Indira Gandhi: biography and great deeds. Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Maino: an oriental fairy tale against the backdrop of world politics Indira Gandhi when she was in the USSR

Name: Indiara Priyadarshiini Gandhi

State: India

Field of activity: Politician

Greatest Achievement: Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984.

India is a mysterious country. Having a history of thousands of years, it still preserves old orders and traditions that would seem wild and barbaric to a European person. What can we say about famous figures? Of course, researchers and simply fans of the country know the culture - music, cinema. With politics things are a little different. Conservative India sacredly honors the customs of its ancestors, not allowing any changes in the political life of citizens. And all the more surprising was the victory of a woman in the next election: according to many patriarchs, representatives of the weaker sex are generally not intended for any work other than domestic work. But the first woman prime minister proved the opposite to everyone, forcing them to reckon with themselves and present their point of view, different from the opinions of others. It's all about her - Indira Gandhi.

The beginning of the way

To date, she is the only woman who has ever held such an honorable post in the country. Although, perhaps, it was destined for her to become a politician, because her father was not just someone, but Jawarharlal Nehru himself - the first Prime Minister of India after the country declared independence from the rule of the British. The girl was born on November 19, 1917. The whole family, including mother and grandmother, actively advocated for the independence of their homeland, for which they often ended up in prison. When she was 2 years old, in their house she saw a living legend - Mahatma Gandhi.

Indira (which means “land of the moon”) grew up as the only child in the Nehru family. Her parents paid all their attention only to her. She received her education primarily at home. She also often listened to various politicians who came to her father’s house. From an early age she participated in various demonstrations and strikes.

After completing the basic course of study, it was time to go to university. However, my mother became seriously ill, and I had to stop studying. Indira went to Britain with her mother and entered Oxford University. She liked to study, despite the fact that her mother was getting worse. In 1936, Kamala Nehru died. Indira was only 19. She herself was not in excellent health. Having left for Switzerland once again, she was unable to return to England - German military operations against the whole of Europe began. She had to return home to India via South Africa.

At that time, there were a lot of Indians living there, to whom Indira gave her first speech in her life. In addition, upon returning home, she married her longtime friend Feroz Gandhi. However, family life was unusual for these spouses. Instead of a honeymoon, there was a year's imprisonment for political activity. In 1944, the Gandhi couple had their first child, Rajiv, and two years later, Sanjay. In 1947, India finally gained freedom and Nehru became the country's prime minister.

Indira, who was 30 years old at that time, became his official assistant and secretary, traveling with him around the country and abroad. Feroz, who died after almost 20 years of marriage, remained the owner of the house. This was a real blow for Indira - despite all the difficulties, they truly loved each other. The pain of the loss was so strong that Gandhi left politics for a while, devoting herself to her sons. She was offered to marry a second time, but she refused, preferring to remain a widow.

Career in politics

In 1964, the father dies. Indira had already earned a reputation as an excellent diplomat and politician, so she almost immediately entered the Indian Parliament. In 1966, she became the country's prime minister. It was a kind of political revolution, a challenge to society - they say, we, women, are capable of governing the state.

During this period, large banks were nationalized and stronger ties were established with the Soviet Union (she visited there with her father on one of his foreign trips). Of course, many did not like her policies, they tried to push her out of politics, but Indira did not give up. Industry also developed and agriculture improved. However, there were also negative aspects - poor relations with Pakistan, with which India waged endless wars.

In 1971, another military conflict occurred, as a result of which a new country was formed on the world map - Bangladesh, and India was in a deep economic crisis. It was this circumstance that gave impetus to demonstrations demanding that Gandhi be removed from government and the cabinet of ministers re-elected. In 1975, by court decision, Indira was prohibited from engaging in political activities for six years, but this did not stop her. After 2 years, Gandhi tried to break into the political Olympus again, but to no avail - her popularity fell. In addition, accusations of corruption rained down on her family.

Her reign was distinguished by extremely unpopular laws, one of which was the sterilization of the population. Indeed, there are almost one and a half billion people living in India, but forcing them to go through humiliating procedures was too much. At first, all this was on a voluntary basis, then a law was issued that families that already had three children were subject to mandatory sterilization. For this, Indira Gandhi was nicknamed the “Iron Lady of India.”

Gandhi did not sit in the shadows for long - already in 1980 she again ran for the second most important post in the country and won the elections. Of course, she also had to survive attempts on her life. In April 1980, one of the people threw a knife at her, hitting a security guard. Of course, Indira was afraid, she wore a bulletproof vest, but not so much as to close herself off from people. No wonder she grew up as a determined child. However, the main conflict was with the Sikhs. This tribe wanted to gain complete autonomy rather than submit to central authority. Demonstrating the determination of their intentions, they occupied their main shrine - the Golden Temple in the city of Armitsar. Indira responded by ordering the troops to liberate the temple from the terrorists.

