Rajiv Gandhi
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{{Infobox Prime Minister
| name = Rajiv Gandhi
| image = Rajiv Gandhi.gif
| imagesize = 200px''''''
| birth_date = [[20 August]] [[1944]]
<!-- Do not add flag icons to place of birth/death, per [[Wikipedia:Don't overuse flags]] -->
| birth_place = [[Bombay]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1991|05|21|1944|08|20}}
| death_place = [[Sriperumbudur]], [[Tamil Nadu|TN]], [[India]]
| nationality = [[India]]n
| office = 9<sup>th</sup> [[Prime Minister of India]]
| term_start = [[31 October]] [[1984]]
| term_end = [[2 December]] [[1989]]
| president = [[Giani Zail Singh]]<Br>[[Ramaswamy Venkataraman]]
| predecessor = [[Indira Gandhi]]
| successor = [[V. P. Singh]]
| profession = [[Aviator|Airline pilot]]
| spouse = [[Sonia Gandhi]]
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
|
| religion = [[Adi Dharm]]
}}
'''Rajiv Gandhi''' राजीव गांधी ({{IPA2|raːdʒiːv gaːnd̪ʰiː}}), born in [[Bombay]], ([[August 20]], [[1944]] – [[May 21]], [[1991]]), the elder son of [[Indira Gandhi|Indira]] and [[Feroze Gandhi]], was the 7th [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] of [[India]] (and the third from the [[Nehru-Gandhi family]]) from his mother's death on [[31 October]] [[1984]] until his resignation on [[December 2]], [[1989]] following a general election defeat. He was the youngest Prime Minister of India (at the age of 40).
Rajiv Gandhi was a professional Pilot for [[Indian Airlines]] (now [[Air India]]) before entering politics. While at [[Cambridge]], he met Italian-born [[Sonia Gandhi|Sonia Maino]] who he later married. He remained aloof from politics despite his mother being the Indian Prime Minister, and it was only following the death of his younger brother [[Sanjay Gandhi]] in 1980 that Rajiv entered politics. After the assassination of his mother in 1984 after [[Operation Blue Star]], [[Indian National Congress]] party leaders elected him Prime Minister.
Rajiv Gandhi led the Congress to a major election victory in 1984 soon after, amassing the largest majority ever in Indian Parliament. The Congress party won 411 seats out of 542. He began dismantling the ''[[License Raj]]'' - government quotas, tariffs and permit regulations on economic activity - modernized the telecommunications industry, the education system, expanded science and technology initiatives and improved relations with the [[United States]]. He also was responsible for sending Indian troops (Indian Peace Keeping Force or IPKF) for peace efforts in [[Sri Lanka]], which soon ended in open conflict with the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]] (LTTE) terrorist group. In mid-1987, the [[Bofors scandal]] broke his honest, corruption-free image and resulted in a major defeat for his party in the 1989 elections.
Rajiv Gandhi remained [[Congress President]] till the elections in 1991. While campaigning, he was assassinated by a female [[LTTE]] suicide bomber [[Thenmuli Rajaratnam]]. His widow Sonia Gandhi became the leader of the Congress party in 1998, and led the party to victory in the 2004 elections. His son [[Rahul Gandhi]] is a Member of Parliament.
Rajiv Gandhi was posthumously awarded the Highest National Award of India, [[Bharat Ratna]], joining a list of 40 luminaries, including Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
As a religious leader, he (like his mother and other family elders) "served as Acharya" of his family Gurudev's ([[Rabindranath Tagore]]) [[Adi Dharm]] Ashram (and Brahmo Mandir) in Viswa-Bharati at [[Shantiniketan]] ([[West Bengal]]) for about 5 years.<ref>statement of Prof (Dr.) Sumanta Niyogi, former of Head of the Dept. of History Patna University, [[Patna]]. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brahmoconference/message/545</ref>
==Early life==
Rajiv Gandhi was born into India's most famous political family. His grandfather was the Indian independence leader [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], who would later become India's first Prime Minister after independence. He is not related to [[Mahatma Gandhi]] despite his name. The Gandhi surname was acquired by Indira Nehru after marrying [[Feroze Gandhi]]. Rajiv and his younger brother Sanjay were raised in [[Allahabad]] and [[Delhi]] with their mother. His parents were reconciled in 1958 in Kashmir but his father, [[Feroze Gandhi]] died from a heart attack in 1960.
