“Education must make our people the masters of technology and not its slaves.” ……Rajiv Gandhi (August 20, 1944 - May 21, 1991) – the sixth and youngest (at 40) Prime Minister of India (1984-1989), a visionary and the founder of Computer- and Telecommunication-Revolutions in India who also ushered the liberalized economic policies, and the recipient of Bharat Ratna (the highest national award of India) _____________________ RAJIV GANDHI Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944, in Mumbai, into then India’s most famous political family of Feroze Jehangir Gandhi (an alumnus of London School of Economics, then a worker of the youth wing (Vanar Sena) of Indian National Congress and journalist of Parsi descent subscribing to Zoroastrianism, who later went on to become publisher of newspaper National Herald, first Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Limited and a member of Indian Parliament) and Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi nee Nehru [daughter of India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, who later went on to become the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms (1966-77) and a fourth term (1980-84)]. In those times, both his parents virtually shuttled in and out of British prisons as active members of Quit India Movement of India’s freedom struggle against the British. When Rajiv was three-year-old, his grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru became the prime minister of independent India, and the family settled in Allahabad, and then at Lucknow. As both of his parents had intensely independent and upright personalities, they had their own share of ups and downs in marital life. In 1949, Indira with her two sons – Rajiv and younger Sanjay (December 14, 1946 - June 23, 1980) – moved to Delhi to live with Jawaharlal, presumably so that Indira could assist her father in his duties, acting as official hostess, and helping run the huge residence. Meanwhile, Feroze continued alone in Lucknow. In 1952, Indira nevertheless helped Feroze manage his campaign for elections to the first Parliament of India from Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh). Feroze Gandhi also moved to New Delhi after becoming a member of parliament, but continued stay of Indira with her father perhaps put the final seal on the separation. Relations were strained further when Feroze challenged corruption within the Congress leadership over the Haridas Mundhra scandal. Jawaharlal suggested that the matter be resolved in private, but Feroze insisted on taking the case directly to parliament. The scandal, and its investigation by justice M C Chagla, lead to the resignation of then India’s finance minister T. T. Krishnamachari (one of Nehrus key allies), further alienating Feroze from Jawaharlal. After Feroze Gandhi had a heart attack in 1958, the family was reconciled briefly when they vacationed in Kashmir. However, Feroze died soon afterwards from a second heart attack in 1960. At the time of his fathers death, Rajiv was away at a private boarding school for boys: initially at the Welham Boys School and later The Doon School, both located in Dehradun (Uttarakhand). He was sent to London in 1961 to study his A-levels. In 1962, he was offered a place at Trinity College, Cambridge, to study mechanical engineering. Rajiv stayed at Cambridge until 1965 when he dropped out of university and did not appear in the final Tripos examinations. In 1966, he was offered and took up a place at Imperial College London. Young Rajiv Gandhi’s other interests included music (both Indian and Western), photography, ham radios, and flying. Rajiv Gandhi was an active amateur radio operator, and used the call-sign VU2RG. Although he studied mechanical engineering, Rajiv chose to pursue a career as an airline pilot, having obtained his commercial pilots license in India. Rajiv Gandhi met Antonia Edvige Albina Maino (aka Sonia Maino – a Roman catholic and born at Ovassanjo, 80 km from Turin in Italy, on December 9, 1946) in Varsity restaurant in Cambridge in January of 1965. Antonia was then studying English at Lennox School of Languages (which was not associated with the University of Cambridge). Rajiv and Sonia were married on February 25, 1968 (the auspicious Vasant Panchami day according to Hindu customs) in India. Rajiv began working for Indian Airlines as a professional pilot while his mother became Prime Minister in 1966. He exhibited no interest in politics and did not live regularly with his mother in Delhi at the Prime Ministers residence. On June 19, 1970, his wife gave birth to their first child Rahul, and on January 12, 1972, to Priyanka Gandhi, their second. Even as Rajiv remained aloof in politics, his younger brother Sanjay became a close advisor to their mother. Following his younger brothers tragic death (by aircraft-crash) on June 23, 1980, Rajiv Gandhi was pressured by Indian National Congress party politicians and his mother to enter politics. He and his wife were both opposed to the idea, and he even publicly stated that he would not contest for his brothers seat. Nevertheless, he eventually announced his candidacy for Parliament. His entry was criticized by many in the press, public and opposition political parties. He fought his first election to Indian parliament from Amethi constituency (a district of Uttar Pradesh in north India) seat of Indian parliament. In this by-election, he defeated Lokdal leader Sharad Yadav by more than 200,000 votes. Following his entry into parliament, Rajiv Gandhi became an important political advisor to his mother. It was widely perceived that Indira Gandhi was grooming Rajiv for the prime ministers job, and he soon became the president of the Youth Congress – the youth wing of Indian National Congress party. Rajiv Gandhi was in West Bengal when his mother, Indira Gandhi, was assassinated on October 31, 1984, by two of her Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh, to avenge the military attack on the Harmandir Sahib (Sikhisms holiest shrine, also called The Golden Temple) during Operation Blue Star to flush-out militants from the holy site. Top Congress leaders, as well as President Zail Singh pressed Rajiv to become Indias Prime Minister, within hours of his mothers assassination by two of her Sikh bodyguards. Commenting