The greatest legacy of Indira Gandhi
Today is the 103rd birth anniversary of Indira Gandhi, who is the second woman to head a democratically elected government in the world. The greatest legacy of Indira Gandhi is the liberation of Bangladesh (East Pakistan) from Pakistan in 1971.
Bangladesh today is a less volatile nation with its per capita GDP surpassing its predecessor nations, Pakistan and India.
Very rarely do we see in world history where a war is fought for a just cause. The Bangladesh liberation war was one such instance.
The military operation ordered by Pakistan’s military government led to the genocide of over 3 to 30 lakh people (based on different agencies), genocidal rape of 2 to 4 lakh women, and fleeing of 1 crore refugees into India between March and December of 1971.
Indira Gandhi decided to help East Pakistan as the US President Richard Nixon refused to intervene in East Pakistan.
She stood up to the US, took the USSR’s support, and went to war with Pakistan, which ended with a decisive military and diplomatic victory for India.
Indira Gandhi’s decisiveness, statesmanship, and generosity for victims stood out during this turbulent time. History will remember Indira Gandhi for generations together for this event.