JAIPUR l SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00
RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764 l Vol 2 l Issue No. 147
INDIA
Remembers Indira MOHD FAHAD
I
ndira Priyadarshini Gandhi served as the Prime Minter of India for three terms, almost 16 years. Atal Bihari Vajpayee referred to her as an avatar of Durga. The Bangladeshis called her their liberator. Nixon feared (and hated) her indomitable spirit. She was often called the only man in her cabinet. And we, the Indians, called her almost everything — from Amma in the villages of Medak to the Iron Lady everywhere. Indira, a timeless political icon, covered an entire range of personas, in fact she outgrew her party. In her long political journey, she recruited and nurtured a battery of leaders and trouble-shooters including Natwar Singh, Ahmed Patel, Ashok Gehlot, PN Haksar, RK Dhawan, ML Fotedar, PN Dhar, and so on. In 2020, TIME magazine named her among the world’s 100 powerful women who defined the last century. From PM Narendra Modi to CM Ashok Gehlot, all paid tributes on her 36th death anniversary on Saturday. Even today, Indira Gandhi remains a metaphor for what Bharat Mata needs to be — strong-willed, fiercely independent, and yet motherly in her charm, compassion and sensitivity.
Iconic picture of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi while delivering her last speech at a public meeting in Bhubaneswar (Orissa), a day before she was assassinated on October 31, 1984.