As a result of the operation, more than five hundred people died. The Sikhs did not forget this humiliation and soon took revenge.

Death of Indira Gandhi

On October 31, 1984, Indira was heading for an interview, having previously taken off her bulletproof vest. When she entered the courtyard of the residence, two Sikh guards fired several shots. The mortally wounded Gandhi was taken to the hospital, but could not be saved. Without regaining consciousness, she died. Millions of people came to say goodbye to her. This once again proves that a person gains honor and respect from the majority after death. Although Indira Gandhi proved the opposite with her bright, eventful life.

Perhaps every romantic girl dreamed of meeting a prince on a white horse. Maybe not on white, maybe not on a horse, but definitely a prince. Perhaps someone dreamed of a prince from an oriental fairy tale. It is not known whether one Italian girl Sonya dreamed of this, but in her life such a fairy tale became a reality. And the eastern prince appeared, and romantic love, life in a fabulously beautiful country and much more. But first things first.

Rajiv Gandhi's childhood

The Gandhi family was one of the most famous and influential in 20th century India. Rajiv was the eldest son of Indira and Feroz Gandhi, the grandson of the world famous Indian figure Jawaharlal Nehru. Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944 in Bombay (now Mumbai) in British India, at that time still a colony. India gained independence in 1947. After this, Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India. Little Rajiv was mostly brought up in the house of his grandfather, who loved children very much. Life in the house of great politicians implied that Rajiv himself would in the future occupy a certain place in the political system of India.

According to the recollections of people who knew him, Rajiv did not like politics, but loved technology. And that’s exactly what I wanted to do. Fortunately, he had such an opportunity: the political successor of his grandfather and mother was to be his younger brother Sanjay, who showed more inclinations towards this type of activity. They began to prepare him to be the future leader of the Indian National Congress party. And Rajiv was able to go to study in the UK as a mechanical engineer.

Sonia Gandhi's childhood

Sonia, nee Maino, was born in northern Italy on December 9, 1946. Sonia's family was, of course, not as famous as Rajiv's family. Her father fought on the side of the Italian fascists and was captured by the Soviets. Returning to his homeland, he was engaged in contracts and managed to get rich. In memory of the Soviet Union, he gave his three daughters Russian names. True, for us they sound a little strange - Annushka, Sonya and Nadya. When Sonya turned 18, her parents decided to send her to study English language and literature at Cambridge. After completing her studies, she had to return to her homeland to become an English teacher. But fate decreed differently.

Love at first sight

Rajeev and Sonya met quite by accident, in a Greek restaurant, where they often dined. Sonya noticed a handsome guy who stood out among the noisy student crowd with his reserved manners. He was also incredibly charming, with a wonderful smile. By the way, he remained like this all his life. She noticed him, but she didn’t make any attempts to get to know him. One day, Sonya’s friend introduced them over lunch. Rajeev and Sonia looked into each other's eyes and realized that this was true love. And, as it turned out, love for life.

Soon they began to spend all their time together. But when the conversation came up about the wedding, the first difficulties arose. Sonya herself was not afraid of intercultural differences: for the sake of her loved one, she was ready to change her place of residence, language, customs, and, in the end, become Indian. The obstacles were the parents, on both sides: Rajiv, the son and grandson of famous Indian politicians, and Sonia, a provincial Italian, looked too different. It would seem, what do they have in common? But there was one thing in common - true love. She won.

Family life

The parents of the bride and groom greeted the news of the future wedding with hostility. Sonya's father Antonio Maino never came to terms with his daughter's choice and did not come to the wedding. Indira Gandhi was also not happy about her son’s desire to marry a foreigner. This could damage the political reputation of the party: in conservative India, even inter-caste marriages among Indians themselves were not encouraged, not to mention marriages with foreigners.

But Indira Gandhi was a person of progressive views, and besides, at one time she herself violated centuries-old foundations - her husband Feroz was not like her from a Brahmin family, he was a Parsi - a Zoroastrian. In the end, the wise Indira Gandhi accepted her son's choice and even gave the bride her own sari for the wedding, in which she herself got married.

The wedding took place in the capital of India, Delhi, in 1968, according to all Hindu canons. The young family settled in the house of Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister. Sonya began diligently studying Indian traditions, learning Hindi, and began dressing in a sari. The subsequent period of life became the happiest and calmest in the Gandhi family. Rajeev went to work as a pilot for Indian Airways. In 1970, the happy couple had a son, Rahul. And in 1972, daughter Priyanka.

