Indira Priyanarshini Gandhi
(1917-1984)

Jawaharlal Nehru's only daughter (and no relation to Mahtm Gandhi), Indira Gandhi served as Prime Minister for three consecutive terms and was re-elected to a fourth term in 1980. Mrs. Gandhi had many admirers and many critics. During her third term in office, she declared a national emergency—revoking all freedoms of speech, assembly, and the press. In addition, she authorized curfew restrictions, arrests without warrants, the jailing of critics and opponents without habeas corpus, and surprise searches of offices and homes by tax and investigation bureaus. Throughout this time, however, trains, buses, and government workers came and went on time.

In 1984, Mrs. Gandhi's personal bodyguards assassinated her at her residence. Retaliatory killings, as well as burnings and riots in Delhi and surrounding areas, broke out after her death—exacerbating the tension between Hindus and Sikhs in India and overseas.

[top] Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi. Letter written from Parliament, New Delhi, to Mrs. A. W. W. [Lucile] Kyle, July 23, 1968. Lucile Moore Kyle, director of an importing business based in Montreal, dealt with Indian businesses and people. [bottom] Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi. Holiday card to Mrs. A. W. W. [Lucile] Kyle, December 1972, depicting a tiger from the Kanha National Park.
Both items from the Lucile Moore Kyle Papers, #6340. Gift of Lisa Baskin.

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