FOR a journalist, the seventies were one of the most challenging periods. I was in my mid-twenties and a young reporter at The Economic Times, with politics as my beat. D K Rangnekar, renowned economist and a London School of Economics alumni-who had a Left of Centre and Nehruvian political line-was my editor. He was a national intellectual elite.
The beginning of the decade was quite eventful. In March 1971, Indira Gandhi won by a landslide, demolishing the Opposition. The Grand Alliance of the Opposition consisted of the right wing Swatantra Party, the Socialists, the Jan Sangh and the breakaway of the Congress-commonly known as the Syndicate. "Garibi hatao vs Indira hatao" was the political rhetoric that dominated the campaigning and the elections.
The "Indira wave" eventually swept the electorate. The widely discussed and debated "Indira phenomenon" began with this wave. She was at the peak of her popularity.
I had covered that election as a reporter and, frankly, had not anticipated such a landslide victory. The entire media-there was only the press then, no TV-was hostile towards her. Erudite editors and prominent journalists like Frank Moraes and B G Verghese either condemned or ridiculed her. No self-styled political pundit-cum-columnist anticipated that she would win by such a huge margin.
Soon after the elections, the 'Indira phenomenon' swept the nation. However, to understand this phenomenon-not only the one that was manifested in the election but also comprehensively-it is necessary to understand the political environment in the Indian subcontinent in the seventies as well as the political perception of the elite class.
In the same year, the Pakistani Army invaded East Pakistan. The reason was the fantastic electoral victory of the Bengali Awami League's Mujibur Rehman in East Pakistan. Under the normal democratic process, he would have become the Prime Minister of the whole of Pakistan.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 01, 2024 من Outlook.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October 01, 2024 من Outlook.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Layers Of Lear
Director Rajat Kapoor and actor Vinay Pathak's ode to Shakespeare is an experience to behold
Loss and Longing
Memories can be painful, but they also make life more meaningful
Suprabhatham Sub Judice
M.S. Subbulakshmi decided the fate of her memorials a long time ago
Fortress of Desire
A performance titled 'A Streetcart Named Desire', featuring Indian and international artists and performers, explored different desires through an unusual act on a full moon night at the Gwalior Fort
Of Hope and Hopelessness
The body appears as light in Payal Kapadia's film
Ruptured Lives
A visit to Bangladesh in 2010 shaped the author's novel, a sensitively sketched tale of migrants' struggles
The Big Book
The Big Book of Odia Literature is a groundbreaking work that provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the rich and varied literary traditions of Odisha
How to Refuse the Generous Thief
The poet uses all the available arsenal in English to write the most anti-colonial poetry
The Freedom Compartment
#traindiaries is a photo journal shot in the ladies coaches of Mumbai locals. It explores how women engage and familiarise themselves with spaces by building relationships with complete strangers
Love, Up in the Clouds
Manikbabur Megh is an unusual love story about a man falling for a cloud. Amborish Roychoudhury discusses the process of Manikbabu's creation with actor Chandan Sen and director Abhinandan Banerjee