Sonya, like a good Indian wife, took care of the children and housework, and helped her mother-in-law. And she also worked at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Delhi. They didn't talk about politics in their family. Sonia and Rajiv led the life of an ordinary happy couple. Exactly until the first of the tragedies happened, which radically changed their fate.

Life and politics

The life of Rajiv Gandhi fully reflected the saying “If you are not involved in politics, politics will be involved in you.” Rajiv still failed to avoid a political career. In 1980, the unexpected happened - Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash. There are still many rumors about this death. It is unknown which of them is true and which is not. When a politician of this rank dies, “conspiracy theories” always appear, talk about evil fate, etc. For Sonya's family, this event really turned out to be a manifestation of evil fate.

Gandhi's political dynasty was under threat. And Indira Gandhi did everything to get Rajiv to engage in political activities. For Sonya this was a blow, she was afraid that politics would destroy her family, destroy her love, and destroy their freedom. She had reasons for this: political activity often takes away all a person’s free time, deprives him of the opportunity to live at his own discretion, and takes away time from communicating with his family.

The first disagreements and quarrels began in the family. Sonya seriously threatened her husband with divorce and departure to Europe. But she was unable to fight the will of Indira Gandhi. Like a true loving Indian wife, Sonia resigned herself. And she allowed her husband to engage in activities that she hated so much. Despite the fact that he had no inclination towards politics, Rajiv achieved great political success. Perhaps due to the fact that his beloved woman supported him in everything.

And then another tragedy happened: on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was shot by her own bodyguards. She died in Sonya’s arms: having heard the shots, she ran out of the house and found her mother-in-law in a pool of blood. Now Rajiv Gandhi no longer had any choice; in the evening of the same day he was elected prime minister. But even after becoming the head of a huge country, Rajiv Gandhi did not cease to be a loving husband and a wonderful family man. Unlike other political figures, he tried to spend all his free time with his wife and children, remaining the same sensitive and kind person.

The last tragedy

On May 21, 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during a campaign trip. The girl broke through the crowd with a garland of flowers in her hands and set off an explosive device... Sonya lost everything in her life and closed herself off from the whole world for many years. But she did not return back to Italy. According to Sonya herself, India is her homeland, the homeland of her children. For their sake, for the sake of the future of the country, Sonya stayed. And, subsequently, I found the strength to continue the work of my husband and mother-in-law. In 1999, she entered politics. Now Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the Indian National Congress party.

Love is not always like a fairy tale among the rich and famous. The story is a story of passionate love and humiliation.

Probably almost everyone has heard about the outstanding woman Indira Gandhi, but few can talk about her. Very often people make one mistake, considering Indira to be the daughter or granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi. But this is not true, Indira Priyardashini Nehru married Feroz Gandhi, who was just the namesake of the Mahatma.

Biography of the great politician

The future great politician was born into a Brahmin family on November 19, 1917 in Allahabad. Priyardashini's father was Jawaharlal, the first leader of the Indian state.

Indira from a very young age she was acquainted with Mohandas Gandhi, who, being a friend of the Nehru family, often visited their house and, according to eyewitnesses, was surprised by the high intelligence of the little girl. In the mid-thirties, the girl entered the Sriniketan Rabindranath Tagore University. However, Indira could not complete her studies at this institution. In 1937, Priyardashini went to Great Britain, where she studied at Oxford College for three academic years.

After returning to India, Indira marries Iranian Parsi Feroz Gandhi. Feroz professed Zoroastrianism, and the marriage of a Brahmin Hindu woman with a Zoroastrian man was negatively perceived in conservative Indian society. Feroz died in 1960; with her husband, Indira had two children, Rajiv and Sanjay.

Actively advocating for the freedom of the Indian people, Indira incurred the wrath of the colonial administration; together with her husband, Indira was arrested and spent about a year in prison. After gaining independence, Indira became the personal secretary of the prime minister, visited many countries and was actively engaged in self-education.

After the death of her father, Indira becomes Minister of Information. And two years later, he takes the post of prime minister and becomes the head of the INC party. For the conservative patriarchal Indian society, for which a woman, and especially a widow, is assigned a secondary role in relation to a man. The attainment of supreme political power by an Indian woman can be seen as a definite social revolution.

Gandhi's political reforms

After gaining power, Indira begins large-scale internal reforms in India. Under it, the administrative-territorial division of India is streamlined, and the ancient feudal elite is finally removed from power. Indira begins reforms aimed at creating a complex of heavy industry in India, nuclear energy and state banking.

