So Here I Am by Anna Russell

Author:Anna Russell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MBI
Published: 2019-02-08T16:00:00+00:00

Simone Veil

Indira Gandhi

Prime Minister of India (1966–77; 1980–84)

Indira Gandhi served four terms as India’s first female prime minister, beginning with her election in 1966 and ending with her assassination in 1984. The daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, Gandhi was born into a life of politics. Her aggressive war policy and her centralization of power (she ruled by decree during a ‘State of Emergency’ from 1975 to 1977) left a complicated legacy. In 1980, the year she was re-elected for a fourth term, she addressed an audience at the inauguration of a new building complex designed for the All-India Women’s Conference (AIWC), a women’s empowerment group, in New Delhi. ‘I have often said that I am not a feminist,’ she began, ‘Yet, in my concern for the underprivileged, how can I ignore women who, since the beginning of history, have been dominated over and discriminated against in social customs and in laws?’

Although Gandhi publically distanced herself from the term ‘feminist’, her position as the leader of the world’s largest democracy made her, for many, a symbol of women’s potential. In a deeply patriarchal society, she seemed to transcend gender. Perhaps out of fear of appearing weak, she mostly avoided speaking about her sex, and is often called ‘The Iron Lady of India’ – a reference to another formidable prime minister, Margaret Thatcher (see here). In appearing before the AIWC, however, she was paying tribute to a rich history of activism among women in India, dating back to the early 1900s (the AIWC was founded in 1927). Early on, these women-led organizations fought for increased educational opportunities, an end to child marriages and fairer divorce laws, among other issues. In her speech, Gandhi emphasized the need to recognize women as full participants in society. ‘By excluding women,’ she reflects, ‘men are depriving themselves of a fuller emancipation or growth for themselves.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.