(b. 20. Aug. 1944; d. Sriperumbudur, 21 May 1991) Indian; Prime Minister 1984 – 9 The son of Indira Gandhi, Gandhi was educated at the élite Doon School in Dehra Dun. In 1961 his interest in engineering took him to Imperial College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He left Cambridge before taking a degree and was married to Sonia Maino in 1964.
After his return to India Gandhi concentrated on flying and in 1967 he joined the staff of the domestic airline. For thirteen years he flew propeller-driven aircraft and developed a reputation as a reliable, rather reticent man. Throughout this period he lived quietly with his family in the residence of his mother, who for most of that time was India's Prime Minister.
During the Emergency and after Gandhi remained aloof from politics. When his brother, Sanjay Gandhi was killed (June 1980), Gandhi entered politics with great reluctance and was elected a Member of Parliament in 1981. Within a few months he was made a general secretary of the All-India Congress Committee and acquired significant party influence.
Gandhi's first major achievement was the organization of the Asian Games (1982). He drew on his experience as a pilot by emphasizing the value of technology and modern business methods. When his mother was assassinated on 31 October 1984, Gandhi was sworn in as Prime Minister.
As Prime Minister Gandhi sought to remove many of the corrupt and criminal elements within Congress, whom he excluded from the candidate list in the general election in late December 1984. The election resulted in a massive "Indira wave" which gave the Congress a more than two-thirds majority.
On being re-elected Gandhi moved swiftly to deal with the Sikh agitation. In 1985 the Rajiv-Longowal Accord was signed which granted the Sikhs most of their demands. This agreement was also accompanied by accords in Assam and Mizoram. Gandhi also declared that he would hold party elections and denounced the working of Congress at its centenary session (1985). But perhaps the most significant innovation was the emphasis on modernization of the economy and economic liberalization. This created an access to consumer goods that had been largely denied to Indians under Nehruvian planning.
By early 1986 Rajiv had effected a U-turn in domestic policy. Many of the provisions of the Rajiv-Longowal Accord remained unimplemented and thereafter he resorted to using the policy of force. In 1987 Punjab was placed under President's Rule. This reversal was followed by a dispute with President Zail Singh and the constant shuffling of ministers. The most notable casualty was V. P. Singh, who was dismissed as Minister for Defence.
Politically the single largest blow to Gandhi's reputation was the Bofors scandal which clouded the second half of his period in office. It emerged that large commissions had been paid by the Swedish arms manufacturer in connection with a contract for weapons for the Indian army. It was never established that any of the money had come Gandhi's way but he clouded the atmosphere by seeming reluctant to prosecute the issue.
In foreign policy the emphasis on economic liberalization and technology moved India closer to the West. However the military relationship with the Soviet Union remained. Relations with Pakistan remained strained and almost led to conflict during Operation Brass Tacks (1986). In 1987 the Indo-Sri Lankan Peace Accord led to the deployment of over 50,000 Indian troops in Sri Lanka. The Indian army became embroiled in a conflict with Tamil Tigers and, as the casualties mounted, it was withdrawn in 1990.
Gandhi fought the 1989 general election against mounting opposition charges of corruption and incompetence. The Congress suffered a heavy defeat to be replaced by the Janata Dal coalition. In opposition Gandhi sought to revive the party. When the Janata coalition collapsed, Gandhi offered support to a breakaway faction led by Chandra Shekhar that ruled between November 1989 and June 1991. When the arrangement between Shekhar and Gandhi led to a disagreement, the former called for elections in May 1991. While campaigning for his party in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, Gandhi was killed by a suicide bomber believed to be a member of Tamil Tigers.
Gandhi is remembered as a reluctant politician whose image as "Mr Clean" and as a modernizer who wanted to take India into the twenty-first century was quickly tarnished by his inability to cope with the realities of Indian politics. He sought technocratic solutions to political problems and, towards the end of his period as Prime Minister, became increasingly out of touch with domestic realities.
Rajiv Gandhi
| Political Biography: Rajiv Gandhi |
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| Biography: Rajiv Gandhi |
Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991) entered Indian politics after the death of his younger brother Sanjay in 1980, serving as adviser to his mother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and as an elected member of Parliament. He became prime minister shortly after the assassination of his mother in 1984.
