Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi

Indira Gandhi was born Indira Nehru on 19 November 1917 in Allahabad, a city in the United Provinces of British India. She was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru and Kamala Nehru, who were both prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress and the freedom movement against British colonial rule. Her father became the first Prime Minister of independent India in 1947 and her mother was a social activist who died of tuberculosis in 1936. She received her early education from various schools in India and abroad, including Modern School in Delhi, Ecole Internationale in Geneva, Ecole Nouvelle in Bex and Pupils' Own School in Poona. She also attended Somerville College at Oxford University for a brief period but did not complete her degree. She returned to India in 1941 and joined the Indian National Congress as a member of its working committee. She also became involved in the Quit India Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942. She married Feroze Gandhi, a Parsi journalist and politician, in 1942 despite opposition from some members of her family and community. The couple had two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay, who were born in 1944 and 1946 respectively. Feroze Gandhi died of a heart attack in 1960. She entered politics as a personal assistant to her father and accompanied him on his foreign trips and official visits. She also became the president of the Indian National Congress in 1959. After her father's death in 1964, she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house of parliament) and became the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet. She became the Prime Minister of India in 1966 after Shastri's sudden death. She faced many challenges and crises during her tenure, such as famine, drought, war with Pakistan, internal dissent, economic instability and political unrest. She also initiated many reforms and policies to improve the condition of the poor and marginalized sections of society, such as nationalization of banks, abolition of privy purses, land reforms, promotion of science and technology, expansion of public sector and launch of Green Revolution to increase agricultural production. She also played a decisive role in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971 by supporting the liberation movement of East Pakistan against West Pakistan. She signed the Simla Agreement with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the President of Pakistan, to end the war and establish peace between the two countries. She faced a major political crisis in 1975 when the Allahabad High Court found her guilty of electoral malpractice and disqualified her from holding any public office for six years. She refused to resign and declared a state of emergency in the country, suspending civil liberties and arresting her political opponents. She also launched a controversial family planning program that involved forced sterilization of thousands of men. She lifted the emergency in 1977 and called for fresh elections, in which she and her party suffered a humiliating defeat. She returned to power in 1980 after winning the general elections with a thumping majority. She faced another challenge in the form of Sikh separatism and militancy in Punjab, led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who demanded a separate state of Khalistan. She ordered a military operation, codenamed Operation Blue Star, to flush out the militants from the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, in June 1984. The operation resulted in heavy casualties and damage to the temple, and provoked widespread anger and resentment among the Sikh community. She was assassinated on 31 October 1984 by two of her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, who shot her at point-blank range as she was walking to her office from her residence. Her death sparked anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and other parts of India, in which thousands of Sikhs were killed by mobs. She was cremated with full state honors at Shakti Sthal, a memorial site near Raj Ghat in New Delhi. Her elder son Rajiv Gandhi succeeded her as the Prime Minister of India. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential and charismatic leaders of India who shaped its destiny and development. She is also remembered as a champion of women's rights, secularism, social justice and national security. She was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor, posthumously in 1971. She was also named as "Woman of the Millennium" by a BBC poll in 1999.