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Indira Gandhi
Historical figureIndia1917-1984

Indira Gandhi

3rd Prime Minister of India (1966-1977, 1980-1984) · President of the Indian National Congress

India's longest-serving woman prime minister and the daughter of Nehru, remembered both for the 1971 victory over Pakistan and for suspending democracy in the 1975 Emergency.

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Profile on 12 axes11 of 12 documented
ECONOMYSTATESOCIETYWORLDOwnershipMarketsWelfareAuthoritySecurityStructureMoralityReligionTechnologyCultureTradeForeign
Where they stood

Indira Gandhi, axis by axis

  1. 01Ownership-65
    PublicPrivate
  2. 02Markets-65
    PlannedFree
  3. 03Welfare-45
    SharedSelf-reliant
  4. 04Authority+65
    DemocraticStrong leader

    Voters re-elected her again and again, but in the 1975-1977 Emergency she set aside democratic rule, jailed rivals and gagged the press. That is a strong lean toward a strong leader.

  5. 05Security+75
    LibertyOrder

    Mass arrests, forced sterilisations and the army raid on the Golden Temple place her firmly on the order side.

  6. 06Structure+70
    LocalCentral
  7. 07MoralityNo clear record
    ProgressiveTraditional

    There is no clear record on questions of social custom or family morality, so the axis is unscored.

  8. 08Religion-30
    SecularReligious

    She governed as a secularist like her father, though Congress is said to have turned more Hindu in tone in the 1980s. The score leans secular.

  9. 09Technology-50
    EmbraceCaution
  10. 10Culture-20
    MulticulturalNational identity

    She promoted one composite Indian identity against religious and regional separatism, rather than a single ethnic one. This is a judgment call.

  11. 11Trade+65
    GlobalProtected
  12. 12Foreign policy+45
    CooperationStrength

    India stayed formally non-aligned, yet she won a war in 1971, signed with Moscow, annexed Sikkim and oversaw the first nuclear test. The score leans toward strength.

One axis has no clear record, so matching leaves it out.

Who was Indira Gandhi?

Born in 1917 in Allahabad, Indira Gandhi was the only child of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. She went to school at Visva-Bharati and then Oxford, and she took up Congress politics in 1938. In 1942 she spent time in a British jail, and in 1959 she took the Congress presidency. As prime minister from 1966 she led India to a war with Pakistan, a nuclear test, bank nationalisation and the Emergency, when she governed by decree. Voters ended her rule in 1977 and brought her back in 1980. Two Sikh bodyguards shot her dead on 31 October 1984, after she had sent troops into the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Political views

  • Brought the 14 biggest Indian banks under state control in 1969 and tried to end the pensions paid to former princely rulers.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Won the 1971 election on the cry Garibi Hatao, meaning end poverty.Source: en.wikipedia.org
  • Signed a friendship treaty with Moscow that carried military support, then backed the breakaway of Bangladesh when war with Pakistan came in 1971.Source: news.bbc.co.uk
  • Declared a national Emergency after a court found her guilty of election fraud in 1975. Thousands of critics were locked up and newspapers were censored.Source: news.bbc.co.uk
  • Her government's sterilisation campaign during the Emergency put over 8 million men through vasectomies, and about 2,000 died from poorly done operations.Source: aljazeera.com
  • Ordered troops to storm the Amritsar Golden Temple in June 1984, where armed Sikh militants had taken shelter.Source: news.bbc.co.uk
  • Was closely involved when India tested its first nuclear device in 1974.Source: en.wikipedia.org

Legacy

Her admirers praise a forceful leader who won a war, helped break Pakistan's grip on Bangladesh and spoke up for poor Indians. In a 1999 online poll, BBC readers named her the greatest woman of the last thousand years. Critics treat the Emergency as the worst blow to Indian democracy. Opponents went to jail, the press was gagged, and the forced sterilisations, widely tied to her son Sanjay, killed people and spread fear. Operation Blue Star also took civilian lives. Official figures give 83 troops and 493 others dead, while Sikh groups say thousands died. After her killing, mobs murdered about 3,000 Sikhs.

In their own words

“Every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation and make it strong and dynamic.”
Speech shortly before her assassination, October 1984, as quoted by the Indian National Congress

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Indira Gandhi: questions

Which party did Indira Gandhi belong to?

She led the Indian National Congress. After a split in 1978 her faction was called Congress (I), where the I stood for Indira.

What was the Emergency in India?

It was a stretch from 1975 to 1977 when the government set aside normal democratic rights. Opposition figures were jailed, the press was censored, and a forced sterilisation drive followed.

Who killed Indira Gandhi and why?

Two of her own Sikh bodyguards shot her in October 1984. It came months after she ordered the army into the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine, to remove militants.

Sources