The Lady Who Really Loved This Nation

I still treat Indira Gandhi as one of  the finest politicians India ever produced. At least, she was a politician with a backbone. She had  a mind of  her own, which she perfectly used to serve the cause of nation. She was, indeed, mired in bundle of contradictions and offered no great resistance to Congress culture wedded with sycophancy. Despite being owner  of iron-will, she was in grip of insecurities. That brought her head on with prominent leading constitutional body like Supreme Court. She was the one who really started the game of weakening Supreme Court after biting the dust due to Allahabad HighCourt’s decision. The emergency period, an evergreen stigma on India’s democratic credentials, prove that she inherited the dictatorship traits found in infamous dictators of the past.

This “dumb doll” was really deceptive, and, no wonder, she was at the receiving end of Nixon’s anger, who  treated  her as “witch” and “clever  fox”. The problem with her was that she had a disturbed childhood, followed by broken marriage, which when got combined with bourgeois set up offered by Congress culture, produced a fractured personality. She had flashes of brilliance in matters pertaining to internal security but other times she remained in possession of her whims and fancies. The Congress Party, which likes of Mahatma Gandhi, believed should be dissolved after Independence, remained in power with all its ills. Against this backdrop, a strong lady like Indira Gandhi had no other option but to share the road with corrupt minds.

We have many legitimate reasons to believe that her flaws in her persona outnumbered her positive aspects. However, it’s undisputed that her love towards nation was supreme. She had perfect global mind, which could argue with egocentric American leaders in tough language. She had the ability to call a spade a spade besides having the ability to follow her own way even as that meant ransacking American wishes. India, if we leave Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has not seen any Prime Minister who articulated  dreams and wishes so well before the global leaders in the post Nehru regime in such a bold fashion. Lal Bahadur Shashtri also led the nation in glorious way but that’s a different story.

Today this nation is in mess. It’s progressing in a manner which has further widened the gap between the haves and the have nots. The Jihadi elements rule the roost, naxalites run a parallel government in this nation, China has increased its influence in Nepal and Arunanchal Pradesh, Kashmir  remains in the grip of  separatist leaders and scams have become the only phenomenon taking place  regularly but our puppet Prime Minster  Manmohan Singh, like Roman Emperor Nero, feels all is well! Imagine the fate of this nation  in hands of likes of Rahul Babas and Robert Vadheras.

India was much safe in hands of Indira Gandhi than in the hands of  mentally retarded leaders of our era, having huge difference in theory and practice. This lady with so many flaws had the sincere desire to keep India’s integrity intact. Her hardcore attitude was better than tendencies exhibited by leaders like Pranab Mukherjee, Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram, which is nothing other than cowardice masquerading as gentleness. We need her boldness and not such pretenders at the helm of affairs, in control of foreign hands, hidden behind the curtain.

She always had a mind of her own

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