Late 60s Fourteen of India's largest banks were nationalized. A revolution in agriculture begins , through large investments in the creation of an irrigation system and the introduction of new high-yielding grain crops, India is achieving food self-sufficiency. In order to reduce the birth rate, Gandhi begins a program of partial sterilization of the population. The latter program resulted in strong criticism of Gandhi in the middle of India .

In foreign policy, Indira Gandhi continues her father's course towards the non-aligned movement. Indira opposes military-political blocs and weapons of mass destruction. India also has difficult relations with Pakistan. India supported the national struggle of East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh, which resulted in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971.

Indira lost power in 1977 and was even arrested, but in 1980 she again became head of government and continued her political course.

Fatal death of Indira

Since the late 70s of the twentieth century, the Sikhs of Punjab began to demand the creation of their own state. The Sikhs made the Golden Temple in Amritsar their citadel. In 1984, Gandhi ordered a military operation against the rebels, as a result of which the Great Temple was partially destroyed and many civilians were injured.

On October 31, 1984, the Sikhs committed an act of revenge; Indira's personal bodyguards shot the prime minister as he left his house. Many days of mourning were declared throughout India.

The significance of Indira Gandhi in world history

Indira Gandhi had a great influence on the formation of modern India. How could Gandhi fight the manifestations of the Varna-caste system and ancient archaisms, which contributed to the formation of modern society. India, at the end of the Gandhian era, transformed from an agrarian former colony into a developed modern state.

Many films have been made about Indira Gandhi and a number of books have been written; the great woman has left a bright mark on world culture. One of the last films about the great politician, “Diamonds of Society,” released in 2014, was even banned in India, allegedly for glorifying the murderers of the prime minister, although the director only showed the reasons that prompted the Sikhs to commit the murder.

Save the information and bookmark the site - press CTRL+D

Send

Cool

Link

Stammer

On the same topic:

On November 1, 1984, all newspapers in the world published a photograph of Indira Gandhi in a mourning frame on the front pages. The previous evening, the Indian Prime Minister was assassinated in the courtyard of her home in New Delhi. Literally following this message were details of the tragedy. Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her personal guard of Sikh soldiers. One of the killers was captured on the spot. He admitted that the murder of the Prime Minister was revenge for his non-believers who died due to the fault of Indira Gandhi.

India at the end of the 40s of the 20th century is a huge continent with poverty, disease and corruption. The centuries-old rule of the British has just ended and India is divided into two states - India and Pakistan. The division turned into a bloody nightmare. More than 250 thousand people died. A long-term struggle of Sikhs for their rights began. However, the Indian government did not make any concessions. Terror began in Punjab. The terrorist center is located in the Golden Temple in the city of Amritsar.

June 5, 1984 Indira Gandhi orders army units to storm the Golden Temple. She doesn't I could have chosen a worse moment - many believers gathered in the Temple for the holiday. First the infantry was thrown in, and then the tanks entered the battle. Most of the Golden Temple turned into a pile of stones, and a fire began. Several hundred Sikh pilgrims died in the crossfire from explosions and fire. By destroying the Golden Temple, Indira Gandhi destroyed the core of the terrorist group. But the price the country paid for this was terrible.

The Sikh officers who form the core of the Prime Minister's bodyguards no longer inspire confidence. After the bloody events at the Golden Temple, Indira Gandhi was advised to disband her personal guard. However, she refuses. Indira trusts her bodyguards, who have helped her out more than once in difficult situations.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi greeted October 31, 1984 in high spirits. For a long time she could not choose an outfit. On the advice of her daughter-in-law, Indira wore a golden sari, abandoning the bulletproof vest. She still wants to look young and fit. At 7:30 Indira Gandhi goes to the dining room to have her last breakfast and read the morning newspapers. It’s going to be a busy day, there’s a lot to get done, and to do this you need to plan everything out. The first item in her weekly plan is a meeting with Peter Ustinov. The famous English actor is waiting for Indira outside the gates of the residence to interview her for a new film.

After examining her diary, Indira Gandhi puts it in her purse and goes to the veranda. The Prime Minister of India and the English film crew are separated by about a hundred steps. Mrs. Gandhi passes a small park and enters the central alley of her residence. She is still in a great mood. She sees the guards at the gate, who have served her faithfully for many years. The guards greet Indira as usual - they bow with their hands folded at their chests. Mrs. Gandhi slows down and returns the greeting. However, something is wrong. She sees the head of security take a pistol out of his holster. The smile gives way to surprise, and a second later the first of twenty shots sounds.

