Indira Gandhi is one of the most influential women of the 20th century. Her political career led her to serve as Prime Minister of India in 1966, becoming one of the most important feminist icons in history.
10. Who was Indira Gandhi?
Indira Gandhi was considered “The Iron Lady” of India.
Born on November 19, 1917 in Allahabad, India; Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi would carry, from a very young age, politics and the pacifist struggle in her blood and in her upbringing.
9. Both she and her father served as Prime Minister in India
Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi.-
His father, Jawaharlal Nehru , was the first person to become Prime Minister of India, and would go down in history as one of the great nationalists of his country, noted for peacefully leading the independence struggle of his nation with respect to the Empire. British.
Indira Gandhi, then, would serve as a political heir to her father’s ideals.
She served as Prime Minister twice, initially in the 1966-1977 period and subsequently from 1980 until her death in 1984.
8. Indira Gandhi, activist since the age of 5
Photograph of the young Indira with her father.-
Raised in an environment forged by independence ideologies, in a family committed to changing the course of history, the then little Indira Gandhi was only 5 years old when she decided to burn one of her own dolls in the campfire of a protest, based on the fact that it had been made in the UK.
The Nehru family in 1927.-
From that moment on, the enthusiastic activist would participate in numerous events and youth groups where she would develop her vocation towards leadership and politics.
7. Indira Gandhi has been the only woman to hold the post of Prime Minister in India
Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India.-
Like her father, Indira Gandhi transcended in universal history as an icon in the independence of India being, in addition, the first and only woman to hold a position of such magnitude in a country as traditionalist as the one located on the Asian continent .
6. Indira, always faithful to the pacifist fight
Photograph of the wedding between Feroze and Indira Gandhi.-
Gandhi’s participation in the Congress Party kept her close to both her family and her political interests, as well as the pacifist leader Mahatma Gandhi.
After getting married with the also party member, Feroze Gandhi , Indira returns to her native country and begins to work hand in hand with her father, who had recently been appointed Prime Minister of India.
Together they established a form of political activism that transcended the conservatisms of the time, and would allow that on August 15, 1947 , the independence of India was finally achieved .
5. Were you Mahatma Gandhi’s family?
Photograph of Mahatma and Indira Gandhi, 1924.-
No. Despite sharing the same surname, neither Indira nor her husband were related to the pacifist leader.
The pacifist figures had the same surname, despite not being family.
The couple, who got married on March 26, 1942, were the focus of conservative glances that did not conceive that a Hindu girl would decide to marry, voluntarily, a young Persi . However, between the infidelities of the spouse and Indira’s priorities in politics and social welfare, the union was concluded in 1960.
4. The heroine behind the birth of Bangladesh
Gandhi’s first term in office was between 1966 and 1970.
In the framework of the war in Pakistan , specifically in 1966, Indira Gandhi began her tenure as Prime Minister of India.
Given the humanitarian crisis caused by the disasters of the war, a massive number of people moved daily to the border of the eastern country, fleeing the mishaps of the war.
Gandhi not only set about establishing policies that would welcome and provide refuge for those in need, but decided to organize an army to East Pakistan . The triumphal return of the troops would not only mean the birth of Bangladesh , but the consolidation of Indira Gandhi as a figure determined to act according to her ideological principles.
3. Indira Gandhi and her close relationship with Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher with Indira Gandhi.-
Contradictory as it may seem, the years gave Gandhi a friend in the diplomatic world, specifically, with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Both political leaders got mutual support in their diplomatic friendship.
As female leaders in the politics of the controversial 20th century , they met in 1976 and, from then on, until the attack on Thatcher and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, they both managed admirable mutual support.
Despite Thatcher’s death threats in the face of her own political complications, the prime minister chose to ignore any warnings and selflessly attended Gandhi’s funeral.
2. Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984
Indira Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984 in New Delhi, India.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her bodyguards on October 31, 1984 when she was 66 years old . Undercover members of the Sikh – a sect from the Punjab region , contrary to the prime minister’s policies – gave her 31 bullet wounds that caused her death.
1. Indira Gandhi, one of the most respected women of her time
Photograph of Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) .-
The policy of Gandhi is founded on the basis of the welfare of mankind. Her tenure as Prime Minister of India not only provided remarkable progress in the field of agriculture and the economy of her country, but also started from progressive ideals to resolve many of the conflicts that arose in both terms of office.
“To free herself, women must feel free, not to rival men, but free in their abilities and personality” – Indira Gandhi