on the anti-Sikh riots in the national capital Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi said, When a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes; a statement for which he was widely criticised later. Many Congress politicians were accused of orchestrating the violence. Rajiv became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40. Soon after assuming office, Rajiv asked President Zail Singh to dissolve Parliament and hold fresh elections immediately, even as the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Indian parliament) was yet to complete its five year term. General elections to Parliament which normally would have been held in January, 1985 were held one month early at the end of December, 1984. Rajiv Gandhi was also officially elected as the President of the Indian National Congress party. The Congress party won a landslide victory – with the largest majority in history of Indian Parliament winning 411 seats out of 542 – giving Rajiv Gandhi absolute control of government. He also benefited from his youth and a general perception of being Mr. Clean, or free of a background in corrupt politics. Gandhi proved himself as a tireless and effective campaigner in the weeks preceding the election and was widely credited, along with an improved economy, with the partys success. His standing within the party was also improved by his denial of electoral districts to party members considered to be corrupt. Rajiv thus revived hopes and enthusiasm amongst the Indian public for the Congress. As the Prime Minister of India from 1984 to 1989, Rajiv Gandhi made a valuable contribution in modernizing Indian administration. He had the vision to see that information technology will play a vital role in the 21 century and worked hard to develop Indias capacity in this Field. He began dismantling the License Raj – government quotas, tariffs and permit regulations on economic activity – modernized the telecommunication-industry and the education-system, expanded science and technology initiatives and improved relations with the United States. Rajiv with his rather extra-ordinary and unconventional foresight brought about such reforms that catapulted into emergence of India as a global power. It was Rajiv Gandhi who brought (current Prime Minister) Dr Manmohan Singh into politics and made him an effective Finance Minister who then brought into effect more liberal economic policies. Rajiv Gandhi recognized the virtues and advantages of large pool of educated Indian population, and to make channelize this (unparalleled-in-world) resource of the nation, he reconstituted Education Ministry of his cabinet into Human Resource Ministry. It was him who recognized that greater use of computers at work-places could increase efficiency of human resources, and founded the so-called computer-revolution in India – phenomenon whose benefits India has begun to reap richly. He took steps to introduce computers in School curricula and arranged to provide computers to needy-ones at government subsidy ! He also recognized the wide-spread malady of corruption in India, and suggested that a greater use of computers in government offices could help lower the level of corruption by reducing the human interface in governance ! The political opponents used to then joke about confident Rajiv Gandhi as Computer-ji in black satire ! Rajiv Gandhi recognized that greater facilities of communication promotes democracy by furthering person to person link and debate in Society and thus brought in policies to usher in telecommunication revolution in India as well ! In 1986, he established the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya System, which is a Central government based institution that concentrates on rural areas sections and provides free residential school-education from 6th to the final 12th standard of Indian school system. He also founded INTACH in 1984 that seeks to preserve Indias art and cultural heritage. His key achievements also included (a) strengthening of grass root democracy through Panchayati Raj Institutions; (b) ensuring greater participation of youth in democracy by reducing the voting age to 18 years; (c) providing for the women’s reservation in local bodies; (d) initiating the Rural Electrification and drinking water mission; and (e) working for the Global Peace and Disarmament. In 1988, Rajiv Gandhi reversed the coup in Maldives antagonizing the militant Tamil outfits such as PLOTE. He was also responsible for first intervening and then sending Indian troops (Indian Peace Keeping Force or IPKF) for peace efforts in Sri Lanka in 1987, which soon ended in a sort of his open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE – a Tamil militant group of Sri Lanka). Rajiv Gandhis last public meeting was at Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991, in a village approximately 30 miles from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, where he was assassinated while campaigning for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate. The assassination was carried out by LTTE. At 10:10 pm on that fateful day, a woman (later identified as Thenmuli Rajaratnam) approached Rajiv Gandhi in a public meeting and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet (an expression of respect among Indians) and detonated a belt laden with 700 grams of RDX explosives tucked under her dress. The explosion killed Rajiv Gandhi and at least 14 other people. The assassination was caught on film through the lens of a local photographer, whose camera and film were found at the site. The cameraman himself died in the blast but the camera remained intact. Tamil separatists claimed the killing was an act of revenge for Gandhis intervention in the Sri Lanka civil war of 1987. Rajiv Gandhi was posthumously awarded the Highest National Award of India – Bharat Ratna (1991) – joining a list of 40 luminaries, including his mother Indira Gandhi. The Rajiv Gandhi Memorial was built at the site recently and is one of the major tourist attractions of the small industrial town. The day of Rajiv’s assassination is commemorated in India as the Anti-terrorism Day. ____________________________ By AVDHESH SHUKLA
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 17:52:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015