When Indira Gandhi fell, there was still life in her. However, the killers did not leave her the slightest chance. The Indian Prime Minister was finished off for several more minutes. The shooting continued until the clips were empty. Other guards came running to hear the shots and immediately opened fire on the shooters. One of the terrorists was killed, two others were seriously wounded. Mrs. Gandhi was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where she was operated on for 4 hours. She never regained consciousness and died at 14:30 local time.

The murder instantly becomes surrounded by mysteries. Almost immediately after the tragedy, Indira Gandhi’s personal secretary recalls that the day before the Prime Minister had dropped the phrase: “If I am shot, then every drop of my blood will be to make India stronger.” These words will be prophetic. They will be carved in the very place where the assassins' bullets overtook Indira Gandhi.

Everything seemed clear. Indira Gandhi died as a result of an assassination attempt. Those responsible for the death of the Prime Minister do not deny anything and fully admit to what they did. The only thing they demand is that the murder of an elderly woman, who would have turned 67 in November 1984, not be called murder, but sacred retribution.

Once, in a conversation with her personal secretary, Indira Gandhi said that there were forces that did not allow her to live. She just said “Those forces” without naming anyone. It is still not clear what was behind these words. Specific people or evil fate that forever changed the fate of the Gandhi family - the daughters and grandchildren of the great Jawaharlal Nehru?

On November 19, 1917, in the family of the famous lawyer Jawaharlal Nehru, contrary to the expectations of his parents, he was born a girl appears. She is given the name Indira, which means “Land of the Moon”. In the East they say: “Politics is not a profession, politics is the karma of the chosen few.” This wisdom fully applied to the family of Indira Gandhi, who belonged to the highest Indian caste of Brahmins. Her father, Jawaharlal Nehru was a fighter for national independence and a man revered in the country no less than Mahatma Gandhi, the spiritual leader and symbol of India.

While raising his daughter, Nehru often repeated: “A politician is will and character.” Indira remembered her father’s words for the rest of her life. The future Prime Minister of India received her first political lesson in childhood. Indira was born when clashes with the British began in the country, and the whole family refused to use imported goods - expensive fabrics, cars, dishes. My mother's friend brought a lovely dress and a doll from Paris.

The temptation was great, but little Indira was able to overcome herself and did not wear the dress. The situation was worse with the doll. Indira treated her like a child. But the doll was French and the girl understood that she had to be strong to the end. For several days she didn't feel like herself. She was pressed by the need to make a decision. The struggle was between love for the doll and what little Indira considered her duty to her Motherland. She ate poorly and fell asleep only when she was completely exhausted. In the end, Indira fell ill, but overcame herself. She took the doll to the upper veranda and burned it, immediately bursting into uncontrollable tears. After that, she came down with a high fever and was ill for several days.

Having overpowered himself in childhood, the Prime Minister will never show weakness again. Even when you have to give the order to storm the Golden Temple. Indira knew that there were unarmed people there, but she could not and did not want to give in to the terrorists. This difficult decision will cost her her life. But this will not happen soon. In the meantime, she is learning to challenge not only age-old customs and religious traditions, but also the ominous fate that will follow her relentlessly for all the remaining years.

Indira receives an excellent education at Oxford. Soon the Second World War begins and she returns to her homeland. But in India, Indira is not welcomed. The message about her upcoming marriage to the unknown Feroz Gandhi adds fuel to the fire. Indira's chosen one had nothing to do with the great Mahatma Gandhi. The bizarre interweaving of two famous surnames is just a fatal coincidence. It brought nothing but misfortune to its owners.

India is a country for which the caste law is as immutable as the fact that the Sun is shining. The ancient Nehru families will tell any Indian that the wearer belongs to the highest caste - the Brahmins. For hundreds of centuries, Brahmins took only the daughters of Brahmins as wives. In Indian religion, it is believed that inter-caste marriages are punishable by a karmic curse, which passes on to all descendants of such a marriage.

The choice of Indira from the point of view of Hinduism was more than wrong. Her fiance Feroz Gandhi was not Hindu. He belonged to the Parsis - fire worshipers, descendants of those who fled Persia from Muslim persecution a thousand years ago. In 1963, Indira's husband Feroz dies. A year later, her father also died. What are these, the first signals of a curse, the wrath of the gods? Gandhi tries to attribute everything to chance. But was it so?

Both Indira's sons Rajeev and Sanjay ironically remarry the wrong women. Rajiv Gandhi marries an ethnic Italian, considering caste and religious differences a relic. And soon the youngest son of Indira Gandhi goes against the commandments of his ancestors. He marries the daughter of a retired Sikh officer. So the caste law was violated three times in one family.