Rajiv Gandhi, India's sixth prime minister and general secretary of the Congress (I) party, was born on August 20, 1944, in Bombay, India. He was the grandson of India's first prime minister, Jawarharlal Nehru, and the eldest son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her journalist, parliamentarian husband, Feroze Gandhi (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi). Brought up surrounded by politics, Rajiv Gandhi stayed out of the political world until the death of his younger brother Sanjay, who had been active politically as his mother's adviser and as a member of Parliament.
Gandhi's early years were spent at the prime minister's residence in New Delhi where his mother served as her father's official hostess. He was educated at Welham Preparatory and Doon schools, both elite Indian institutions. Following graduation from Doon School, Gandhi went to Britain where he attended the Imperial Scientific and Technical College in London and Cambridge University's Trinity College, studying mechanical engineering. His other interests included music (both Indian and Western), photography, ham radios, and flying.
While at Cambridge Gandhi met an Italian student studying English, Sonia Manio. They were married in New Delhi in 1968 and lived with his mother, who by then was prime minister. They had two children, a son, Rahul, and a daughter, Priyanka. Surrounded by political figures, the family nonetheless managed to keep its personal life out of the public eye.
Although he studied mechanical engineering, Gandhi chose to pursue a career as an airline pilot. Upon return to India he got his commercial pilot's license and joined Indian Airlines, the domestic carrier. He remained in this position until he entered politics.
Entrance into Politics
In June 1980 Sanjay Gandhi was killed while learning to fly when the plane he was piloting crashed in New Delhi. He had been instrumental as his mother's adviser in guiding Congress (I) party and governmental affairs from the mid-1970s on. He was also a member of Parliament elected from the Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh state of northern India.
After the death of his brother, his mother urged Gandhi to enter politics. Resigning his position with Indian Airlines, Gandhi served first as an adviser to his mother, and then, like his brother, entered Parliament by winning the seat made vacant by his brother's death. He was elected general secretary of the Congress (I) party and also supervised the completion of arrangements for the Asian Games which India hosted in 1982. Additionally, he remained one of his mother's chief advisers on a range of both domestic and foreign policy matters.
In dealing with party affairs, Gandhi showed little tolerance for those members who were incompetent, corrupt, or sycophantic followers of the Gandhi family. He started to streamline the Congress (I) organization by introducing modern managerial techniques and trying to bring younger, more dynamic people into the decision-making process. With these attempts and his rather gentle, soft-spoken personality, he gained an honorable reputation, although observers often wondered whether he had the political acumen and experience to deal with the knotty problems of state faced by his mother's administration, such as national integration and economic development.
The problem of national integration eventually catapulted Gandhi into the position of prime minister. In the northern state of Punjab demands by the predominant Sikh community had grown for more autonomy for the state, greater retention of the state's resources, and solution of border problems with neighboring states and had combined with what might be termed Sikh ethnic and religious revivalism. A small group of so-called "extremists" held what the government considered to be an untenable position on the issue of autonomy bordering on a call for complete independence. Talks between the government and Sikh leaders faltered, violence erupted, and some extremists were implicated in the murders of Punjab government officials. Those accused and some of their followers sought sanctuary in the Golden Temple, the most holy shrine of the Sikhs, in the city of Amritsar. They were protected essentially by the government's reluctance to violate holy places by sending in the police. The stalemate continued for about three years.
In the meantime, however, violence between various factions of the Sikh community escalated, and those hiding in the temple were accused of directing the murders of other Sikhs who disagreed with their position. Eventually the violence spread to the non-Sikh, primarily the Hindu population of Punjab. As it did, the government decided it had to act. In June 1984 troops were sent into the temple complex. During the armed confrontation most of those in the temple were killed, and hundreds of others throughout the Punjab were arrested. The government's action shocked the Sikh community and threats were made against the lives of the prime minister and other high ranking officials. The threat against Indira Gandhi was carried out on October 31, 1984, when Sikh members of her own bodyguard assassinated her.
