Indira Gandhi (IG) is my problematic fave: a thread

Disclaimer: in this thread, I'm not trying to excuse the problematic things that she has done. It's just that I admire and respect her while acknowledging the problematic behavior. Also, I'm no expert, there will be inaccuracies and things that I miss out.

Lastly, y'all love Obama and that man bombed Yemen daily. So lemme have IG

Let's start with the good stuff. IG was the og girl boss and here's why-

1. Nationalising Private Banks: On 19th July 1969, IG nationalized 14 private-sector banks by means of an ordinance. The ordinance was called the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) ordinance, which was followed by an act of the same name.

There are many reasons behind this decision one of them was the fact that these banks only catered to large industries and businesses, and the agriculture sector was largely ignored.

The ordinance made credit easily available to the ‘priority sector’ i.e. agriculture, small industries, traders, and entrepreneurs. Moreover, this ordinance sought to establish banks in rural and backward areas.

2. Indo-Pakistan War of 1971: On the night of March 25, 1971, West Pakistan launched ‘Operation Searchlight‘ against East Pakistan, where it carried out the systematic elimination of nationalist Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, religious minorities & armed personnel.

this led to the fleeing of 10 million refugees from East Pakistan to India, whilst displacing 30 million others. A Provincial government of Bangladesh was created in Mujibnagar and temporary asylum was given to it by India, as they moved to Calcutta as a ‘government in exile’.

India joined the war on 3rd December 1971, following pre-emptive airstrikes by Pakistan in North India. IG expressed full support towards East Pakistan, and concluded that instead of taking in millions of refugees, it was economical to go to war with

Pakistan. With the help of air supremacy achieved in the eastern province, as well as the rapid advances of the Indian Armed forces backed by Allied Forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan surrendered in Dhaka on December 16th 1971. The war lasted a total of 13 days.

3. Ending Privy Purse: Under IG’s Prime Ministership, the government proposed the 26th Amendment in which Privy Purse given to royalty; all payments and privileges coming with it, was to be abolished.

This was a payment given to royal families of erstwhile princely states as part of agreement to integrate with India in 1947. The case was argued on the basis of equal rights for all citizens and the need to reduce the government’s revenue deficit.

4. Garibi Hatao: this was the theme for Gandhi's 1971 political bid. The slogan was developed in response to the combined opposition alliance's use of "Indira Hatao"
The Twenty Point Programme was launched by IG in 1975 and was subsequently restructured in 1982.

The basic objective of the 20-Point Programme was to eradicate poverty and to improve the quality of life of the poor and the under privileged population of the country. The programme covered various Socio-economic aspects like poverty, employment, education, housing, health,

agriculture and land reforms, irrigation, drinking water, protection and empowerment of weaker sections, consumer protection, environment etc

Now coming to the problematic part.

1. Nepotism: today's Bollywood nepo kids have nothing on the Nehru Gandhi family. It would be not wrong to say that being the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru helped IG 's political career.
During Nehru's time as PM, IG was considered a key assistant and accompanied him on

his numerous foreign trips. She was elected President of the Indian National Congress in 1959. Upon her father's death in 1964, she was appointed as a member of the Rajya Sabha and became a member of Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

2. Allahabad HC: in an election petition filed by her 1971 opponent, Raj Narain, alleged several major as well as minor instances of the use of government resources for campaigning. After almost four years, the court found her guilty of dishonest election practices, excessive

election expenditure, and of using government machinery and officials for party purposes. On 12 June 1975, the Allahabad HC declared IG's election to the Lok Sabha in 1971 void on the grounds of electoral malpractice. The court ordered her stripped of her parliamentary seat & ban

her from running for any office for six years. As the constitution requires that the PM must be a member of either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, she was effectively removed from office. However, IG rejected calls to resign.

3. Emergency: After the court verdict the opposition started protesting against IG. She moved to restore order by ordering the arrest of most of the opposition participating in the unrest. Her Cabinet and government then recommended that President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declare a

state of emergency because of the disorder and lawlessness following the Allahabad HC decision. Accordingly, Ahmed declared a State of Emergency caused by internal disorder, based on the provisions of Article 352(1) of the Constitution, on 25 June 1975.
Police were granted

powers to impose curfews and detain citizens indefinitely; all publications were subjected to substantial censorship by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Finally, the impending legislative assembly elections were postponed indefinitely, with all opposition-controlled

state governments being removed by virtue of the constitutional provision allowing for a dismissal of a state government on the recommendation of the state's governor.

4. Sanjay Gandhi (SG): The Emergency saw the entry of IG's younger son, SG, into Indian politics. He wielded tremendous power during the emergency without holding any government office. It was said that during the Emergency he virtually ran India. He was responsible for the

destruction of the slum and low-income housing in the Turkmen Gate and Jama Masjid area of old Delhi. SG initiated a widespread compulsory sterilization program to limit population growth. The campaign primarily involved getting males to undergo a vasectomy. There were

allegations of coercion of unwilling candidates.

5. Operation Blue Star was the codename of an Indian military action carried out between 1 and 8 June 1984 to remove militant Sikh leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab. The decision to launch the attack rested with IG

The operation has been criticized on several grounds including the government's choice of timing for the attack, the heavy casualties, the loss of property, and allegations of human rights violations.