Does India have no other leader apart from Gandhi family icons worth remembering?

samirsachdeva

Samir Sachdeva | May 21, 2010



Open any newspaper today and you will find less news and more advertisements remembering the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The ministry of commerce industry, ministry of information and broadcasting, ministry of social justice and empowerment, ministry of petroleum and natural gas, ministry of power and government of Delhi are frontrunners in placing these tributes/ads this time.

What also immediately jars is that the advertisements are from the different organs of the government of India and not from the party whom the leader represented.

Also important is the fact that not many other former Prime Ministers, Presidents or other national leaders have been thus remembered by these GoI ministries in the past.

Does it mean that India has no other icons apart from those from the Gandhi family who are worthy of such posthumous tributes?

Also are there not more befitting tributes to departed leaders than full page advertisements in newspapers?

Even as the rationale behind newspaper-ads as tribute raises questions, our poser still remains if India would have been starved of statesmen had it not been for the Gandhi family.
 

Comments

 

Other News

“Cancer is just a mind game”

Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant, a Padma Shri awardee, inspired audiences for decades through her mastery of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. But it was her journey through cancer that taught some of life`s most powerful lessons in courage and resilience.

Why Swami Vivekananda is the pathfinder for our times

Swami Vivekananda for Our Times  Edited and compiled by Rajiv Sikri, with Introduction by S. Gurumurthy Rupa Publications, 552 pages, Rs 695  

Five ways to realise the potential of India’s handicraft and handloom sector

India`s economic ambitions are increasingly defined by the industries of the future. Semiconductors, electronics, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing dominate policy conversations. Yet one of India`s largest employment-intensive sectors continues to occupy a surprisingly marginal place in ec

Beyond toilets: Why open defecation persists in rural India

Despite the awareness campaigns on sanitation across India, open defecation (OD) is practised openly and widely in both rural and urban areas. Research shows that rural respondents are well aware of the negative impacts of OD, yet this awareness does not lead to toilet construction or use. In rural North I

What unpaid nation builders want from policymakers

The Supreme Court recently described homemakers as “nation builders” and fixed a notional monthly income of Rs 30,000 for them in motor accident compensation cases. The judgment was not about wages. It was about compensation. Yet it inadvertently raised a larger economic question: If a homemake

What the US–Iran peace deal means for India

After months of rising tensions, the United States and Iran have reached a memorandum of understanding called the "Islamabad Agreement." This agreement allows for the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without tolls and provides Iran with relief from sanctions, depending on its complianc





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter