Indira Gandhi

by Nayantara Sahgal

  The Hindustan Times, January 26, 1959.

  Rajinder Puri, India: The Wasted Years (New Delhi: Chetana Publications, 1975).

  Sunday Standard, article by Nayantara Sahgal, November 23, 1969.

  Sunday Standard, article by Nayantara Sahgal, December 21, 1969.

  5. The New Congress Reveals Its Style—1970

  Kuldip Nayar, India After Nehru (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1975).

  News conference, December 29, 1979.

  6. The Midterm Election

  Balraj Madhok, Murder of Democracy (New Delhi: S. Chand and Co. Pvt. Ltd, Ram Nagar, 1973).

  7. ‘The New Dawn’

  N.A. Palkhivala, Our Constitution Defaced and Defiled (New Delhi: Macmillan, 1974).

  For a full account of the Nagarwala case, see Rajinder Puri, India: The Wasted Years (New Delhi: Chetana Publications, 1975).

  Amnesty International Report published in the Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. IX, No. 38, September 24, 1974.

  9. Rhetoric and Reality

  E.N. Mangat Rai, Patterns of Administrative Development in Independent India (University of London: The Athlone Press, 1976).

  10. Jayaprakash Narayan

  Ajit Bhattacharjea, Jayaprakash Narayan: A Political Biography (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1975).

  Lakshmi Narain Lal, Jayaprakash: Rebel Extraordinary (New Delhi: Indian Book Company, 1975).

  Article by Jayaprakash Narayan entitled ‘Incentives to Goodness’ in Freedom First, a journal of the Democratic Research Services, September 1952, its ideas amplified in a speech to the First Asian Socialist Conference in Rangoon, Burma, January 1953.

  11. The Bihar Movement—1974

  JP’s statement reproduced from JP on Bihar: A Citizen Action Pamphlet (299 Shantashram, Nana Chowk, Bombay: Govindrao Deshpande).

  Ajit Bhattacharjea, Jayaprakash Narayan: A Political Biography (New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1975).

  Nayantara Sahgal, Everyman’s Weekly, April 1975.

  J.D. Sethi, Tribune, November 15, 1974.

  G.S. Bhargava, Everyman’s Weekly, December 1, 1974.

  The Indian Express, article by Nayantara Sahgal, November 1974.

  12. January to June 1975

  R.V.P. Sinha’s remarks made to a newspaperman after L.N. Mishra’s death, reported in the Indian Express, January 1975.

  J.D. Sethi in Everyman’s Weekly, February 23, 1975.

  Nayantara Sahgal, ‘The Return of Satyagraha’, the Indian Express, March 6, 1975.

  Interview reproduced in the Indian Express, May 1975.

  Political Role of the Army in Developing Countries, printed by Tarun Sengupta, New Age Printing Press, Rani Jhansi Road, New Delhi-110055, and published by him for the Communist Party of India, Ajoy Bhavan, Kotla Marg, New Delhi-110001, 1974.

  Ibid, page 13.

  Ibid, page 20.

  Ibid, page 22.

  The Indian Express, March 24, 1975.

  13. The Flowering of a Style

  Anthony Lukas, ‘India Is as Indira Does’, New York Times Magazine, April 4, 1976.

  Sheikh Abdullah’s speech reported by Press Trust of India (PTI) on October 19, 1975.

  From the statement of Ram Jethmalani, chairman of the Bar Council of India, before a House of Congress subcommittee on international relations in September 1976. Jethmalani had sought and received political asylum in the United States.

  Letter circulated via the underground protest movement in India.

  Letter circulated via the underground protest movement in India.

  16. The Janata Government Assists Mrs Gandhi’s Return

  In a letter to the author dated July 26/27, 1977.

  Home Minister Charan Singh speaking in the Lok Sabha.

  Shah Commission of Inquiry, Interim Report I, printed by the Manager, Government of India Press, Ring Road, New Delhi110064, and published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054, 1978, Chapter I, page 1.

  Ibid, Interim Report II, Chapter XV, page 141.

  Shah Commission of Inquiry, Interim Report II, Chapter XV, page 141.

  Economic & Political Weekly, June 14–21, 1980.

  This account is taken from Arun Shourie’s article, ‘Sloth, Lunacy or Conspiracy’, the Indian Express, June 28, 1979, based on departmental records of the CBI, the IB and the finance ministry.

