Rajiv Gandhi is posthumously charged with participating in a kickback scheme in a Bofors arms deal.

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