Indira Gandhi was the first and only female Prime Minister of India, who led the country for almost 20 years, from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984. She was a strong and determined woman who ruled with an iron fist, earning the epithet ‘Iron Lady of India’. She was also a symbol of women’s empowerment, who showed how a woman can rule despite a culture that viewed women as inferior to men.
Indira Gandhi was born into a powerful family of activists and freedom fighters, who were involved in India’s struggle for independence from British rule. Her father was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, and her mother was Kamala Nehru, a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress. Indira supported the nationalist movement from an early age and became her father’s close confidante and political apprentice after her mother’s death.
Indira Gandhi faced many challenges and ordeals during her tenure as Prime Minister. She secured the merger of Sikkim with India, defeated Pakistan in the Bangladesh liberation war, initiated the Green Revolution that made India self-sufficient in food production, and launched several social welfare programmes to help the poor and marginalized sections of society. She also faced fierce opposition from rival parties, internal dissent within her own Congress Party, and a constitutional crisis that led to the Emergency period from 1975 to 1977, when she suspended civil liberties and imposed censorship. She lost the election in 1977 but returned to power in 1980. She was assassinated by her own bodyguards in 1984, after ordering a military operation to flush out Sikh militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
Indira Gandhi’s legacy is an unforgettable one. She is remembered as a powerful and capable leader who brought India to the world stage and developed it into a regional superpower. She is also remembered as a woman who broke the glass ceiling and inspired a whole generation of women to be unapologetic and strive for success. She demonstrated the importance of taking advantage of one’s surroundings and not letting one’s gender define one. She also showed that women’s political participation and leadership are necessary factors for the peace and prosperity of a nation.
Sources:
: https://blog.hiremyma.com/2019/10/01/inspiring-women-indira-gandhi-the-iron-lady-of-india/
: https://old.rrjournals.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/151-153_RRIJM180309032.pdf
: https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/law-order/1953882-former-pm-indira-gandhi-was-symbol-of-women-empowerment-gehlot
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