  17. The President Confers a Bonus

  Raj Krishna,‘Performance of the Economy-III’, the Times of India, January 12, 1979.

  18. ‘A Dynamic Manufacturer’

  Economic & Political Weekly, September 6, 1980.

  Shah Commission of Inquiry, Interim Report I, Chapter V, page 24.

  Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Maruti Affairs, printed by the manager, Government of India Press, Ring Road, New Delhi-110064, and published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110006, 1979, Chapter X, page 141.

  Ibid, W.H.F. Muller’s affidavit affirmed on December 16, 1977, page 15.

  Statements made by W.H.F. Muller under Section 131 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, on January 23 and February 3, 1978. Copies of these statements were brought on the record of the Commission of Inquiry on Maruti Affairs, page 77 of the report.

  Completing the Picture

  Peter J. Conradi, Iris: The Life of Iris Murdoch (New York: W.W. Norton, 2002), page 58.

  Ibid, page 75.

  Index

  Abdullah, Sheikh, 245–46

  Aggarwal, D.C., 330

  Ahmed, Fakhruddin Ali, 70, 150, 203, 334

  Ahmedabad, Congress of 1969 in, 78

  Alliance (news syndicate), 122

  All India Congress Committee (AICC), 69, 77–78, 90

  All-India Lawyers’ Conference, 356

  All India Radio (AIR), 96–97

  All India Students’ Federation, 199

  Amnesty International, 133

  Anand Bhawan, 20, 35–36, 39, 44–48

  Anand Marg, 181, 229

  Annadorai, 199

  Asia Magazine (periodical), 58

  Assam, 335, 359

  atrocities, 132–33, 185, 196–98

  Bachchan, Mrs Harivansh Rai (Teji), 375

  Badenweiler (Germany), 36–37, 72

  Bahuguna, H.N., 153–54, 195, 281

  Banerjee, Sivadas, 176

  Banerji, Purnima, 24

  Bangladesh, 124, 126, 129–32, 197–98, 369

  Banks, 69–70, 74–75, 79, 354, 371–72

  in the Nagarwala affair, 123–26

  Supreme Court orders and, 74, 89

  Barooah, D.K., 183, 240, 243, 252, 262–63

  Basu, Jyotirmoy, 93–94, 195

  Bengal Province, 55–56, 132, 151

  Bhargava, G.S., 189

  Bhattacharjea, Ajit, 155, 161

  Bhushan, Shashi, 76

  Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali, 304

  Bidhan Nagar, Congress session of 1972 at, 147–49

  Birla, K.K., 84, 144–45

  black money, 101, 141, 191, 200, 204, 359

  Bombay, rival Congress session of 1969 in, 78

  Bombay state, division of, 4

  Brahmins, Kashmiri, 94–95, 247

  Brezhnev, Leonid, 197, 251, 289

  British Broadcasting Company (BBC), Mrs Gandhi’s closure of, 92

  Central Parliamentary Board, 1

  Chamber of Commerce, 249

  Chanda Committee, 96–97

  Chandrasekher, 141, 155, 211, 227

  Chaudhury, M.M., 118

  Chavan, Y.B., 75, 148, 281–83, 319–20

  Chinese–Indian relations, 12, 44, 128, 290, 325

  Chopra, Anil, 194

  Citizens for Democracy, 168

  civil service, 57, 87, 96, 136, 309, 312

  communism and communists, 4–5, 16, 44, 55, 67, 75

  constitutional amendments influenced by, 117

  in Mrs Gandhi’s cabinet, 88

  Mrs Gandhi’s government’s support from, 74, 85, 92

  Narayan and, 162–63

  and street demo
nstrations in 1969, 71

  Communist Party of India (CPI), 16, 45, 74, 85, 129–33, 163, 376

  arson charges against, 171

  attacks on Bihar Movement by, 183, 190–91

  Congress alliance with, 141, 171, 197

  criticism of Mrs Gandhi by members of, 139–40

  Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI -M ), 1 6, 131–34, 194–96, 198, 357, 376