Becomes Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi was then chosen by his party as prime minister. General elections to Parliament which normally would have been held in January 1985 were held one month early at the end of December 1984. The Congress (I) party won an overwhelming majority, securing 401 out of 508 contested seats. This was better than any previous electoral victory. Gandhi proved himself as a tireless and effective campaigner in the weeks preceding the election and was widely credited, along with an improved economy, with the party's success. His standing within the party was also improved by his denial of electoral districts to party members considered to be corrupt. In March 1985 elections were also held in 11 states for the states' assemblies. Although the Congress (I) party did not win in all 11, it did win in eight, and again Gandhi was credited with the success. He refused to let numbers of corrupt politicians run on the Congress (I) ticket.
Yet observers were skeptical. Gandhi entered politics and became prime minister as a result of his mother's death. Whether or not Gandhi's instincts about public policy could compensate for a lack of experience remained to be seen. He appeared to be off to a promising start in 1985 by initiating new talks with the Sikhs and attempting to streamline and modernize the administration. However, the vexing issues of national integration and economic development were still of paramount concern. With only minor diplomatic successes, Sikh radicalism did not cease during Gandhi's term in office.
Under his 1986-1990 plan Gandhi launched India towards strong economic growth by removing many restrictions on imports and encouraging foreign investment. Beyond this effort, Gandhi was seen as indecisive. Despite the firing of his mother's aides and surrounding himself with a constantly changing array of cabinet members, government corruption continued, including accusations that Gandhi and his party members were receiving kickbacks from a Bofors arms deal.
In the November 1989 elections a former Gandhi loyalist, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, led a coalition to unseat the ruling party hurt by the numerous charges of corruption and incompetence. The Congress (I) party lost its majority and Gandhi was forced to resign as prime minister. Although displaced, Gandhi's opposition to Singh's administration proved tireless. His determination to return to office inspired a campaign in 1991 that political analysts believed would result in an absolute majority for Gandhi and his party. But he would not resume his former position. On May 21, 1991, Gandhi was assassinated by a terrorist bomb while campaigning in Tamil Nadu. Tamil separatists claimed the killing was an act of revenge for Gandhi's intervention in the Sri Lanka civil war of 1987.
Further Reading
For additional information see "Rajiv Gandhi, Super-salesman," Newsweek (June 17, 1985); "Rajiv the Son," New York Times Magazine (December 2, 1984); "India After Indira Gandhi," MacLean's (November 12, 1984); "Indira's Intrigues: India Elects a New Crown Prince," The New Leader (July 13, 1981); "Gandhi's Reluctant Heir," MacLean's (November 12, 1984); Underwood, N.-DeMont, J.al, et, "The End of a Dynasty?" MacLean's (June 3, 1991)
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Rajiv Ratna Gandhi |
For more information on Rajiv Ratna Gandhi, visit Britannica.com.
| Wikipedia: Rajiv Gandhi |
| Rajiv Ratna Gandhi | |
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| In office 31 October 1984 – 2 December 1989 |
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| President | Giani Zail Singh Ramaswamy Venkataraman |
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| Preceded by | Indira Gandhi |
| Succeeded by | V. P. Singh |
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| Born | 20 August 1944 Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India |
| Died | 21 May 1991 (aged 46) Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Spouse(s) | Sonia Gandhi |
| Children | Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi |
| Profession | Politician, Airline pilot |
| Religion | Parsi[1] |
| Signature |  |
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991), the elder son of Indira Nehru and Feroze Gandhi, was the 7th Prime Minister of India from his mother's death on 31 October 1984 until his resignation on 2 December 1989 following a general election defeat. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office (at the age of 40).
Rajiv Gandhi was a professional pilot for Indian Airlines before entering politics. While at Cambridge, he met Italian-born Sonia Gandhi whom he later married. He remained aloof from politics despite his mother being the Indian Prime Minister, and it was only following the death of his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi in 1980 that Rajiv entered politics. After the assassination of his mother in 1984 after Operation Blue Star, Indian National Congress party leaders nominated him to be Prime Minister.
Rajiv Gandhi led the Congress to a major election victory in 1984 soon after, amassing the largest majority ever in Indian Parliament. The Congress party won 411 seats out of 542. He began dismantling the License Raj - government quotas, tariffs and permit regulations on economic activity - modernized the telecommunications industry, the education system, expanded science and technology initiatives and improved relations with the United States.
In 1988, Rajiv reversed the coup in Maldives antagonising the militant Tamil outfits such as PLOTE. He was also responsible for first intervening and then sending Indian troops (Indian Peace Keeping Force or IPKF) for peace efforts in Sri Lanka in 1987, which soon ended in open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) group. In mid-1987, the Bofors scandal broke his honest, corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 elections.
