GANDHI, INDIRA.   Term Paper ID:20706 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Political career, personal style & leadership qualities of prime minister of India in 1970s-1980s, from education to assassination.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Political career, personal style & leadership qualities of prime minister of India in 1970s-1980s, from education to assassination. Paper Introduction: Indira Gandhi's stunning defeat in India's national election of March 1977 seemed to be a conclusive rejection of her leadership by the Indian electorate. What was even more stunning was her return to power in the election of January 1980. This research examines the personal style and leadership qualities of Indira Gandhi that could account for this unusual train of events. The rule of Indira Gandhi originally stemmed from popular reverence to a family dynasty. The Gandhi dynasty began in 1947 when British military forces finally withdrew their occupation of India. The father of Indira, Jawaharlal Nehru, stood as a politician of great stature. He was charismatic, possessed tactical skills, exhibited stubborn but nonviolent resistance to British rule, and befriended the legendary spiritual leader Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Mrs. Gandhi took the reemergence of ethnic conflict, and hersubsequent reelection in 198 , as vindication of her harsh politicalmeasures in the 197 s. This research examines the personal style andleadership qualities of Indira Gandhi that could account for this unusualtrain of events. Herintolerance for opposing viewpoints fractured the once-monolithic rulingparty into competing factions, a split which never healed. On the first day of theemergency decree, the government arrested more than 6 'dissidents'; bythe end of the first week, more than 1,2 Indians had been arrested. Foreigncorrespondents had to submit their articles for publication in newspapersoutside of India to a censorship board or face expulsion. Shecajoled the parliament into approving the Constitution Bill, an omnibusconstitutional amendment that virtually rewrote the nation's constitution.It enlarged the powers of the prime minister at the expense of the courtsand the presidency, including the suspension of judicial review and thecreation of additional constitutional amendments through a simple executiveorder. (1981, Summer). The Gandhi dynasty began in 1947 when Britishmilitary forces finally withdrew their occupation of India. He wascharismatic, possessed tactical skills, exhibited stubborn but nonviolentresistance to British rule, and befriended the legendary spiritual leaderMahatma Gandhi (no relation to Indira). Indira Gandhi lacked Nehru's tolerance and his cunning andattempted to make up for it through sheer repression. Not only was Indira Gandhi aloof from the citizenry, she also did notshare the Fabian values of her father. Nehru was educated in England at Harrow and Cambridge, where helearned and adopted the principles of Fabian socialism. In economics, that translates into a moderate form ofsocialism; in politics, it means democracy. The samefate befell Gujarat immediately afterward. Gandhi was returned to office in the national election of 198 amidan India being torn apart by ethnic strife. Many in the business community andthe public applauded these efforts. Indira Gandhi governed much like she preached. Mrs. Gandhi's stringent economic reformmeasures at first were somewhat successful. (1978). In June 1984, Mrs. Gandhi sent troops to quell a Sikhprotest at Amritsar. Thegovernment banned 26 different political organizations and clamped downsevere censorship restrictions on the press (Mieman, 1981, p. Her style of leadership rapidlyconfounded party members when she began unseating her rivals from positionsof authority, showing little inclination to tolerate dissent. The Fabiandoctrine regards equality as the highest of all principles. Seizing strong authoritarian powers over the economy did succeed inproducing some positive results. After havingflouted one social convention by marrying Parsi journalist, Feroze Gandhi,she broke another social norm by divorcing Feroze a short time later.Indira's younger son, Sanjay, also showed an aura of rebellion againstcustom by marrying a Sikh. Klieman, A. Although Gandhi had usurped so much authority as to justifiably belabelled a tyrant, she did not cancel national elections-probably out of afirm belief that she would be reelected. Nehru was ableto hold India together through charisma, tolerance, negotiations andcunning. 25 ). Although it may beharder to organize an opposition to a strict, authoritarian regime,whatever opposition does emerge is likely to be every bit as intolerant andviolent as the regime itself. Under Nehru'sleadership, his Congress party dominated all levels of national government,winning three straight parliamentary majorities between 1952 and 1962, andushering in an era of unity to an otherwise ethnically diverse nation. Nehru acquired legendary status himself and was widelyadmired among the Indian populace (Klieman, 1981, pp. Political Science Quarterly, 96, pp. Thissocial conflict provided the backdrop and pretext for Gandhi's recourse togovernment by decree in 1975. 24 -243). The bill codified the state of emergency and thus undermined thecourt challenges to Gandhi's usurped authority. India, the largest democracy in the world,was deeply divided along ethnic and religious grounds as well as socialcastes. (198 ). 