  Congress for Democracy, 49, 274

  Congress Forum for Socialist Action, 141

  Congress-I party, 293, 296–97, 301, 314, 320, 344, 353–55, 368

  Congress Parliamentary Board, Bangalore meeting of, 69–70, 86

  Congress Parliamentary Party, 13, 142, 155, 181, 224, 282, 286

  Congress party, the, 1–2, 46, 51, 65, 371

  Congress Socialist Party, 66, 163–64

  Congress split of 1969, 63–67, 71–72, 75–76, 81–82, 85, 371–72

  Congress Working Committee, 1, 25, 75

  constitutional amendments, 114–15, 117, 238, 298, 357

  constitutional law, 321

  cooperative cultivation concept, 67

  court actions and rulings, 74, 89, 105–07, 219–21, 233, 236–38

  Cripps, Sir Stafford, 40 criticism of Mrs Gandhi, 75–77, 136–40, 204–05

  for currency devaluation, 15

  during economic crisis of 1972, 146–48

  during election of 1971, 100–02

  by Nijalingappa, 75

  no-confidence motion of 1970 and, 95

  for official favouritism to Sanjay, 143–45

  for rivalries within the government, 138–43

  for street demonstrations, 74, 76–77, 113

  Current (periodical), 125

  Czechoslovakia, 61–62

  Dandavate, Madhu, 343

  Dange, S.A., 361

  Dar, Rita, 294

  Das, Durga, 122

  Das, Seth Govind, 202

  Decade of Achievement 1966–75, 265

  decentralization (Panchayat Raj), 176

  Dehradun, 45, 50, 379

  Dehradun District Jail, 30

  Delhi, rival AICC sessions of

  1969 in, 78

  Delhi Municipal Corporation, takeover of, 177

  Democratic World (periodical), 244

  Desai, Hitendra, 245

  Desai, Kanti, 200

  Desai, Morarji, 10–12, 17, 51, 69–70, 200

  as Mrs Gandhi’s opponent, 214, 217–18

  as prime minister, 300, 302, 310, 312, 319–322

  devaluation, 15

  Dhar, D.P., 95, 142

  Dhar, P.N., 339

  Dharia, Mohan, 155, 190, 211–13, 224, 269

  Dhavan, S.S., in praise of Soviet legal and political system, 89

  Dhawan, R.K., 339

  Dhebar, U.N., 2

  dictatorship, x, 197–98, 227–33

  brutality during, 252–58

  court exoneration of Mrs Gandhi during, 238

  disasters during, 265–66

  economic trends during, 266

  labour trends during, 266–67

  language as tool of, 262

  popular feeling towards, 269–70

  resistance of state governments during, 240–41

  suppression during, 242–44, 253–54, 260–61

  unsubstantiated charges by Mrs Gandhi during, 229–33

  Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), 241

  Drieberg, Trevor, 60, 65, 117–18, 372

  Dubey, Suman, 265

  Dutt, R.C., 121

  Economic and Political Weekly (periodical), 325, 345

  economic crisis of 1972, 146–52

  economic policies of Mrs Gandhi’s government, 15, 67, 79–80, 135, 146

  banking nationalization, 69–71, 74–75, 79, 371–72

  insurance programmes, 79

  monopolistic practices, 144–46

  Ten-Point Programme, 69–70, 78

  Twenty-Point Programme, 229

  economic trends, 266, 271, 315–18

  educational reform, 170

  elections to Congress party in 1968, 59

  fraudulent, 102–08, 219–20, 225

  of Mrs Gandhi to Congress presidency, 2–3, 371

  of Mrs Gandhi to Raebareli 15

  growing voter awareness in, 268–69, 278–79

  of Husain as President, 43

  in Kerala 1960, 4

  of 1957, 53

  of 1966, 13

  of 1967, 8, 11, 15–16, 51, 55

  of 1971, 96, 98–112, 192

  of 1975, 193, 202, 278

  of 1977, x, 199, 268–69, 368

  for presidency, 1969, 68–70, 73–75

  of Shastri as prime minister, 10

  for state assemblies, 118, 131–32, 135

  of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, 6, 13–14

  electoral pacts, 97, 132, 134

  Emergency, the, ix–x, 252, 262, 267

  arrests during, 234, 252–60

  civil unrest prior to, 170–96, 213–15, 222–23

  consolidation of power during, 238–47

  JP’s charges during, 233–38

  political opposition prior to, 195–203, 205–19, 223–27

  proclamation of, 228

  Sanjay Gandhi’s role during, 247–52

  statements of Mrs Gandhi on, 230–32, 264–65