Rajiv Gandhi remained Congress President until the elections in 1991. While campaigning, he was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) group. His widow Sonia Gandhi became the leader of the Congress party in 1998, and led the party to victory in the 2004 elections. His son Rahul Gandhi is a Member of Parliament and the General Secretary of All India Congress Committee.[2]
Rajiv Gandhi was posthumously awarded the Highest National Award of India, Bharat Ratna, joining a list of 40 luminaries, including Indira Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi was an active amateur radio operator, and used the callsign VU2RG.
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Early life
Rajiv Gandhi was born into India's most famous political family. His grandfather was the Indian independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru, who would later become India's first Prime Minister after independence.
Rajiv is not related to Mahatma Gandhi, although they share the same surname. Rajiv's father, Feroze, was one of the younger members of the Indian National Congress party, and had befriended the young Indira, and also her mother Kamala Nehru, while working on party affairs at Allahabad. Subsequently, Indira and Feroze grew closer to each other while in England, and they married, despite initial objections from Jawaharlal due to his religion (Zoroastrianism) [3][4], in March 1942.
Rajiv was born in 1944 in Mumbai, during a time when both his parents were in and out of British prisons. In August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru became the prime minister of independent India, and the family settled in Allahabad, and then at Lucknow, where Feroze became the editor of The National Herald newspaper (founded by Motilal Nehru). However, the marriage was faltering and, in 1949, Indira and the two sons moved to Delhi to live with Jawaharlal, ostensibly so that Indira could assist her father in his duties, acting as official hostess, and helping run the huge residence. Meanwhile, Feroze continued alone in Lucknow. Nonetheless, in 1952, Indira helped Feroze manage his campaign for elections to the first Parliament of India from Rae Bareli.
After becoming an MP, Feroze Gandhi also moved to Delhi, but "Indira continued to stay with her father, thus putting the final seal on the separation."[5] Relations were strained further when Feroze challenged corruption within the Congress leadership over the Haridas Mundhra scandal. Jawaharlal suggested that the matter be resolved in private, but Feroze insisted on taking the case directly to parliament:
- "The Parliament must exercise vigilance and control over the biggest and most powerful financial institution it has created, the Life Insurance Corporation of India, whose misapplication of public funds we shall scrutinise today." Feroze Gandhi, Speech in Parliament, December 16, 1957.[6]
The scandal, and its investigation by justice M C Chagla, lead to the resignation of one of Nehru's key allies, finance minister T.T. Krishnamachari, further alienating Feroze from Jawaharlal.
After Feroze Gandhi had a heart attack in 1958, the family was reconciled briefly when they vacationed in Kashmir. However, Feroze died soon afterwards from a second heart attack in 1960.
Education
By the time of his father's death, Rajiv was away at a private boarding school for boys: initially at the Welham Boys' School and later The Doon School. He was sent to London in 1961 to do A levels. In 1962, he was offered a place at Trinity College, Cambridge to study engineering. Rajiv stayed at Cambridge until 1965 and left the university without a degree mainly because he did not appear in the final Tripos examinations. In 1966, he was offered a place at the Imperial College London. He again left Imperial College after a year without a degree.
In the January of 1965, he met Italian Antonio Maino in Varsity restaurant in Cambridge. Sonia was studying English at Lennox School of Languages (which was not associated with the University of Cambridge) and working at the Varsity Restaurant as a maid. Maino's family opposed the match, but Maino came to India with Rajiv and they were married in 1968.
He began working for Indian Airlines as a professional pilot while his mother became Prime Minister in 1967. He exhibited no interest in politics and did not live regularly with his mother in Delhi at the Prime Minister's residence. In 1970, his wife gave birth to , their first child Rahul Gandhi , and in 1972, to Priyanka Gandhi , their second. Even as Rajiv remained aloof in politics, his younger brother Sanjay became a close advisor to their mother.
Entry into politics
Following his younger brother's death in 1980, Gandhi was pressured by Indian National Congress party politicians and his mother to enter politics. He and his wife were both opposed to the idea, and he even publicly stated that he would not contest for his brother's seat. Nevertheless, he eventually announced his candidacy for Parliament. His entry was criticized by many in the press, public and opposition political parties. He fought his first election from Amethi Loksabha seat. In this by-election, he defeated Lokdal leader Sharad Yadav by more than 200,000 votes.
