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Know some interesting facts about Indira’s younger son Sanjay Gandhi – Birthday Special

Sanjay was born in New Delhi, on 14 December 1946, as the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. Like his elder brother Rajeev Gandhi, Sanjay studied first at Welham Boy’s School and then at the Doon School in Dehradun. Sanjay did not attend university, but took up automotive engineering as a career and underwent an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce in Crew, England for three years. He was very interested in sports cars, and also obtained a pilot’s licence in 1976. He was interested in aircraft acrobatics and won several prizes in that sport. On 23 September 1974, Sanjay Gandhi married Menka Gandhi and the couple were blessed with a son Varun Gandhi.

He was the man of his own wisdom. He never contested the election but was having a most prominent role in the government. In one famous example, Inder Kumar Gujral resigned from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. when Sanjay attempted to direct the affairs of his ministry and give him orders. Gujral is reported to have angrily rebuked Sanjay and refused to take orders from an unelected person. Gujral was replaced by Vidya Charan Shukla, a Sanjay Gandhi acolyte. In another incident, after popular Bollywood singer Kishore Kumar refused to sing at a function of the Indian Youth Congress, his songs were banned on All India Radio upon Gandhi’s insistence.

Another example of his dictatorship was seen when he abolished more than 70,000 people from tenement just to have a clear view of Jama Masjid. Sanjay Gandhi, accompanied by Jagmohan the vice-chairman of Delhi Development Authority(DDA), was reportedly irked during his visit to Turkman Gate in Old Delhi area that he couldn’t see the grand old Jama Masjid because of the maze of tenements. On 13 April 1976, the DDA team bulldozed the tenements. Police resorted to firing to quell the demonstrations opposing the destruction. The firing resulted in at least 150 deaths. Over 70,000 people were displaced during this episode.

In September 1976, Sanjay Gandhi initiated a widespread Compulsory Sterilization program to limit population growth. The Canadian US Political Commentator, David Frum said that “Forced sterilisation was by far the most calamitous exercise undertaken during the Emergency. The IMF and World Bank had periodically shared their fears with New Delhi about the uncontrolled rise in population levels. India’s democracy was a hurdle: no government could possibly enact laws limiting the number of children a couple could have without incurring punishment at the ballot box. But with democracy suspended, the IMF and World Bank encouraged Indira to pursue the programme with renewed vigour. Indira and Sanjay, the self-styled socialists, inflicting on Indians the humiliation of forced sterilisation in order to appease western loan sharks: the irony was lost on them. Socialism, like much else, had been reduced to a slogan.”

Sanjay Gandhi Death –

Sanjay Gandhi died instantly from head wounds in an air crash on 23 June 1980 near Safdurjung Airport in New Delhi. He was flying a new aircraft of the Delhi Flying club, and, while performing an Aerobatic Manoeuvre at his office, lost control and crashed. The only passenger in the plane, Captain Subhash Saxena, also died in the crash. Wikileaks has revealed that three attempts were made on his life before he died in the plane crash

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