Kolkata, Oct 31 (UNI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday
paid tribute to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 34th death anniversary.
“Sincere tribute to former Prime Minister Indira ji on her death anniversary. We
remember her great contribution to the nation and also her leadership of the
Non-Aligned Movement, which she led by focussing on the relationship between
disarmament and economic development,” Ms Banerjee posted on her social
networking page.
It was on this day in 1984 that she was assassinated, a few months after she
ordered the 'Operation Blue Star' to curb Punjab insurgency.
Gandhi, India's first woman Prime Minister, was born on November 19, 1917
and was the second longest-serving Prime Minister after her father, Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru.
She held the Prime Minister's office from January 1966 to March 1977 and
from January 14, 1980 until her assassination in October 1984.
As Prime Minister, Gandhi was known for her political intransigency and
unprecedented centralisation of power. She went to war with Pakistan in support
of the independence movement and war of independence in East Pakistan,
which resulted in an Indian victory and the creation of Bangladesh, as well as
increasing India's influence to the point where it became the regional hegemon
of South Asia.
Citing fissiparous tendencies and in response to a call for revolution, Gandhi
instituted a state of emergency from 1975 to 1977 where basic civil liberties
were suspended and the press was censored. Widespread atrocities were
carried out during the emergency.
In 1980, she returned to power after free and fair elections. She was
assassinated by her own bodyguards and Sikh nationalists in 1984. The
assassins, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, were both shot by other security
guards. Satwant Singh recovered from his injuries and was executed after
being convicted of murder.
In the early 1980s under Gandhi, India attempted to reassert its prominent
role in the Non-Aligned Movement by focusing on the relationship between
disarmament and economic development.
By appealing to the economic grievances of developing countries, Gandhi
and her successors exercised a moderating influence on the Non-aligned
movement, diverting it from some of the Cold War issues that marred the
controversial 1979 Havana meeting where Cuban leader Fidel Castro
attempted to steer the movement towards the Soviet Union.
Although hosting the 1983 summit at Delhi boosted Indian prestige within
the movement, its close relations with the Soviet Union and its pro-Soviet
positions on Afghanistan and Cambodia limited its influence.
In 1999, Indira Gandhi was named "Woman of the Millennium" in an online
poll organised by the BBC
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