Rajiv Ratna Gandhi - politician of India, Prime Minister in 1984-1989. Rajeev Gandhi was the grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru and the son of Indira Gandhi, the only woman in India to serve as prime minister.
early years
Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944 in Bombay in a family of politicians. The boy’s grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, served as Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. His mother, Indira Gandhi, was the second longest serving prime minister after her father (from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984). Rajiv's father, Feroz Gandhi, was a well-known publicist, journalist and politician in India.
Two years after the birth of Rajiv, another child was born in the Gandhi family - Sanjay. Boys grew up and were brought up in the house of their grandfather. Despite their busyness, the grandfather and parents of Rajiv and Sanjay tried to pay more attention to the upbringing of the boys, spending almost all their leisure time with them.
Both brothers received an excellent education. After graduating from an elite school in India, Rajiv goes to Cambridge University in the UK, where he studies as an engineer. Studying at the university, the young man decides not to engage in politics, like his family, but to become a pilot. In 1965, Rajiv met his future wife, Italian Sonya Mine.
Returning to his homeland after receiving an education, Rajiv begins a pilot's career. After some time, he becomes the commander of the aircraft crew at Indian Airways. From 1968 to 1980, Rajiv works at his favorite job, enjoys family life, raises children. This well-being ends in an instant due to the death of his sibling, Sanjay.
Political activity
On June 23, 1980, Rajiv’s brother dies in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances. Indira Gandhi saw in her son Sanjaya the successor and follower of her political activities. After his tragic death, she persuaded Rajiv to take part in the political affairs of the family and run for elections in the Indian parliament. Rajeev realized that the continuation of his family’s business was his duty, and went into politics.
On October 1, 1984, Indira Gandhi was killed by his own bodyguards, who turned out to be Sikh terrorists. On the same day, Rajeev took the place of the Prime Minister of India. Then he became the head of the National Congress. Thanks to his leadership, in 1984 the party won parliamentary elections. The death of Indira Gandhi caused great unrest, and the mass destruction of the Sikhs in Delhi and other regions of India. In a few days, according to official figures, about 2, 800 Sikhs were killed. Crowds of angry people staged pogroms in the homes of the Sikhs, searched for them in cars and trains, beat the Sikhs to death, and burned them. The women were raped. According to eyewitnesses, many law enforcement officials turned a blind eye to such atrocities, and some even supplied gunmen to weapons. In 2009, only twenty people were held accountable for participating in mass killings and routs.
To stop the unrest in the country, Rajiv had to attract the army to help. As Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi took all kinds of measures to reform the governance system, struggled with bureaucracy and separatism. He tried to resolve these issues peacefully, which is probably why the effectiveness of his policy was not effective. In 1989, Rajiv Gandhi resigned as prime minister, while remaining the general manager of the National Congress.
Death
Being engaged in political activities, Rajeev rarely worried about personal security. It happened on May 1, 1991. Rajeev Gandhi was supposed to speak at a pre-election meeting from the podium. During the event, a girl approached him with a garland of sandalwood flowers. She turned out to be a kamikaze terrorist. Bowing and giving flowers to the former prime minister, she fired explosives. The explosion, in addition to Rajiv Gandhi killed seventeen more people. This terrorist was conspiring with Tamil separatists.
In 1998, a court in India indicted 26 participants in the crime. Convicted were terrorists from the island of Sri Lanka. This attack was their revenge on Rajiv Gandhi, according to which, in 1987, peacekeeping troops were deployed in Sri Lanka to fight the Tamil separatists.
