Gandhi, Indira

Jawaharlal Nehru , Kamala , and their daughter Indira. 1918 year

Mahatma Gandhi and Indira. 1930s

Youth

Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 in the city of Allahabad (Ilahabad) (modern state of Uttar Pradesh ), in a family that was actively involved in the struggle for the independence of India. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru , who later became the first Prime Minister of India after the independence of the country in 1947 , at that time took the first steps in the political arena in the Indian National Congress (INC) party. Great-known grandfather Gandhi Motilal Nehru , one of the veterans and leaders of the INC. Women of the Nehru family were also active participants in the political struggle: Indira's grandmother Svarup Rani Nehru and her mother Kamala were arrested more than once by the authorities. Contrary to customs, Indira was born not in her mother’s house, but in her grandfather’s rich house, built on a sacred place, and received the name "Land of the Moon" - Indira - in honor of her homeland ^[7] .

At the age of two, Indira met Mahatma Gandhi , and at the age of eight, on his advice, organized a children's union for the development of home weaving in his hometown. Since adolescence, she participated in demonstrations, more than once served as a courier for independence fighters. In 1934, Indira entered the People's University, which was created by the famous poet Rabindranath Tagore . However, after the death of her mother in 1936, she had to interrupt her studies and go to Europe. In 1937, she entered Oxford College, Somerwell in England, where she studied management, history, and anthropology. After the outbreak of World War II, Indira decided to return to her homeland. I had to return home through South Africa , where many Indians settled. And there, in Cape Town , she delivered her first real political speech.

In 1941, she returned to India, and in 1942 she married Feroz Gandhi , who came from the Parsis , a small group of Indians of Iranian origin professing Zoroastrianism . Indira and Feroz married, neglecting caste and religious barriers, since inter-caste marriages were considered orthodox Indians sacrilege in relation to ancient laws and customs ^[8] . Indira took his last name, while Feroz Gandhi was not in any relationship with another famous Indian politician by the name of Gandhi - Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) . Already in September 1942, the couple were arrested, Indira Gandhi remained in prison until May 1943 . Feroza and Indira had two sons: the eldest, Rajiv , on August 20, 1944 , and the youngest, Sanjay , on December 14, 1946 . Basically, the children were under the supervision of their mother and constantly lived in the house of their grandfather ^[9] .

On August 15, 1947, the independence of India was held, and soon the first national government was formed. Indira Gandhi became the personal secretary of her prime minister’s father and accompanied Nehru on all foreign trips. So, in 1955, Indira Gandhi and her father visited the Soviet Union, in particular, visited Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg ), where she was especially impressed by Uralmashzavod . There she even climbed into the bucket of a huge walking excavator ^[10] . Since 1955, Indira Gandhi is a member of the Working Committee and a member of the Central Election Commission of the INC, the chairman of the women's organization of this party and a member of the Central Parliamentary Council of the All-India Committee of the INC. In the same year, Gandhi participated with her father in a conference in Bandung , which marked the beginning of the Non-Aligned Movement . In 1959 - 1960, Gandhi was the chairman of the INC.

In 1960, Feroz Gandhi died. The following year, Indira was elected a member of the INC committee and began to travel to the hotbeds of national conflict.

First Government

In 1964, Indira's father, Gandhi Jawaharlal Nehru , died. In the same year, Indira was elected as a deputy of the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) from the INC, and then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri invited Gandhi to enter the cabinet, and she took the post of Minister of Information and Broadcasting. After the death of Shastri in 1966 in Tashkent during peace talks with Pakistan, Indira Gandhi becomes the leader of the INC and the Prime Minister of India (the second woman in the world is the Prime Minister after Sirimavo Bandaranaike ). In 1969, after her government nationalized the 14 largest banks in India, the conservative leaders of the INC tried unsuccessfully to expel her from the party. As a result, the right-wing faction withdrew from the INC, which led to a split in the party. After that, Gandhi led the independent Party of Congress, later officially recognized by the Central Election Commission of India as the successor of the INC. The split occurred due to Gandhi's intentions to pursue a more socially oriented policy and to establish relations with the USSR . In 1971, she won the parliamentary elections under the banner of the fight against poverty . In the same year, another Indo-Pakistani war took place - after the intervention of Indian troops in East Pakistan , which was seized by the struggle for independence , the Republic of Bangladesh was proclaimed there. In this conflict, India was supported by the USSR , which contributed to an even greater improvement in relations between the two countries, as a result of which an “Agreement on Peace, Friendship and Cooperation with the USSR” was signed.

As Professor Christopher Andrew notes, in the mid -1950s, at that time, the largest KGB residency outside India outside the USSR became interested in Indira Gandhi as a person with the ability to influence Jawaharlal Nehru. In 1955, Gandhi received a fur coat as a gift ^[11] , and later the KGB allocated more than ten million dollars to support her party and anti-American propaganda in India ^[12] . To Indira Gandhi’s ignorance, significant amounts transferred to her party’s fund by the sponsor Narayan Mishra actually came from Moscow.

Indira Gandhi nationalized banks ; during her reign, industry developed rapidly, including heavy , although not faster than before and after her reign. The first nuclear power plant was launched (in the state of Maharashtra ); in agriculture, the so-called green revolution took place, thanks to which India for the first time in many years became independent of food imports, in particular in 1981-1982 agricultural years, the grain harvest amounted to 133.06 million tons - 3.5 million tons more than in the previous year. The efficiency of farms increased, landless peasants were endowed with plots ^[13] .