===Education===
Rajiv was educated at two highly exclusive private boarding schools for boys: at the [[Welham Boys' School]] and [[The Doon School]], and he later attended university in the [[United Kingdom]], at [[Imperial College London]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]], [[University of Cambridge]]. At Cambridge, he met and fell in love with an Italian student [[Sonia Gandhi|Sonia Maino]], who was there to learn English. Maino's family opposed the match, but Maino came to India with Rajiv and they were married in 1968.
Rajiv began working for [[Indian Airlines]] as a professional pilot while his mother became Prime Minister in 1966. He exhibited no interest in politics and did not live regularly with his mother in [[Delhi]] at the Prime Minister's residence. In 1970, his wife, Sonia gave birth to [[Rahul Gandhi|Rahul]], their first child, and in 1972, to [[Priyanka Gandhi|Priyanka]], their second. Even as Gandhi remained aloof in politics, his younger brother Sanjay became a close advisor to their mother.
==Entry into politics==
It was following his younger brother's death in 1980 that Rajiv was pressured by [[Indian National Congress]] party politicians and his mother to enter politics. Rajiv and his wife were both opposed to the idea, and Rajiv even publicly stated that he would not contest for his brother's seat, but he finally accepted his mother's urging and announced his candidacy for Parliament {{Fact|date=May 2007}}. His entry was criticized by many in the press, public and opposition political parties, who saw the role of Nehru's dynasty intensifying in Indian politics {{Fact|date=May 2007}}.
Elected for Sanjay's [[Lok Sabha]] (parliamentary) constituency of [[Amethi]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]] state in February 1981, Rajiv became an important political advisor to his mother. It was widely perceived that Indira Gandhi was grooming Rajiv for the prime minister's job, and Rajiv soon became the president of the Youth Congress - the Congress party's youth wing.
==Prime Minister==
Rajiv was in [[West Bengal]] when Indira Gandhi was assassinated on [[October 31]], [[1984]]. Top Congress leaders, as well as President [[Zail Singh]] pressed Rajiv to become India's Prime Minister, within hours of his mother's assassination by two of her [[Sikhism|Sikh]] bodyguards. Commenting on the anti-Sikh riots in the national capital [[Delhi]], Rajiv Gandhi said, "'[[When Big Tree Falls| When a giant tree falls]], the earth below shakes" <ref>http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1504/15040190.htm</ref>; a statement for which he was widely criticised. Many Congress politicians were accused of orchestrating the violence <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4130962.stm BBC NEWS | World | South Asia | Leaders 'incited' anti-Sikh riots<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. Soon after assuming office, Rajiv asked President [[Zail Singh]] to dissolve Parliament and hold fresh elections, as the Lok Sabha completed its five year term. Rajiv Gandhi also officially became the President of the Congress party.
Owing largely to the feelings of sympathy in wake of Indira's murder, the Congress party won a landslide victory - with largest majority in history of [[Indian Parliament]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/29/newsid_3314000/3314987.stm BBC ON THIS DAY | 29 | 1984: Rajiv Gandhi wins landslide election victory<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, giving Rajiv absolute control of government. Rajiv Gandhi also benefited from his youth and a general perception of being ''Mr. Clean'', or free of a background in corrupt politics <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/29/newsid_3314000/3314987.stm BBC ON THIS DAY | 29 | 1984: Rajiv Gandhi wins landslide election victory<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. Rajiv thus revived hopes and enthusiasm amongst the Indian public for the Congress.
