Indian government under the leadership of Indira Gandhi

She joined the National Congress party and became active in India's

independence movement in 1938. In 1955, she was elected to the

executive body of the Congress party, becoming a national political

figure in her own right. Four years thereafter, she was president of

the party. It was finally in 1966 when Indira Gandhi was given her

first opportunity to govern the Republic of India as Prime Minister,

following the death of Prime Minister Shastri. Even though she was

governing as a reserve, Gandhi had her first campaign victory in the

national elections of 1971. For the subsequent years, Indira Gandhi

and her administration had successfully governed India. She was in

office for fifteen years over two terms. However, in her final year in

office, 1984, a hasty decision would jeopardize her leadership for

many years to come. The decision to initiate an attack, with artillery

for a full-scale war, on the Golden Temple complex was one that led to

her downfall and the county's as well.[1] The attack was code named,

Operation Blue Star. The negative effects caused by it were so

devastating; it has been compared to that of the independence struggle

of India against the British.[2] The attack would put India in

repression with revolutions never before experienced in Indian

history. The action taken by the Indian government under the

leadership of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, during Operation Blue

Star, caused widespread negative effects for all sects of Indian

society.

Indira Gandhi's plan to execute Operation Blue Star put her leadership

in jeopardy. By undertaking such an action, Gandhi should have been

prepared for the impact the operat...

... middle of paper ...

...ti, Kaur S. The History of Sikh Dharma of the Western

Hemisphere. Sikh Darma International, 1995.

[15] Mahmood, Cynthia K. Disappearances, Cremations and the Absence of

Bones. June 1999.

[16] Mahmood, Cynthia K. Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues With

Sikh Militants. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996.

Pages 61-62.

[17] Pettigrew, Joyce. The Sikhs of the Punjab: Unheard Voices of

State and Guerrilla Violence. London: Zed Books, 1995. Page 57.

[18] UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

[19] Charter of the United Nations.

[20] Mahmood, Cynthia K. Disappearances, Cremations and the Absence of

Bones. June 1999.

[21] Mahmood, Cynthia K. Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues With

Sikh Militants. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996.

Page 82.