In 1980, Sanjay, who is considered the political successor of Indira Gandhi as the leader of the Indian National Congress, and therefore the country, dies during a training flight on a sports plane. It is believed that this was an assassination attempt. Indira banned a judicial investigation into the tragedy. “It’s an accident,” she declares. At his mother's insistence, Rajeev leaves the airline to become her deputy in the party. And at the same time he gets an almost one hundred percent prospect of eventually ending up at the head of the Indian government.

On May 21, 1991, during the election campaign, Rajiv was supposed to speak in the state of Tamil Nadu. For his Security guards suggested cordoning off the rally site. However, Rajeev refused. He wanted to be with his people, who, like his mother, loved and trusted infinitely. Therefore, when a petite girl wanted to give him a garland of sandalwood flowers, Rajeev ordered the guards to let her through. This is despite the fact that he had already been attacked several years ago.

It was a ridiculous incident that was recorded by many television cameras in 1987 in Sri Lanka. While Rajiv Gandhi was passing by a line of soldiers, one of them suddenly hit him on the head with a rifle. Subsequently, the would-be terrorist was unable to explain his actions. According to him, he never hated the prime minister, and the outburst of anger was the result of the actions of an invisible force that took possession of him at that moment. Rajiv Gandhi did not draw any conclusions for himself. He remained true to himself - no matter what happens, you can’t escape fate. Whether Rajiv was thinking about this at the moment when the girl, handing over flowers, detonated an explosive device hidden on herself is unknown.

The version of mystical rock suited those who believed in the curse of the gods quite well. Facts are an inexorable thing. After all, this was the fourth death in the Gandhi family, which violated the caste law of their ancestors. There were especially many adherents among Hindus - Indians who profess Hinduism. The Western and especially American press also actively supported this version. But with one caveat - there was a Sikh conspiracy, and it should not be discounted.

However, Soviet intelligence held a different point of view - the hand of Indira Gandhi’s killer was led not by divine, but by earthly force. From a report from the Soviet station in Delhi: “It is known from reliable sources that terrorist groups in direct contact with a number of foreign intelligence services were interested in the death of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.”

On June 20, 2005, the international press was shocked by sensational news. The Associated Press reported that recordings of negotiations and a number of documents related to the name of US President Richard Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger have been declassified. It follows from them that Indira Gandhi causes extreme irritation in America, which soon launched a brutal and cynical war against the Indian leader. “We’ve been talking too much with this old bitch,” is exactly the phrase Nixon says when addressing Kissinger.

At that time, the American government was very mistrustful of the Indian people. In relations between politics and trade, they had very weak ties and the Americans were in no hurry to develop them, although India reached out to them and asked for help in developing industry. The Soviet Union took advantage of this mistake. The USSR opens its doors to India and its charming prime minister. The USSR and India found common interests. With our help, India is building its industry and army, and in return acts as a reliable partner of the USSR in the Asian arena.

The Soviet Union readily responded to participate in more than 70 economic projects. By using Our country's heavy industry, engineering and energy industries are rising in India. In the West and inside India, Indira Gandhi is increasingly being accused of being partial to socialism, and she herself is considered almost a communist. Indira Gandhi's frequent visits to the USSR are beginning to worry the United States. America is trying in every possible way to flirt with India. But time is running out. Mrs. Gandhi actively demonstrates her priorities in international politics. She increasingly visits the Kremlin to expand contacts between her country and the Soviet Union.

In a document published by the Associated Press in June 2005, materials related to American foreign policy were also made public. They clearly show US concern that India is developing its nuclear program. Reading these documents, one can conclude that already in the 70s the United States already understood that India, as a partner, was lost to them. The CIA is ordered to intensify espionage work in all cities of India.

The Americans are delivering the main blow to India's most sore spot - the national problem. As follows from declassified information, on the morning of November 5, 1971, Nixon and Kissinger met in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss the conversation between the US President and the Indian Prime Minister that had taken place the previous day. “Yes, Indians are all bastards,” notes Kissinger. His remark refers to the negotiations between the heads of the two countries on the issue of Indian border incidents. Nixon wants to find out India's intentions in light of the impending conflict between the two Asian countries.

The United States views Pakistan as its ally and believes that India is too close friends with the USSR. Kissinger also tells his boss that his department managed to deceive Gandhi. “Even though she’s still a bitch, we achieved our goal. Now she will not be able to say upon returning home that she was received coldly in the United States. And in desperation, she will go to war against Pakistan.”

The CIA begins to actively help Pakistan, where the main anti-Indian forces are concentrated. A wave of interethnic conflicts is sweeping across the country, leading to war with Pakistan. The activities of the American residency do not go unnoticed by Soviet intelligence.