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi began leading in a direction significantly different from Indira Gandhi's [[socialism]]. He improved bilateral relations with the United States - long strained owing to Indira's socialism and close friendship with the [[USSR]] - and expanded economic and scientific cooperation {{Fact|date=May 2007}}. He increased government support for science and technology and associated industries, and reduced import quotas, taxes and tariffs on technology-based industries, especially computers, airlines, defence and telecommunications. He introduced measures significantly reducing the ''[[License Raj]]'' - allowing businesses and individuals to purchase capital, consumer goods and import without red-tape and bureaucratic restrictions. In 1986, Rajiv announced a national education policy to modernize and expand higher education programs across India. Rajiv Gandhi was the founder of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya System in the year 1986. Rajiv Gandhi can be called the father of telecom revolution. His efforts created MTNL in 1986 and the public call offices, better known as PCOs, helped spread telephones in the rural areas. The work that he did then laid the foundation for a telecom boom in 1990s.
Rajiv authorized an extensive police and Army campaign to contain terrorism in Punjab. A state of martial law existed in the [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]] state, and civil liberties, commerce and tourism were greatly disrupted {{Fact|date=May 2007}}. There are many accusations of human rights violations by police officials as well as by the militants during this period. It is alleged that even as the situation in Punjab came under control, the Indian government was offering arms and training to the LTTE rebels fighting the Government of Sri Lanka. The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed by Rajiv Gandhi and the Sri Lankan President J.R.Jayewardene, in Colombo on [[July 29]], [[1987]]. The very next day, on [[July 30]], [[1987]], Rajiv Gandhi was assaulted by a Sinhalese naval cadet named Vijayamunige Rohana de Silva, while receiving honour guard. Though the embarrassed Sri Lankan President [[Junius Richard Jayewardene| J.R. Jayewardene]] initially attempted to pass off the bizarre assault as "Rajiv tripped a little and slightly lost his balance", Rajiv Gandhi while enroute to New Delhi asserted to [[J.N. Dixit]] who was in charge of arranging that disastrous visit, "What is all this nonsensical speculation. Of course, I was hit." Rajiv's government suffered a major setback when its efforts to arbitrate between the Government of [[Sri Lanka]] and the LTTE rebels backfired {{Fact|date=May 2007}}.
===Bofors scandal===
[[Image:2MGR0011.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Rajiv with President [[R. Venkataraman]] and [[Tamil Nadu]] [[Chief minister]] [[M. G. Ramachandran]] at the unvieling of a statue of [[Tamil language|Tamil]] poet [[Subramania Barathi]]]]
{{main|Bofors scandal}}
Rajiv's finance minister, [[Vishwanath Pratap Singh]] uncovered compromising details about government and political corruption, to the consternation of Congress leaders. Transferred to the Defence ministry, Singh uncovered what became known as the Bofors scandal, involving tens of millions of dollars - concerned alleged payoffs by the Swedish [[Bofors]] arms company through an Italian businessman and Gandhi family associate, [[Ottavio Quattrocchi]], in return for Indian contracts. Upon the uncovering of the scandal, Singh was conspicuously dismissed from office, and later from Congress membership. Rajiv Gandhi himself was later personally implicated in the scandal, when the investigation was continued by [[Narasimhan Ram]] and Chitra Subramaniam of ''[[The Hindu]]'' newspaper, shattering his image as an honest politician, however, he was cleared over this allegation in 2004 <ref> [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3458319.stm Rajiv Gandhi cleared over bribery]</ref>
V. P. Singh's image as an exposer of government corruption made him very popular with the public {{Fact|date=May 2007}}, and opposition parties united under his name to form the [[Janata Dal]] coalition. In the 1989 elections, the Congress suffered a major setback. With the support of Indian communists and the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]], V. P. Singh and his Janata Dal formed a government. Rajiv Gandhi became the Leader of the Opposition, while remaining Congress president. While some believe that Rajiv and Congress leaders influenced the collapse of V. P. Singh's government in October 1990 by promising support to [[Chandra Shekhar]], a high-ranking leader in the Janata Dal, sufficient internal contradictions existed, within the ruling coalition, especially over the controversial reservation issue, to cause a fall of government. Rajiv's Congress offered outside support briefly to Chandra Sekhar, who became Prime Minister. But this support was withdrawn in 1991 and fresh elections were announced.
