Rajiv Ratna Gandhi is a politician in India, prime minister in 1984-1989. Rajiv 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 into a family of politicians. The boy's grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. His mother, Indira Gandhi, was the second longest serving prime minister after his father (from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984). Rajiv's father, Feroz Gandhi, was a renowned publicist, journalist and politician in India.
Two years after the birth of Rajiv, another child was born in the Gandhi family - Sanjay. The boys grew up and were brought up in the house of their grandfather. Despite being busy, the grandfather and parents of Rajiv and Sanjay sought to pay more attention to the upbringing of boys, spending almost all their leisure time with them.
Both brothers received excellent education. After graduating from an elite school in India, Rajiv enters the University of Cambridge, UK, where he studies to become an engineer. While studying at the university, the young man decides not to be involved in politics, like his family, but to become a pilot. In 1965, Rajiv met his future wife, the Italian Sonia Maino.
Returning to his homeland after receiving his education, Rajiv begins his career as a pilot. After some time, he became 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 Sanjay the successor and follower of her political activities. After his tragic death, she convinced Rajiv to take part in the family's political affairs and run for elections to the Indian parliament. Rajiv realized that it was his duty to continue the work of his family, and he took up politics.
On October 1, 1984, Indira Gandhi was murdered by his own bodyguards, who turned out to be Sikh terrorists. On the same day, Rajiv took over as Prime Minister of India. Then he became the head of the National Congress. Thanks to his leadership, in 1984 the party won the parliamentary elections. The death of Indira Gandhi sparked violent unrest, and massive extermination of the Sikhs in Delhi and other regions of India. Within 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, looked for them in cars and trains, beat the Sikhs to death and burned them. The women were raped. According to eyewitnesses, many law enforcement officers turned a blind eye to such atrocities, and some even supplied the outlaws with weapons. In 2009, only twenty people were brought to justice for their participation in massacres and debacles.
To end the unrest in the country, Rajiv had to enlist the aid of the active army. While serving as prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi took all sorts of measures to reform the government system, fought against 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 resigns from the post of prime minister, remaining the general leader of the National Congress.
Death
Being engaged in political activities, Rajiv rarely worried about personal safety. This happened on May 1, 1991. Rajiv Gandhi was supposed to speak at the pre-election meeting from an open rostrum. During the event, a girl approached him with a garland of sandal flowers. She turned out to be a kamikaze terrorist. After bowing and giving flowers to the former prime minister, she detonated the explosives. The explosion, in addition to Rajiv Gandhi, killed seventeen more people. This terrorist was in league with Tamil separatists.
In 1998, a court in India indicted 26 participants in this crime. The convicts were terrorists from the island of Sri Lanka. This terrorist attack was their revenge on Rajiv Gandhi, on whose instructions, in 1987, peacekeeping troops were deployed in Sri Lanka to fight Tamil separatists.
Personal life
Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Maino were married in the winter of 1968 in Delhi. The wedding was celebrated in accordance with Indian traditions. Sonya adopted Indian citizenship. The celebration was scheduled on the same day as the wedding of Feroz and Indira Gandhi. According to Indian custom, Sonya put on her mother-in-law's sari on her wedding day, in which she was getting married.
At first, Indira Gandhi did not approve of her son's choice. She did not expect that Rajiv would decide to join her life with an Italian. Naturally, she would have preferred that the mother of her grandchildren was an Indian. Subsequently, Indira Gandhi did not have a chance to regret that she agreed to this marriage. Sonya very soon learned to speak Hindi and began to wear Indian saris. Sonya's relationship with her mother-in-law became even better when she and Rajiv had children. In June 1970, the couple had a son, Rahul, and in January 1972, a daughter, Priyanka, was born.
After the death of Rajiv, Sonya was very worried. Many believed that she would take the children and move to Italy. But she decided to stay and raise children in India in memory of her husband Rajiv Gandhi.
