Commemorations and prayer ceremonies were held across India yesterday to pay homage to the country’s only woman prime minister, Indira Gandhi, 25 years after she was assassinated.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ruling coalition chairwoman Sonia Gandhi, the slain leader’s daughter-in-law, paid tribute at Shakti Sthal in New Delhi, where she was cremated. A non-denominational prayer was also organized for the occasion.
Senior ministers of the Indian Cabinet also attended a function of devotional songs at the Indira Gandhi Memorial in the heart of the Indian capital, where she was shot dead by two Sikh bodyguards on Oct. 31, 1984.
People traveled from states across India to line up early yesterday at the memorial to relive memories of Gandhi, also known as “Iron Lady.”
“She was a very strong woman, but she had a very gentle side to her. A side that very few people know. She was composed and calm,” Sonia Gandhi told the NDTV network.
Functions were also held in various states where provincial leaders and locals laid garlands at her statues and portraits.
The ruling Congress party held exhibitions on her life and times and organized national integration rallies and blood-donation camps.
Indira Gandhi ruled the country for 15 years in two stints before she fell victim to her two bodyguards, who pumped 31 bullets into the 66-year-old leader. The assassination triggered widespread anti-Sikh riots in which 3,000 people were killed over three days in Delhi.
Indira Gandhi has an enduring presence in the minds of most Indians. For many, she remains an idol who connected directly to the poor and underprivileged with her social welfare programs and catchy populist slogans like garibi hatao (oust poverty).
The daughter of India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi achieved food security for India. Under her stewardship India also won a war against Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
For others she is infamous for unleashing the Emergency, the darkest period in India’s democratic history, when political opposition was put down ruthlessly, opponents jailed and the media muzzled for 19 months.
Her memorial in Delhi sees 10,000 visitors every day, the highest visited memorial anywhere in India.
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