===Sri Lanka policy===
The [[Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord]] signed was opposed by the then Sri Lankan Prime Minister [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]] and was forced to accept it due to pressure from then President [[Junius Richard Jayewardene]]. In January 1989 Premadasa was elected President and on a platform that promised that the [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]] (IPKF) leave within three months.<ref>[http://www.srilankatruth.com/PeaceTalks/LTTE-SLGTalks.php Sri Lanka Truth<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>In the 1989 elections both the [[Sri Lanka Freedom Party]] and [[United National Party]] wanted the IPKF to withdraw and they got 95% of the vote.
The [[police action]] was unpopular in India as well, especially in [[Tamil Nadu]] as India was fighting the [[LTTE]] [[Tamil Tigers|Tamil separatists]].
Rajiv Gandhi refused to withdraw the IPKF, believing that the only way he could succeed in ending the civil war was to politically force Premadasa and militarily force the LTTE to accept the accord. Meanwhile in December 1989 Indian elections [[Vishwanath Pratap Singh|V.P.Singh]] became the Prime Minister and completed the pullout. The IPKF operation cost over 1100 Indian soldiers lives and cost over 2000 crores.
===Shah Bano case===
{{main|Shah Bano case}}
In 1985, [[Supreme Court of India]] gave a judgement in favour of a [[Muslim]] divorcee [[Shah Bano]] that her husband should give alimony to her. Muslim fundamentalists in India treated it as an encroachment in [[Muslim Personal Law]] and protested against it. Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, agreed to their demands and cited the gesture as an example of "secularism"{{Fact|date=June 2008}}.
In 1986, the Congress (I) party, which had an absolute majority in Parliament at the time, passed an act that nullified the Supreme Court's judgement in the Shah Bano case.
===Assassination===
[[Image:Rajiv Gandhi Memorial bombsite.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The stone mosaic that stands at the exact location where Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in [[Sriperumbudur]]]]
{{main|Rajiv Gandhi assassination}}
Rajiv Gandhi's last public meeting was at [[Sriperumbudur]] on [[May 21]], [[1991]], in a village approximately 30-miles from [[Madras]], [[Tamil Nadu]], where he was [[assassination|assassinated]] while campaigning for the [[Sriperumbudur]] [[Lok Sabha]] Congress candidate.<ref>[http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/11soni1.htm Rediff On The NeT: Sonia checks her emotions, but her interpreter goes full throttle<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The assassination was carried out by the LTTE suicide bomber [[Thenmuli Rajaratnam]] also known as '''Gayatri''' and '''Dhanu'''.
At 10:10 p.m., the assassin Dhanu approached him in a public meeting and greeted the former Prime Minister. She then bent down to touch his feet (an expression of respect among [[Hindus]]) and detonated a belt laden with 700 [[gram]]s of [[RDX]] explosive tucked below her dress.<ref>[http://www.india-today.com/itoday/01021999/rdx.html The Nation: Terrorism: The RDX Files<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The former Prime Minister along with many others were killed in the explosion that followed. The assassination was caught on film through the lens of a local photographer, whose camera and film were found at the site. The cameraman himself also died in the blast but the camera remained intact.
The [[Rajiv Gandhi Memorial]] was built at the site recently and is one of the major tourist attractions to the small industrial town.
[[Image:Rajiv Gandhi Memorial lawn.jpg|thumb|right|330 px|The [[Rajiv Gandhi Memorial]] at [[Sriperumbudur]].]]