Feeling that time has been lost, the CIA is launching active activities among the Sikh opposition. The storming of the Golden Temple and subsequent events only benefit the United States. Now the CIA has an excellent cover; no one will suspect them of organizing a conspiracy against the Indian minister. The Soviet station in Delhi sends one encryption after another to Moscow. They talk about attempts to introduce so-called agents of influence into the Sikh environment.

The US desire to weaken contacts between India and the USSR is an undeniable fact. But the American administration mistakenly believed that Indira Gandhi was under the control of the KGB and acted on orders from the Kremlin. Indira Gandhi often declares to her small circle of supporters: “India has no permanent friends or permanent enemies. India has only permanent interests.” These interests also had financial expression.

In the late 90s, the Russian press published a scandalous article by journalist Evgenia Albats, who claimed that the Gandhi family and the ruling party of India were financed by the KGB. The journalist referred to documents received from senior intelligence officials. However, Ms. Albats refused to present any evidence.

Another reason for such conversations was Indira Gandhi's secret visit to the Soviet Union in November 1977. He is preceded by a crushing defeat in the elections. It was a shock not only for Indira herself, it was a shock for the whole world. Many yesterday's friends are turning away from the disgraced politician. Indira needs support and she is looking for it from her closest friend - the USSR. And he doesn’t find it.

On her birthday, Indira tries to meet with Leonid Brezhnev and enlist his support. The Soviet leader found himself in a difficult position. On the one hand, a loyal friend of our country, on the other, future relations with India are at stake. The Kremlin has decided to send the first ambassador to India, Nikolai Pegov, to Sheremetyevo. Pegov congratulated Indira on her birthday, presented her with a huge box of chocolates and wished her health on behalf of the Soviet leadership and Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. And that’s it, Indira’s long-awaited meeting with the Secretary General did not happen.

How much effort will have to be spent in the future to restore lost trust. In 1980, Indira Gandhi would return to power and would not immediately forgive the insult inflicted on her birthday by her closest political partner. During the four years she had to live, Indira Gandhi would make many visits to the USSR. It still remains popular in our country. An album with photographs of girls named after Indira in Russia appears in bookstores.

Return visits also continue. However, Leonid Ilyich is already weak. The last visit to India almost cost the Secretary General his life. At one of the ceremonies he became ill. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev died in November 1982. Indira Gandhi will be one of the first to fly to Moscow to say goodbye to her friend. They say that standing at the coffin, she could barely hold back her tears.

After her death, the massacre of Sikhs began. Within a few days, more than three thousand people died. Hundreds of Sikh temples, thousands of shops and houses, and many cars were burned. A little more and the Sikh army units could get out of control. India had never been so close to civil war as in those days. The situation was saved by Indira's son Rajiv Gandhi. Already on the day of her death, October 31, 1984, the President decided to appoint Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister. That evening, Rajiv Gandhi went on television calling for an end to anti-Sikh protests.

Twenty years after the bullets of fanatical terrorists struck Indira Gandhi on her doorstep in Delhi, Indians still regard her as a mother who protected her children and taught them to live freely and with dignity in the world. “All the days allotted to me in this life will be devoted to serving the people. And even when I die, I am sure that every drop of my blood will nourish the life of India, make it stronger.”

This year, the Indian statesman, Prime Minister of India from 1966-1977 and 1980-1984, Indira Gandhi, would have turned 99 years old.

For the common people, Indira Gandhi became a symbol of supreme power, “the mother of all India.” Skillfully and flexibly implementing her views, she achieved respect not only in her native country, but also far beyond its borders.

Path to Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi was born on November 19, 1917 in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh state in northern India) into a family that actively participated in the struggle for Indian independence.

Indira Gandhi's father, Jawaharlal Nehru, who later became the first Prime Minister of India after the country's independence in 1947, was at that time taking his first steps in the political arena in the Indian National Congress (INC) party. Gandhi's grandfather Motilal Nehru, one of the veterans and leaders of the "old guard" of the INC, enjoyed great fame.

National Archives of Georgia

Since childhood, the child listened to conversations about colonialism, about acts of protest, about civil disobedience, and met Mahatma Gandhi with his own eyes. And when the girl turned 8 years old, she organized a children's union in Allahabad for the development of home weaving, whose members made handkerchiefs and national hats - topi. During her rest hours, she gave fiery speeches to boys and girls, imitating her great ancestors.

And when in her grandfather’s house the family carried out a “revenge” on the colonialist past, the girl put her favorite toy - a foreign doll - into the common fire. Since then, Indira wore only national dress and was a true patriot of her country.

The girl received an excellent education, which allowed her to enter the People's University, created by the famous writer Rabindranath Tagore, where, along with Indian philosophy and culture, the foundations of the European tradition were also taught. Students studied foreign languages, world history, national and world literature, and spent a lot of time having soul-saving conversations with the founder-patriarch.

