Dr. Diego Maiorano’s article (“The Empress’s long-term legacies,” Oct.31) was a concise account of all aspects of Indira Gandhi’s legacy. Ignored at first, she rose to become a strong and decisive leader. While she succeeded in changing the face of India in many ways, she also created negative results.
The liberalisation of the economy and her promise to abolish poverty were positives as they awakened the poor to participate in India’s democracy. The concept of a welfare state was born out of her promises. The negatives are many. Among them, political corruption resulted from her ban of corporate donations to parties. The principle of the leader being more important than the political party also became the accepted norm.
Shemeela Sasikumar,Thrissur
Dr. Maiorano seems to have missed to mention one important feature of the Indira Gandhi legacy — her bold decision to nationalise major banks, which was an act that helped India weather many a financial storm subsequently.
K.M.K. Murthy,Kochi
Indira Gandhi was truly the empress of India. I still remember her visit to Thalassery in northern Kerala when she mesmerised the audience, including some women who had planned to humiliate her by staging black flag demonstrations. When she made her appearance, they threw away the black flags, much to the embarrassment of the Left parties.
P.U. Krishnan,Udhagamandalam