As per the [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] judgement, by Judge Thomas, the killing was carried out due to personal animosity of the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]] (LTTE) chief Prabhakaran towards Mr Rajiv Gandhi arising out of his sending the [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]] (IPKF) to Sri Lanka and the alleged IPKF atrocities against Srilankan Tamils. The judgement further cites the death of [[Thileepan]] in a hunger strike and the suicide by 12 LTTE cadres in a vessel in Oct 1987.
In the Jain Commission report, various people and agencies are named as suspected of having been involved in the murder of Rajiv Gandhi. Among them, the cleric [[Chandraswami]] was suspected of involvement, including financing the assassination.<ref>[http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_print.asp?id=266715 outlookindia.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/19980711/19250694.html Probe Chandraswami's role in Rajiv case - Jain report<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
<ref>
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/dec112004/i2.asp.</ref>
The interim report of the Jain Commission created a storm when it accused Karunanidhi of a role in the assassination, leading to Congress withdrawing its support for the [[I. K. Gujral]] government and fresh elections in 1998.
LTTE spokesman Anton Balasingham told the Indian television channel [[NDTV]] that the killing was a "great tragedy, a monumental historical tragedy which we deeply regret." <ref>[http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=70062 We deeply regret Rajiv's death: LTTE<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5122032.stm BBC NEWS | South Asia | Tamil Tiger 'regret' over Gandhi<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
A memorial christened ''[[Raj Ghat and other memorials|Veer Bhumi]]'' was constructed at his cremation spot.
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* http://www.pressbrief.in
* [http://www.cbi.gov.in/judgements/thomas.pdf Supreme Court Judgement by Judge Thomas]
* [http://www.cbi.gov.in/judgements/quadari.pdf Supreme Court Judgement by Judge Quadari]
* [http://www.cbi.gov.in/judgements/wadwa.pdf Supreme Court Judgement by Judge Wadhwa]
* [http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/document/actandordinances/TADA.HTM TERRORIST AND DISRUPTIVE ACTIVITIES (PREVENTION) ACT, 1987]
*[http://www.derechos.org/saran/lanka/3298.html Denial of fair trial leads to Death Sentences]
===Further reading===
* Sachi Sri Kantha; ''Pirabhakaran Phenomenon'', Lively Comet Imprint,2005;641 pp (chapters 24 to 35, pp.207-352, cover in detail the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi)
* ''"Working with Rajiv Gandhi"'' by [[R.D. Pradhan]]
* Mani Shankar Aiyar ''"Remembering Rajiv''", Rupa, New Delhi, 1992
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Indira Gandhi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Indian Prime Minister|Prime Minister of India]]
|years=1984–1989}}
{{s-aft|after=[[V P Singh]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Narayan Dutt Tiwari]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Indian Foreign Minister|Minister for External Affairs of India]]|years=1987–1988}}
{{s-aft|after=[[P. V. Narasimha Rao]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Prime Ministers of India}}
{{Indian National Congress Presidents}}
{{Persondata
|NAME=Gandhi, Rajiv Ratna
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=गान्धी, राजीव
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Prime Minister of India
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[August 20]], [[1944]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]
|DATE OF DEATH=[[May 21]], [[1991]]
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Sriperumbudur]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Rajiv}}
[[Category:Prime Ministers of India]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Indian National Congress]]
[[Category:Assassinated Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Nehru-Gandhi family]]
[[Category:Dosco]]
[[Category:Indira Gandhi Peace Prize recipients]]
[[Category:Bharat Ratna recipients]]
[[Category:Alumni of Imperial College London]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Amateur radio people]]
[[Category:Terrorist attacks attributed to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in 1991]]
[[Category:Suicide bombing]]
[[Category:Deaths by improvised explosive device]]
[[Category:Parsis]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Sultanpur]]
[[Category:1984 Anti-Sikh Riots]]
[[Category:Indian terrorism victims]]
[[Category:People assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]]
[[Category:Terrorism deaths in India]]
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