In 1936, Indira was forced to interrupt her studies due to her mother's illness. My father was in prison, my grandparents were no longer alive. She went with her parent to Switzerland for treatment, but tuberculosis had already affected the entire body, and the mother soon died.

Indira was supported by a young man, the namesake of the great Gandhi, who belonged to another religious community, despised by the Indian elite, which was considered the Nehru family.

Jawarharlal did not approve of his daughter's choice, but the mother had long blessed the children.

Indira did not want to return to her homeland, where no one was particularly expecting her, and she stayed in Europe. She entered Oxford, the university where her fiancé Feroz studied. And soon the Second World War began. Young people returned to India via the Atlantic and South Africa.

Having landed in Cape Town, the daughter of a political leader found her supporters. It was there that she made her first political speech.

Upon her return to India, she did not receive such a warm welcome - Jawaharlal continued to oppose his daughter’s marriage. And only the intervention of the great Mahatma Gandhi, who spoke out in defense of the unequal marital union, softened the father’s heart.

The wedding was held according to ancient Indian customs, and the young people began to build a family nest. In 1944, the first child was born, and two years later the second boy.

After India achieved independence on August 15, 1947, the first national government was formed and Indira Gandhi's father became the first prime minister. His daughter became his personal secretary and accompanied him on all his trips abroad.

In 1959-1960, Gandhi was the chairman of the INC. In 1960, her husband died and she left politics for several months.

At the beginning of 1961, Gandhi became a member of the working committee of the INC and began to travel to hotbeds of national conflicts.

India's first female prime minister

After her father's death in 1964, Indira Gandhi did not seek the post of Prime Minister, but took the post of Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the government of Lal Bahadur Shastri.

In 1966, after the death of Shastri, Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister. In this position she faced strong opposition. In 1969, after her government nationalized 14 of India's largest banks, conservative INC leaders tried to expel her from the party. They failed to do this, and the right-wing faction left the INC, which led to a split in the party.

In 1971, war with Pakistan began. Under these conditions, Gandhi signed the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation between India and the USSR.

The consequences of the war caused a deterioration in the economic situation and increased internal tension, resulting in unrest in the country. In response, Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India in June 1975.

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

Soon after returning to power, Gandhi suffered a severe personal loss - her youngest son and chief political adviser Sanjay died in a plane crash.

In the last years of her life, Gandhi paid great attention to activities on the world stage; in 1983, she was elected chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Indira Gandhi's second term was marked by conflict with Sikh separatists in the state of Punjab. The military operation "Blue Star" to neutralize Sikh extremists, carried out on the orders of the Indian government, led to the death of Indira Gandhi.

After the death of Indira Gandhi, the INC and the government were headed by her eldest son Rajiv. In 1991, he was killed by a female terrorist from the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in retaliation for sending Indian troops to Sri Lanka in the mid-1980s.

Indira Gandhi in Georgia

Indira Gandhi visited Georgia twice. In 1955, she accompanied her father, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Then she and her father visited the Transcaucasian Metallurgical Plant named after Stalin in the city of Rustavi and the Digomi Viticulture State Farm in Tbilisi.

They also visited the Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet Theater. Zakaria Paliashvili, where we watched the ballet “Gorda” to the music of David Toradze and staged by Vakhtang Chabukiani.

photo: courtesy of National Archives of Georgia

21 years later, on June 14, 1976, Indira Gandhi again came to Georgia, but already with the rank of Prime Minister of India. Then Gandhi, together with the Indian delegation, attended a rehearsal of the amateur artistic group “Tsisartkela” in the concert hall of the Georgian Philharmonic and attended a gala dinner in her honor.

Great things

During the period when Indira Gandhi headed the government, all banks in India were nationalized, the first nuclear power plant was built, and industrial development was launched.

Under Gandhi, India overcame its dependence on imports, they began to pay great attention to the development of small and medium-sized farms, and proclaimed a program
"Family Planning" established a clear price policy and determined the maximum for real estate.

At the same time, social programs in the field of health and education were improved, ties with the USSR and other world powers were strengthened, and India took a dominant position in the South Asian region.

Quotes by Indira Gandhi

The true path of life is the path of Truth, Non-violence and Love

History is the best teacher who has the worst students

You cannot shake hands with clenched fists

I am like a bird in a cage that is too small: wherever I go, my wings beat against the bars... The world is a cruel place for the chosen ones, especially for those who know how to feel

My grandfather once told me that people are divided into those who work and those who take credit for the results of their work. He advised me to get into the first group - there is less competition there

The material was prepared based on open sources