Elected to Sanjay's Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh state in February 1981, Gandhi became an important political advisor to his mother. It was widely perceived that Indira Gandhi was grooming Rajiv for the prime minister's job, and he soon became the president of the Youth Congress - the Congress party's youth wing.
Prime Minister
Gandhi was in West Bengal when his mother was assassinated on 31 October 1984 by her bodyguards. Top Congress leaders, as well as President Zail Singh pressed Rajiv to become India's Prime Minister, within hours of his mother's assassination by two of her Sikh bodyguards. Commenting on the anti-Sikh riots in the national capital Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi said, "When a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes"[7]; a statement for which he was widely criticised. Many Congress politicians were accused of orchestrating the violence[8]. Soon after assuming office, Rajiv asked President Zail Singh to dissolve Parliament and hold fresh elections, as the Lok Sabha completed its five year term. Rajiv Gandhi also officially became the President of the Congress party.
The Congress party won a landslide victory — with the largest majority in history of Indian Parliament[9]— giving Gandhi absolute control of government. He also benefited from his youth and a general perception of being Mr. Clean, or free of a background in corrupt politics. Rajiv thus revived hopes and enthusiasm amongst the Indian public for the Congress.
Gandhi began leading in a direction significantly different from his mother's socialism. He improved bilateral relations with the United States — long strained owing to Indira's socialism and close friendship with the USSR — and expanded economic and scientific cooperation.[10]
Economic policy
He increased government support for science and technology and associated industries, and reduced import quotas, taxes and tariffs on technology-based industries, especially computers, airlines, defence and telecommunications. He introduced measures significantly reducing the License Raj, allowing businesses and individuals to purchase capital, consumer goods and import without bureaucratic restrictions. In 1986, he announced a National Policy on Education to modernize and expand higher education programs across India. He founded the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya System in 1986 which is a Central government based institution that concentrates on the upliftment of the rural section of the society providing them free residential education from 6th till 12 grade. His efforts created MTNL in 1986, and his public call offices, better known as PCOs, helped spread telephones in rural areas.
Security policy
Rajiv authorized an extensive police and Army campaign to contain terrorism in Punjab. A state of martial law existed in the Punjab state, and civil liberties, commerce and tourism were greatly disrupted[citation needed]. There are many accusations of human rights violations by police officials as well as by the militants during this period. It is alleged that even as the situation in Punjab came under control, the Indian government was offering arms and training to the LTTE rebels fighting the government of Sri Lanka. The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed by Rajiv Gandhi and the Sri Lankan President J.R.Jayewardene, in Colombo on 29 July 1987. The very next day, on 30 July 1987, Rajiv Gandhi was assaulted on the head with a rifle butt by a young Sinhalese naval cadet named Vijayamunige Rohana de Silva, while receiving the honour guard. The intended assault on the back of Rajiv Gandhi's head however glanced off his shoulder. Though the embarrassed Sri Lankan President Junius Richard Jayewardene initially attempted to pass off the bizarre assault as "Rajiv tripped a little and slightly lost his balance", Rajiv Gandhi while en route to New Delhi asserted to J.N. Dixit "Of course, I was hit." Rajiv's government also suffered a major setback when its efforts to arbitrate between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE rebels backfired[citation needed].
With his speech while addressing the Joint Session of the US Congress and India, he famously said, "India is an old country, but a young nation; and like the young everywhere, we are impatient. I am young and I too have a dream. I dream of an India, strong, independent, self reliant and in the forefront of the front ranks of the nations of the world in the service of mankind."[11]
Currency crisis
During the late 1980s, Gandhi's administration failed to slow the 30 percent fall in the value of the Indian Rupee from 12 to 17 to the US Dollar.