  Evening News (newspaper), 144

  Everyman’s (newspaper), 189, 239

  Faridabad Congress session, 65, 67

  farm policies, 66–67, 146, 150–51

  Fernandes, Alice, 254

  Fernandes brothers, 254–57

  Fernandes, George, 254–55, 271, 277, 315

  food monopoly, 149–51

  Free Press Journal (newspaper), 164

  Friedan, Betty, 369

  funds of Mrs Gandhi’s party, 100–01

  Gandhi, Feroze (husband), 15, 24, 32–36, 42, 376–78

  Gandhi, Indira

  arrest and trial of, 300, 304–07

  assassination of, 368, 379–80

  authoritarian tactics of, ix, 274–77, 280–92, 296, 355–56, 363–67

  childhood of, 18, 20–21, 28–30

  corruption verdict against, 220

  education of, 28–30, 34, 72, 376–77

  health problems of, 1, 3, 5

  imprisonment of, 22–27

  insecurity of, 156–57, 188, 351, 366

  lifestyle of, 374

  marital difficulties of, 1, 32–36, 377–78

  and mother’s illness, 21, 28, 30, 33, 36, 38, 373

  motherhood role of, 6, 329–30, 376

  Nehru’s appraisal of, 31–32

  as Nehru’s companion and hostess, 1, 9

  Nehru’s death and, 1, 6, 10–11, 370

  Nehru’s reaction to fiancé of, 34

  Oxford schooling of, 30, 34, 72–73

  Mrs Pandit and, 5–7, 13–14, 42–46, 48–50

  parents of, 28, 36, 38–39

  parliamentary condemnation of, 224–25

  personal courage of, 44

  personality of, 6, 9, 19–21, 28, 30, 42

  political aptitude of, 117–18

  pretensions of, 204–06, 211, 225–26, 250–51

  public unfamiliarity with, 6, 19

  religious renewal of, 50, 346–49

  Sanjay’s death and, 50

  self-esteem of, 18–19

  sense of humour, 375–76

  Swiss schooling of, 29–30, 72

  See also dictatorship; Mrs Gandhi’s ministry, the; political career of Mrs Gandhi

  Gandhi, Mahatma, 20, 21, 34, 71, 73, 78, 99

  arrest of, 165

  Champaran campaign of, 159

  CPI party and, 129, 166 influence on Bihar Movement by, 185–88

  Gandhi, Maneka (daughter-in-law), 50, 295, 350, 360

  Mrs Gandhi’s ministry, the Bihar Movement and, 175, 181–82

  changing nature of, 54–55

  charges of election fraud against, 102–09

  Chinese relations during, 12
8

  civil service and, 57, 119, 136

  closing of foreign information centres by, 91–92

  commitment ideology of, 73, 87–88, 309

  communist support to, 71, 74, 85, 92, 117, 141

  confiscations by, 115

  corruption in, 101, 123–26, 194–96

  democratic processes and, 58–62, 64, 75, 89–91, 368

  devaluation and, 15, 18

  first term of, 13, 56

  fundamental rights during, 115–16, 123

  growing unity of opposition to, 192, 194, 198–203, 213–14

  ideology of, 98–99, 111

  JP’s opposition to, 168–84, 186–87, 189

  lack of direction within, 119

  Maruti car project during, 143–44

  midterm elections of 1971 and, 98, 111–13

  moderate government elements and, 66

  morality of, 82, 91, 101

  movement for resignation of, 224–25

  Nagarwala affair of, 123–26

  old guard and, 59, 63–68, 72, 75–76, 80–82, 111, 363–64

  opponents of, 60, 86–87, 95–96, 132–34, 213

  organized terror by, 74–78, 132–34

  Pakistani war and, 128–29

  party members’ dislike of, 68, 86–87, 134

  personal rule during, 81–84, 135–40, 142–43

  personality cult of,72,75,186

  political dismissals during, 154–56

  poverty programmes and, 135, 362

  presidential election of 1969 and, 67–68, 73–75

  press controls during, 119–23

  press relations of, 60–61, 63–64

  privy purse issue during, 89–91, 114, 376

  reaction to criticism by, 59, 85

  reconciliation efforts of, 211–13

  return of, 293, 312–14

  revolt against, 136–43, 152–53, 168–91

  rivalries of, 138–41

  Sanjay Gandhi and, 49–50, 84, 144–45 (see also Gandhi, Sanjay)

  after Sanjay’s death, 351–67

  Sikkim incorporation during, 128

  socialist sentiments of, 11, 51, 83, 378

  state government control by, 117–19, 138–40

  street demonstrations of, 71, 74–77, 81, 113, 221–24