Forgiveness is the virtue of the strong. The weak cannot forgive: Indira Gandhi
Whatever may be her politics, Indira Gandhi had tremendous guts and she was the bravest Prime Minister India ever had. She crushed the Khalistan terrorists. She defeated Pakistan and created Bangladesh. She knew how to handle dissidents, opposition and media. She also taught discipline to Indians through Emergency. What is the use of 56 inch chest and the 303 seats “WE” gave ?
The End !
Are you an Indira Gandhi fan ? Be it Left, Right, Centre or the “Ultra-Nationalist” Indira Gandhi fan. Stop here. Read no further.
Do you want to know the “hole truth” about “The Iron Lady” ? Read on…
The quotable quote in the beginning has been attributed to Indira Gandhi by her sycophants. It is an original verse from Bhagavad Gita by Krishna and was first borrowed by MK Gandhi.
Indira Gandhi was beautiful and elegant. Definitely not like the nose of Tiger Shroff’s doppelganger. But she was called “Goongi Gudiya” or “Dumb Doll” for her total silence in the Parliament. She was a leader in Congress only because of her father. Nothing more.
How did the dumb doll become a ruthless leader ? The answer is Soviet Union.
Though USSR disliked him initially, they became extremely fond of Nehru and his daughter after realising his love for their Socialism. They had begun influencing his policies right from early days of independence. They were infiltrating our bureaucracy, intelligentsia, academia, arts and entertainment fields. It went on unhindered for 17 years. Nehru passed away in 1964 and Lal Bahadur Shastri took over. He was a staunch nationalist and came out with “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” slogan. He wanted a self-reliant India. Soviet didn’t like that one bit.
Shastri was a real jewel in the crown of India. Unfortunately, he went to Tashkent and returned in a casket. There is a tell-tale video of a smug Indira with her coterie receiving the mortal remains of Shastri. Sudden demise of Shastri was followed by a lot of deliberations. USSR offered to conduct autopsy but India refused. The decision was influenced by Nehru’s daughter. Or more aptly, Nehru’s daughter’s decision was dictated by Kremlin.
How KGB managed to penetrate deep into India during 1966 to 1990 has been detailed in Mitrokhin Files. Indira herself fostered the Khalistan movement, especially Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The policy was planned by KGB and executed by Indira. They wanted to divide the emerging Hindu-Sikh unity between Akali Dal and Jan Sangh because it threatened the Congress.
That poisonous sapling planted by Indira was turned into a Frankenstein by Pakistan. Indira could only watch as extremism engulfed the state like wildlife. Operation Blue Star and Punjab clean up were again USSR backed actions. It wasn’t Indira but KPS Gill, who cleaned up the muck she had allowed to pile up in Punjab. Indira met her destiny. “Fall of big tree shook the Earth” and Congress goons slaughtered over 7000 Sikhs in the aftermath.
Even 1% of the credit for Bangladesh war doesn’t belong to Indira. USSR saw a serious possibility of Chinese entering East Pakistan. That was bad news for USSR. Hence Soviet emboldened Indira to back the “Mukti Bahini” and Mujibur Rehaman. Indira called the international community to help diffuse the situation but no help came. USSR remained neutral but it was just a make-believe act. They openly warned Pakistan that the country will be divided into two if they persisted with arrogance and atrocities in East Pakistan.
Indira wanted the war in March 1971 but General Sam Manekshaw refused. He offered to resign. But to give the “Devil her due” Indira agreed to his offer of a “winter war”. Perhaps, Soviets were more prudent. It was a great military victory for India but an economic and diplomatic disaster. Armed forces won us the war but Indira lost all the strategic gains thanks to Shimla Agreement in June – July 1972. It was completely Indira Gandhi’s blunder. Or perhaps, her political advisors, influencers and masters weren’t keen to see India emerging as a stronger nation.
There are stories of Indira Gandhi sending a strong reply to the President of US, Richard Nixon when he asked Indira to stay off Pakistan before the Bangladesh war. Indira responded by claiming, “India considers America as a friend and not a boss. India will decide her own destiny.” But did Indira do it on her own ? The answer is a “Big No”. She had solid backing of USSR and that was the only reason for her bravado. Nikita Khrushchev initially and Leonid Brezhnev later were firmly behind her because Soviet leadership didn’t want China to gain strategic advantage in East Pakistan.
Indira repaid for all the favors bestowed upon her by USSR in multiple instalments. KGB infiltrated every walk of government, ministries, bureaucracy and civil society. Everything was sold to USSR. “Soviet Union” and “USSR”, two glossy magazines promoting Russian brand of Communism were sent to all households with college going students. These magazines were published in both Russian and English. Education in India was already controlled by Leftists. USSR turned it into a complete monopoly.
Indira added the words “Socialist, Secular Republic” to the preamble of Indian Constitution during Emergency. Once again, Emergency was clamped with implicit support of Leonid Brezhnev. Soviet didn’t like Jayaprakash Narayan or Janata Party taking over India. Even after the 1977 election debacle of Indira, USSR continued to back her.
The Janata experiment failed, not only because of internal contradictions. It also was sabotaged by the bureaucracy and civil society driven by USSR. All elections and all her moves were funded, backed and masterminded by her Soviet Masters. It was truly a case of “Allah Meherbaan Toh Gadha Pehelwan”. From being a “Goongi Gudiya” in late 1950s to splitting the Congress party and usurping complete power a decade later, Indira Gandhi became the “Only Man” in Congress.
In a move typical of the Soviet Communists, Indira even buried a “Time capsule” under one of the gates of Red Fort on the Independence day of 1972. She wanted the Post-Independence history of India to be known to future generations according to her narrative. The move fizzled out. But she found an easier and more cost effective method by complete capture of all institutions over the next decade.
Lot of this and a lot more has been detailed in the “Mitrokhin Files” compiled by Vasili Mitrokhin, a KGB archivist between 1964 and 1990. None of these are secrets anymore. Only reason people may find it difficult to believe all this is because the Media almost totally blacked out these facts. Mitrokhin himself went into hiding in UK from 1992 to 1999. His very existence was made public to the world in 1999 and a compilation of his archives came out in print in the new millennium between 2003 and 2020.
“Mitrokhin Archives II” deals with India in detail. It leaves no doubt that Indira was a Soviet puppet during Cold War. Indira Gandhi’s favorite refrain throughout her ruling years was “Foreign Hand”. She insinuated about CIA influence through opposition parties. But the reality was, Indira Gandhi herself was the “Foreign Hand”. She enjoyed scaring people about political interference by foreign powers while KGB silently “bought” over 70 media persons in different Indian languages and planted 3,500 articles in 1972 alone, right under her long nose. We can gauge the magnitude of infiltration KGB had managed.
China just took over from where USSR left in 1991 and captured the space vacated by Soviet. China had even easier time buying Indians. If China was the new Soviet, Sonia became the new Indira with a remote control in hand. Then Narendra Modi happened in 2014 and India suddenly became intolerant. That is for another day.