Bofors scandal
Gandhi's finance minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, uncovered compromising details about government and political corruption, to the consternation of Congress leaders. Transferred to the Defence ministry, Singh uncovered what became known as the Bofors scandal, involving tens of millions of dollars - concerned alleged payoffs by the Swedish Bofors arms company through Italian businessman and Gandhi family associate Ottavio Quattrocchi, in return for Indian contracts. Upon the uncovering of the scandal, Singh was dismissed from office, and later from Congress membership. Rajiv Gandhi himself was later personally implicated in the scandal when the investigation was continued by Narasimhan Ram and Chitra Subramaniam of The Hindu newspaper. This shattered his image as an honest politician; he was posthumously cleared over this allegation in 2004, however.[12]
Singh's image as an exposer of government corruption made him very popular with the public[citation needed], and opposition parties united under his name to form the Janata Dal coalition. In the 1989 elections, the Congress suffered a major setback. With the support of Indian communists and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Singh and his Janata Dal formed a government. Gandhi became the Leader of the Opposition, while remaining Congress president. While some believe that Rajiv and Congress leaders influenced the collapse of V. P. Singh's government in October 1990 by promising support to Chandra Shekhar, a high-ranking leader in the Janata Dal, sufficient internal contradictions existed, within the ruling coalition, especially over the controversial reservation issue, to cause a fall of government. Rajiv's Congress offered outside support briefly to Chandra Sekhar, who became Prime Minister. They withdrew their support in 1991, however, and fresh elections were announced.
Sri Lanka policy
Then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa opposed the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord, but accepted it due to pressure from then President Junius Richard Jayewardene. In January 1989 Premadasa was elected President and on a platform that promised that the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) leave within three months.[13] In the 1989 elections, both the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and United National Party wanted the IPKF to withdraw, and they got 95 percent of the vote.
The police action was unpopular in India as well, especially in Tamil Nadu, as India was fighting the Tamil separatists.
Gandhi refused to withdraw the IPKF, believing that the only way to end the civil war was to politically force Premadasa and militarily force the LTTE to accept the accord. In December 1989, Singh was elected Prime Minister and completed the pullout. The IPKF operation killed over 2,400 Indian soldiers, and cost over 2000 crores.
Shah Bano case
In 1985, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favour of Muslim divorcee Shah Bano, declaring that her husband should give her alimony. Muslim fundamentalists in India treated it as an encroachment in Muslim Personal Law and protested against it. Gandhi agreed to their demands.[14] In 1986, the Congress (I) party, which had an absolute majority in Parliament at the time, passed an act that nullified the Supreme Court's judgement in the Shah Bano case. This was viewed by many in India, including the Bharatiya Janata Party as appeasement of Muslims. Some Congressmen too believed the same and they influenced Rajiv, to either revoke the act or to pacify Hindu Sentiments too. The infamous opening up of the gates of the Ram Janmabhoomi - Babri Masjid Gates for worship of the Ram Lala Idols at Ayodhya was an event which would go on to haunt India for several years.
Assassination
Rajiv Gandhi's last public meeting was at Sriperumbudur on 21 May 1991, in a village approximately 30 miles from Madras, Tamil Nadu, where he was assassinated while campaigning for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate.[15] The assassination was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) suicide bomber Thenmozhi Rajaratnam also known as Gayatri and Dhanu.
At 10:10 p.m., the assassin Dhanu approached him in a public meeting and greeted the former Prime Minister. She then bent down to touch his feet (an expression of respect among Hindus) and detonated a belt laden with 700 grams of RDX explosive tucked under her dress.[16] The former Prime Minister along with many others were killed in the explosion that followed. The assassination was caught on film through the lens of a local photographer, whose camera and film were found at the site. The cameraman himself also died in the blast but the camera remained intact.
The Rajiv Gandhi Memorial was built at the site recently and is one of the major tourist attractions to the small industrial town.
The Supreme Court judgement, by Judge Thomas, confirmed that the killing was carried out due to personal animosity of the LTTE chief Prabhakaran towards Mr Rajiv Gandhi arising out of his sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka and the alleged IPKF atrocities against Srilankan Tamils. However, it should be noted that the Rajiv Gandhi administration had already antagonised other Tamil militant organisations like PLOTE for reversing the military coup in Maldives back in 1988.
The judgment further cites the death of Thileepan in a hunger strike and the suicide by 12 LTTE cadres in a vessel in Oct 1987.
