I was too young .. .. yet Triplicanites could
make me understand the electoral politics. Clearly there was a wave ~ in houses
the elder generation was for Congress, the youth wre for the newly created
Janata party .. .. and in 1977 – newspapers screamed in bold letters
[was that half page !!] ‘Indira defeated’ ~ nothing else mattered. The man who defeated her
in 1977 Lok Sabha elections was Raj Narain, a freedom fighter and politician
who had won a famous electoral malpractice case against the then PM Mrs Indira
Gandhi that led to her disqualification and subsequent imposition of Emergency
in India in 1975 !!
To
many of Cricket fans – it would be a news that Mohinder Amarnath, the gritty
batsman allrounder, Vice-captain of famous World Cup 1983, did captain India in
an ODI. That was ODI no. 273 – 2nd ODI against
Pakistan at Sialkot. It was not exactly bonhomie. After the first Test in Lahore, which
the home side had dominated, Gavaskar lashed out at the officiating, saying,
"despite the best efforts of the Pakistan umpires to favour the home team,
we have managed to draw the Test and that is a miracle. Before embarking upon
the tour of Pakistan we expected close decisions, but what happened in the
Lahore Test was pre-planned and predetermined." At Sialkot at Jinnah
Stadium, Indian Captain Mohinder Amarnath won the toss - Gavaskar sat the
game out with an injury - and decided to bat. India was 210/3 after 40
overs ~ a good score those days .. Anshuman Gaekwad and Ghulam
Parkar failed; Sandip Patil made 59; Dilip Vengsarkar was all set to make
his maiden century at 94 but
came the unusual stoppage.
In
October 1984, TN Chief Minister MG Ramachandran was diagnosed with kidney
failure, which was further complicated by diabetes, a mild heart attack and a
massive stroke. MGR did survive all that and died much later in Dec
1987. After days of treatment in Apollo [when Greames Road
reportedly was not allowed for commoners ~ huge crowds thronged the Road to get
nearer MGR, anxious of his health], on the night of 5th Nov
1984, MGR left for New York. The
then PM Ms Indira Gandhi visited MGR at hospital on 16/10/84.
She was hale and healthy ! Earlier in Oct 1984, N.T. Rama Rao's visit to
New Delhi led to wild rumours. Four days after his wife's death due to
cancer, he came from Hyderabad in the morning, met President Zail Singh and
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by appointment. He saw no opposition leaders and
made no attacks on Mrs Gandhi. After a "tame" press conference, he
flew back home. This led to speculation that he may have struck a secret deal
with Mrs Gandhi, that he would show no more interest in getting the Opposition
parties together to light her in the coming general elections. In turn, she
will let him rule Andhra Pradesh undisturbed.
You
may or may not like her – but certainly would feel very anguished by the way
she was eliminated. Indira Gandhi, charismatic ‘Iron Lady’ of
India, was assassinated on the morning of October, 31, 1984.
She
was the then Prime Minister of India. The assassination was carried out by her
‘Sikh Bodyguards’ Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. The assassination was the aftermath
of the ‘Operation Blue Star’ carried out by the Indian Army at her
behest. The Indian Army’s June 1984 assault on the Golden Temple in
Amritsar left the Sikh temple heavily damaged. Hundreds of people lost their
lives and this included both the militants and the Army. However, what followed
the assassination was brutal, the recuperations were massive. For the next four
days, the country was engulfed in the fire of riots. The country’s capital bore
the most of its brunt.
Even
to those who opposed her, Indira Gandhi, the first lady Prime Minister of
the country was a tall leader. Despite the Emergency and the Operation Blue
Star, she was popular among the masses. The country was shaken at her
death. On that fateful day, she was on her way to meet British actor
Peter Ustinov, who was filming a documentary for Irish television. He was going
to interview her. At around 9:10 am, Indira was walking through the garden of
the Prime Minister’s Residence at No. 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi. As soon
as she crossed the gate, bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh opened
fired at her. At around 9:30 am, Indira Gandhi was rushed to All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in a white ambassador. Within six minutes of opening firing on
the Prime Minister, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh were nabbed by Indo-Tibetan
Border Police – sadly of the 33 bullets that were fired at Gandhi 30 had
hit; 23 had passed through her body while seven were trapped inside. As
the news of assassination spread, the country plunged to sorrow and reacted
wildly at places. Remember walking from Parrys corner to reach home as
buses had halted. Though the PM of the nation succumbed at around
2.20 pm, it took hours for the official announcement to be made.
The
only daughter of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi was destined
for politics. First appointed prime minister in 1966, she garnered widespread
public support for agricultural improvements that led to India’s
self-sufficiency in food grain production as well as for her success in the
Pakistan war, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. After
serving three terms, Gandhi was voted out of office for her increasingly
authoritarian policies, including a 21-month state of emergency in which Indians’
constitutional rights were restricted. In 1980, however, she was reelected to a
fourth term.
The
match at Sialkot, captained by Mohinder and Vengsarkar stranded at 94 was
played on that fateful day – and as the news of assassination reached, the
match was abandoned, in fact the tour too was called off. Read in
newspapers that the announcement was made with riot police on high alert, not
knowing what the crowd's reaction might be ! but, sadly, to the utter
disbelief, it was reported that people started clapping and went away
peacefully. Indira Gandhi was deeply unpopular in Pakistan, as she had was the
popular Indian PM when Bangladesh was born and Pak defeated in 1971 war.
Today,
35 years after the assassination, her party is in news for wrong reasons. Clashes
erupted in Ernakulam District Congress Committee (DCC) office during the Indira
Gandhi commemoration ceremony. The
programme was disrupted after block vice president Norman Joseph demanded that
Mayor Soumini Jain should be removed from the position. Soon after mayhem
followed with group clashes within the party.
Decades
ago, Indira Gandhi was brutally attacked in Maudrai and a person, Nedumaran
shielded her taking body blows. He
walked out of the Congress to form a regional outfit, the Tamil Desiya Ekkam,
which does not contest elections. After Rajiv Gandhi's assassination,
Nedumaran, known for his strong commitment, was in the news for collecting
funds to defend the 26 accused in the case. He in an interview stated that the DMK
showed black flags to Indira Gandhi. It turned violent. They tried to attack
her. I protected her. Not a single blow fell on her.
Nation
should remember and pay homage to that
strong lady who was murdered this day, 35 years ago !
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
31st
Oct 2019
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