The Biography of Famous Personalities of India will tell you about the controversies, the dark sides of a person that you may have never heard of.
Indira Gandhi’s Last Journey
Her Last Journey
In the beginning of 1984, though she was successfully running the country and was famous among world leaders for her efforts, she had to face some internal problems at home front. Congress-I lost elections in two southern state of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh which was quite unexpected.
The agitation in Assam gathered momentum and the agitators demanded that the illegal immigrants should be ousted from the state. Along with these disturbances, Indira Gandhi also faced a wave of terrorism in Punjab in the beginning of 1984.
Sikhs were demanding separate province and the Golden Temple at Amritsar gave shelter to terrorists who were responsible for the killings in Punjab. Finally, to curb terrorism, Indira Gandhi ordered the troops to enter the Golden Temple. The Sikhs got upset as this move had hurt their sentiments. They were of the view that due to the entering of troops in the Temple, the sacred place had become impure. The Sikhs revolted against Indira Gandhi. This was the burning issue that could not be resolved.
It was the morning of Oct. 31, when Indira Gandhi stepped out of her official residence and walked riskily towards her office to give a T.V. interview to filmmaker Peter Ustinov when suddenly two of her personal guards shot at her and she breathed her last.
The glorious life that had ruled India for nearly two decades came to an end and India lost one of the greatest stateswomen of the twentieth century. The funeral took place on Nov. 3, when several world leaders paid homage to Indira Gandhi. The whole nation was in grief. She had given up her life while serving her country. She would always be remembered for her courage, inner strength and will to overcome obstacles.
Her ultimate triumph was that many observers seemed to think “India” was “Indira”. She epitomized her country, India. The journey of her life was not an easy one and she had to cross political and intellectual maze with many criticisms and obstacles. But she came out the winner in the end.
She feared no one and did not give any attention to critics as she felt that what she did was for her country’s good. The homage paid to her by common people throws light on her character as one cucumber-seller said on her death, “The poor have been orphaned, she was mother for all of us. The house I have was due to her “ashirwad”.
She was so much popular among world leaders that after her death Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom said that, “I shall feel greatly the loss of a wise colleague and a personal friend.” Ronald Reagan, President of the United States paid her homage by saying that, “Mrs. Gandhi was a source of global leadership. Her determined efforts to promote peace, security and economic development throughout the world will serve as a constant reminder of Mrs. Gandhi’s commitment to protect the shared values of democratic nations.”