In the Jain Commission report, various people and agencies are named as suspected of having been involved in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi. Among them, the cleric Chandraswami was suspected of involvement, including financing the assassination.[17][18][19] The interim report of the Jain Commission created a storm when it accused Karunanidhi of a role in the assassination, leading to Congress withdrawing its support for the I. K. Gujral government and fresh elections in 1998. LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham told the Indian television channel NDTV that the killing was a "great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy which we deeply regret."[20][21] A memorial christened Veer Bhumi was constructed at his cremation spot. The International Airport constructed at Hyderabad has been named after Rajiv Gandhi and was inaugurated by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Further reading
- Sachi Sri Kantha; Pirabhakaran Phenomenon, Lively Comet Imprint,2005;641 pp (chapters 24 to 35, pp. 207–352, cover in detail the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi)
- "Working with Rajiv Gandhi" by R.D. Pradhan
- Mani Shankar Aiyar "Remembering Rajiv", Rupa, New Delhi, 1992
See also
References
- ^ A Gathering of Congressmen; Romesh Thapar. (in English)Economic and Political Weekly vol 16 (22): p. 975. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4369876.
- ^ In UP village, Miliband, Rahul Gandhi spend a night in a Dalit woman’s hut, The Indian Express, January 16, 2009
- ^ "Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi" by Katherine Frank
- ^ http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20011217&s=khilnani121701
- ^ Tariq Ali. The Nehrus and the Gandhis: An Indian dynasty. Pan Books, London 1985, Revised edn 1991.p. 134
- ^ Shashi Bhushan, M.P. (1977). Feroze Gandhi: A political Biography. Progressive People's Sector Publications, New Delhi,.p. 75
- ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1504/15040190.htm
- ^ BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Leaders 'incited' anti-Sikh riots
- ^ ]
- ^ http://www.culturalindia.net/leaders/rajiv-gandhi.html
- ^ http://www.congresssandesh.com/june-2005/june2005.pdf
- ^ Rajiv Gandhi cleared over bribery
- ^ Sri Lanka Truth
- ^ http://homepages.uc.edu/thro/shahbano/sb-rajiv.htm
- ^ Rediff On The NeT: Sonia checks her emotions, but her interpreter goes full throttle
- ^ The Nation: Terrorism: The RDX Files
- ^ outlookindia.com
- ^ Probe Chandraswami's role in Rajiv case - Jain report
- ^ http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/dec112004/i2.asp.
- ^ We deeply regret Rajiv's death: LTTE
- ^ BBC NEWS | South Asia | Tamil Tiger 'regret' over Gandhi
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rajiv Gandhi |
- A Profile
- Press Brief in
- Supreme Court Judgement by Judge Thomas
- Supreme Court Judgement by Judge Quadari
- Supreme Court Judgement by Judge Wadhwa
- TERRORIST AND DISRUPTIVE ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1987
- QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database - VU2RG
- Rajiv Gandhi Memorial SEANET Convention
| Preceded by Indira Gandhi |
Prime Minister of India 1984–1989 |
Succeeded by V P Singh |
| Preceded by Indira Gandhi |
Minister for External Affairs of India 1984–1985 |
Succeeded by Bali Ram Bhagat |
| Preceded by Narayan Dutt Tiwari |
Minister for External Affairs of India 1987–1988 |
Succeeded by P. V. Narasimha Rao |
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- How rajiv gandhi died?
- Why was Rajiv Gandhi assassinated?
- What is the full name of Rajiv Gandhi?
- When was Rajiv Gandhi born?
- What told ambani to rajiv gandhi?
- Contribution of rajiv gandhi to society?
- How many child to Rajiv Gandhi?
- Who killed Rajiv Gandhi?
Mentioned in
- The Dynasty: The Nehru-Ghandi Story, Part II - Mother Indira (1997 History Film)
- Vishwanath Pratap Singh (Indian politician)
- Velupillai Prabhakaran (Sri Lankan politician)
- Mission 90 Days (2007 Thriller Film)
- Sonia Gandhi
- K. R. Narayanan (Indian statesman & politician)
- Indira Gandhi (Political Figure)
- P. V. Narasimha Rao (Indian politician)
- The God of Small Things (Historical Context) (novel)
- Was Indira Gandhi related to Mohandas Gandhi? (history)
- Indian National Congress (organization, India – in politics)
- Rajiv Gandhi (Indian politician)
- Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology
- Rajiv