241-259. At the beginning of the emergency decree, herCongress party controlled the state governments in 2 of 22 states; onlyTamil Nadu and Gujarat remained in the hands of an opposition party. Eventually,nothing could be read or heard in the media that was critical of Gandhi'sregime (Klieman, 1981, p. References Gandhi, I. In her book, My Truth (198 ), Indira Gandhioutlined various principles of life and governance that, at times, echoedof arrogance and absolutism. What perhaps is more telling of her repressive andintolerant manner was her assassination a few years later. Aftera short period of tolerating the presence of opposition control of thesetwo states, Gandhi invoked her new constitutional authority and dissolvedthe government of Tamil Nadu on charges of plotting secession. Although very little of the Fabian school ofthought could be found in her attitudes toward politics and religion, shenevertheless continued to advocate an economic program of populism thatincluded land reforms, construction of rural housing, liquidation of ruralindebtedness, abolition of bonded labor, expansion of worker participationin industry, and the enhancement of employment opportunities for women. That would seem to be the final lessonlearned from the style and manner of Indira Gandhi. Sahgal, N. New Delhi:Vikas Publishing House.----------------------- 8 Indira Gandhi: Emergence and style. The father ofIndira, Jawaharlal Nehru, stood as a politician of great stature. Indira Gandhi's stunning defeat in India's national election of March1977 seemed to be a conclusive rejection of her leadership by the Indianelectorate. In June of 1975 the government introduced press censorshipfor the first time since independence. In Jammu andKashmir, the Indian state with a Muslim majority, there was a similarseparatist movement. The ousting of Indira Gandhi was widely seen as a reaffirmation ofdemocracy in India. Whenthe courts attempted to intervene on behalf of civil liberties, they weresoundly rebuked. Industrial production rose,public services improved, prices stabilized, and the number of work dayslost because of labor disputes reduced. For example, on September 15, 1975, the Delhi High Courtruled that the editor of the Indian Express had been unconstitutionallyarrested at the onset of the emergency rule. Social problems wereripe inside India under the leadership of Mrs. Gandhi in the 197 s. Indira Gandhi assumed leadership of the Congress party and governmentshortly after Nehru died of a stroke. Unlike Nehru, Indira Gandhi remained aloof from the Indian people.She defied prevailing customs by marrying outside her Hindu religion afterstudying history and anthropology at Oxford University. After a court found her guilty of illegal campaignpractices in the 1971 elections and tried to remove her from office, Mrs.Gandhi responded by declaring a state of emergency, arresting her critics,and imposing rigid censorship on the media-all under the justification ofrestoring law and order in society. To the surprise of mostobservers, however, Mrs. Gandhi and her Congress party were defeated in the1977 elections, winning only 34.5% of the popular vote. Once the clouds of fearand uneasiness lifted, it was Indian politics and factionalism as usual. The rule of Indira Gandhi originally stemmed from popular reverenceto a family dynasty. But IndiraGandhi did precisely that. By the end of 1976, theIndian Constitution had become more or less a meaningless document, subjectto rewriting at the will of Indira Gandhi. He continued to lead India untilhis death in 1964. Accordingly,society should be organized in a manner that maximizes equality ofopportunity. Her older son, Rajiv, went a step further fromtradition when he married Sonia Maino, a construction company executive'sdaughter he met in England. Nehru became the first PrimeMinister of independent India in 1947. Although Indira Gandhi and the ruling Congress party pledged amultitude of economic reforms, and carried out some of their pledges,India's economy remained relatively weak because of the vast size of thepopulation. New Delhi: Vision Books. What was even more stunning was her return to power in theelection of January 198 . The nation's press and media also buckled to the authoritarian powersof Mrs. Gandhi. Much of the authoritarian apparatus was quicklydismantled by the new opposition Janata government; the press laws wererepealed and the omnibus Constitution Bill voided. My truth. The press was prohibited frompublishing rumors, reproducing any "objectionable matter," or publishinganything likely to cause contempt for the government. Religious conflict became ever more heightened with risingpolitical instability in the surrounding countries of Afghanistan andPakistan. The principle of equality inpolitical life requires above all else a respect for the viewpoints ofother individuals and a tolerance for alternative schools of thought(Sahgal, 1978). In the Punjab, India'sagricultural breadbasket, Sikhs agitated for independence. More than 1,2 Sikhs were killed in that incident.Four months later, Sikhs members of her own bodyguard shot Gandhi dead inreprisal. 247). He was dedicated to secularparliamentary democracy for India and nonalignment abroad. In a series of moves, Mrs.Gandhi managed to break the constitutional authority of the courts. Even India's federalist system of government was eroded under therule of Indira Gandhi. Assuming people are more or less equal, one person orgroup of people cannot claim an absolute monopoly on truth. In March of 1975 Indira Gandhi displayed her zealous penchant forintolerance of dissent. But the price for democracy was very high. Indira's India: Democracy and crisisgovernment. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.