Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. To avoid being jailed for corrupt election practices in June 1975, she had declared a state of emergency and brought democracy to a halt. She launched a crackdown on civil liberties and political opposition. She served as the PM of India from January 19, 1966 to March 24, 1977 and from January 14. 1980 until her death. Indira's emergency ruled lasted nineteen months. Sikh alienation was deep and had dramatic consequences: on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards, one of whom was fatally shot and the other subsequently (1988) sentences to death by hanging (p. 75).
Rajiv attended Trinity Collège in Cambridge and later shifted to Imperial College in London. Rajiv was not interested in philosophy, politics of history. He was more interested in science and engineering. His greatest passion was flying. His brother Sanjay died in a plane crash in 1980 and because of that he reluctantly joined politics. Collaboration with the United States and several European governments and corporations brought more investment in research in electronics and computer software (p. 21). Rajiv was assassinated in 1991 by Tamil Tiger militants using a bomb hidden in a garland of flowers.
Rajiv was survived by his wife and two children. Rajiv's wife Sonia (born near Turin in Italy) is said to have stated that she would have rather seen her children beg than enter politics (p.64). Today we can see Rajiv and Sonia's son Rahul playing a very important part in the electoral politics of India.
0 comments:
Post a Comment