The consequences of the war with Pakistan caused a deterioration in the economic situation and an increase in internal tensions, resulting in unrest in the country. In 1975, the Uttar Pradesh Supreme Court in Allahabad found Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral violations in the elections in 1971 and ordered her to resign, banning political activity for six years. In response, Gandhi, taking advantage of article 352 of the Indian constitution , announced in June that she would impose a state of emergency in India ^[14] . During the state of emergency in the economy, a number of successes have been achieved; interreligious conflicts almost stopped . However, not all measures taken were popular, such as forced sterilization to restrain population growth. In addition, political freedoms were restricted and all opposition newspapers were closed.

In 1977 , overestimating her own popularity, Gandhi called for parliamentary elections and lost. She and her family were arrested twice, accused of corruption.

Second Government

In 1978 , announcing the creation of his party, the INC (I), Gandhi was again elected to parliament, and in the 1980 elections she returned to the post of prime minister.

On April 14, 1980, an attempt was made on her: a 37-year-old terrorist threw a knife at her, which hit one of the guards. The assassin was detained.

Soon, Indira suffered a severe personal loss - on June 23, her youngest son and chief political adviser, Sanjay, died in a plane crash. In the last years of his life, Gandhi paid great attention to activities on the world stage, as a result of which in 1983 India became the chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement . The second term of her reign was marked by a conflict with the Sikhs , who lived mainly in the state of Punjab . Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwal declared the Sikhs an independent, self-governing community. His followers were also involved in attacks on Hindus in Punjab. They occupied the main shrine of the Sikhs - the Golden Temple in Amritsar . In response, the Indian government conducted the Blue Star military operation in June 1984, during which the temple was liberated, killing about 500 people. Revenge of the Sikhs was not long in coming.

Murder

On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was killed by her own bodyguards, who were Sikhs.

On that morning, she had a scheduled television interview with Peter Ustinov , an English writer, playwright, and actor. When choosing a dress, I stopped at a saffron-colored sari , while removing a bulletproof vest ^[15] . The road to the reception room, where the film crew was waiting, went through the open courtyard and was strewn with white gravel. Two Sikh bodyguards in blue turbans were on duty, Beant Singh and Satvant Singh. Having caught up with them, she smiled affably, in response to the bodyguard on the left, he grabbed a revolver and fired three bullets at Gandhi, and his partner slammed the machine gun at it point-blank.

Guards came running to shoot, the Sikhs were detained (one of them was soon shot, and the second was badly wounded), and the injured Indira was immediately taken to the Indian Institute of Medicine, where the best doctors arrived. Eight bullets hit vital organs, the wounds were incompatible with life, and at half-past three Indira Gandhi died without regaining consciousness.

A 12-day mourning was declared in the country. The ceremony of farewell to Indira Gandhi, which was attended by millions of people, was held at the Tin Murthy House Palace ^[16] . Two days later, she was cremated according to the Hindu rite on the banks of the Jamna . In accordance with the will, her ashes were scattered over the Himalayas.

In her will, Indira wrote that she had transferred the “Resident of Joy” to the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, and bequeaths her grandchildren Rahul and Priyanka to copyright grandchildren, art books, a small farm and a house near Mehrauli ^[17] .

• Honorary Doctor of Waseda University
• Honorary Professor of Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosova
• Honorary Doctor of Kyiv National University. Taras Shevchenko

• Moscow has a square named after Indira Gandhi , located on the corner of Lomonosov and Michurinsky Avenues . In 1987, a monument was erected to her on this square.
• Monuments were erected in memory of Indira Gandhi and postage stamps of many countries of the world were issued .
• Delhi Airport was named Indira Gandhi in 1986.
• In the novel by Australian writer Gregory David Roberts " Shantaram " (English Shantaram ) refers to the events of October 31, 1984 and the assassination of Indira Gandhi. ^[eighteen]
• The activities of Indira Gandhi and the attitude towards her are described in the novel by Salman Rushdie, “Midnight's children”. ^[19]

In philately

• Stamps
•  

  USSR postal unit
  1981 ( CFA 5256, Yvert et Tellier BF152)

•  

  USSR postage stamp dedicated to Indira Gandhi, 1984 , 5 kopecks ( CFA 5588, Scott 5325, Yvert et Tellier 5177)

•  

  Postage stamp GDR ,
  1986 ( Yvert et Tellier 2676)

•  

  Postage stamp USSR
  1987 ( CFA 5888, Yvert et Tellier 5457)

• Gandhi, Rajiv
• Jawaharlal Nehru
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Indian National Congress

• Gandhi I. Articles, speeches, interviews. - M .: Nauka , 1975
• Gandhi I. Foreign Policy of India. - M .: Progress , 1982
• Gandhi I. Peace, cooperation, nonalignment. - M .: Progress , 1985

in Russian

• Kalandarova M.S., Age of October: Strokes to the Portrait of Indira Gandhi // Problems of the Development of the Modern World. M., 2000.

in other languages

• Indira Gandhi // Encyclopædia Britannica

• Biography of Indira Gandhi - India's Iron Lady (Eng.)
• Fighter for the independence of his country, Indira Gandhi (Russian)
• Indira Gandhi. Biography