India became independent in 1947 ce.
India accepted the constitutional
framework in 1950 and became a
sovereign democratic nation. The Indian
society is multicultural and people of
various languages, religions, ethnicities
and castes live together.
During the initial period after
independence, India needed to solve
different issues of economic, political and
social development. The establishment of
the Planning Commission and emphasis on
industrialisation was a means to achieve
economic development and to eliminate
poverty in India. Successful conduct of
elections and faith in democratic traditions
made it possible for us to achieve political
stability. At the same time, several social
reforms including policies and programmes
for the weaker sections of the society were
sought to be implemented.
The 1960s (Nineteen-sixties) : In the
decade of the 1960s, several events
occurred which had a huge impact on the
political situation in India. The regions of
Goa, Diu and Daman were freed from
Portuguese rule and became parts of the
Indian federation. The tensions between
India and China on the northern border
which had been rising since 1950,
culminated in the war
of 1962 between two
countries. This war
was fought in the
region of the
MacMahon line.
After India
became independent,
Prime Minister Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru led
the country. He was
the architect of India’s foreign policy. His
contribution to the social and economic
development of India
is significant.
Jawaharlal Nehru
passed away in 1964.
Lal Bahadur Shastri
succeeded him and
became the next
Prime Minister of
India. During his
tenure, India and
Pakistan went to war over the Kashmir
issue in 1965. The Soviet Russia tried to
mediate between the two countries. Lal
Bahadur Shastri breathed his last at
Tashkent in 1966. Lal Bahadur Shastri
gave the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’
with which he highlighted the importance
of Indian soldiers and Indian farmers.
Indira Gandhi
became the Prime
Minister of India in
1966. Her decision
making ability was
admirable. Her
decisions regarding the
Nationalisation of
banks and cancelling
pensions of Princes had
far reaching effects. During her tenure,
Pakistan’s oppressive policies in East
Pakistan resulted in a big movement
there. This movement was led by Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman and his organisation,
‘Mukti Bahini.’ This crisis in East
Pakistan affected India as well, because
millions of refugees came to India.
The 1970s (Nineteen-seventies) : The
1971 war between India and Pakistan led
to the creation of an independent countrycalled Bangladesh. Role of Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi's strong leadership was
prominent in this issue. As a part of
India’s policy to use atomic energy for
peaceful purposes, India successfully
carried out an underground test of an
atomic device at Pokharan in Rajasthan
in 1974. In 1975, the people of Sikkim
voted for joining the Indian republic and
Sikkim became a full-fledged State in
the Indian federation.
During this decade, the government
declared a state of National Emergency
on the basis of the constitutional
provisions relating to Emergency. During
this turbulent period, the fundamental
rights of Indian citizens were suspended.
Due to the emergency, the Indian
administration became disciplined, but
the human rights were restricted. The
period of national emergency lasted from
1975 to 1977 and after that general
elections were conducted.
On the backdrop of the emergency,
many opposition parties came together
and formed a party called the Janata
Party. The Congress party led by Indira
Gandhi was roundly defeated by this
newly formed ‘Janata Party’. Morarji
Desai became the Prime Minister, but
under his leadership the Janata Party
government couldn’t last long due to
internal differences. Charan Singh
succeeded him, but even his government
was a short-lived one. Elections were
conducted once again in 1980 and the
Congress party under the leadership of
Indira Gandhi came to power again.
The 1980s (Nineteen-eighties) :
During this decade the Indian political
system faced many new challenges. The
Sikhs in Punjab demanded an independent
state of Khalistan and began a movement
which went on to become violent and
destructive. Pakistan had lent its support
to this movement. The Indian army was
sent into the Golden Temple at Amritsar,
a holy shrine of the Sikhs in 1984, to
evict the terrorists who had allegedly
taken shelter there. One of the bodyguards
in Indira Gandhi’s personal security
assassinated her.
During this period,
an organisation
called United
Liberation Front of
Assam (ULFA)
carried on a major
movement in Northeast India.
Right after
Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984,
Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister
of India. He tried to make several reforms
in the field of Indian economy and that
of science and technology. He took the
lead in solving the issues of the Tamil
minority in Sri Lanka. He promoted the
idea of a united Sri Lanka with internal
autonomy to the Tamil community, but
his efforts in this regard proved to be in
vain.
The Congress party was defeated in
the general elections held in 1989.
Several political parties formed a
coalition called the Janata Dal and
Vishwanath Pratap Singh became the
next Prime Minister of India. The policy
for providing reservations for other
backward classes (OBC) is considered to
be his most important contribution. He
could not continue as Prime Minister due to internal differences in the party. In
1990, Chandra Shekhar became the
Prime Minister of India. His government
was also short-lived. In 1991, during the
election campaign, the terrorist
organisation in Sri Lanka, Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelum (LTTE),
assassinated Rajiv Gandhi.
Towards the end of the decade of
1980s, the unrest in Jammu and Kashmir
had begun. This problem grew serious
day by day and today it has taken the
form of terrorism. The terrorist activities
there forced the Kashmiri Pandits to leave
the valley.
The changes after 1991 : The year
1991 is held to be very important in the
history of the world as well as India.
The Soviet Russia disintegrated into
several different small countries and the
Cold War came to an end. In India, the
Government under the leadership of
Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao
initiated many changes in the Indian
economy.
In the elections
conducted between
1996 and 1999, no
political party got a
clear majority in the
Lok Sabha. Atal
Bihari Vajpayee,
H.D. Devegowda and
Inder Kumar Gujral
worked as Prime
Ministers in this period amongst them.
Finally, in 1999 the ‘National Democratic
Alliance’ came to power under the flag of
Bharatiya Janata Party and Atal Bihari
Vajpayee became India’s Prime Minister.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee tried to establish
a dialogue with Pakistan but was not
successful. India conducted a number of
nuclear tests in 1998 and declared herself
as an atomic power. In 1999, there was
war between India and Pakistan in Kargil
region over the Kashmir issue. India
defeated Pakistan in this war.
Indian economy : Right from
independence, the modernisation of
economy, economic self-sufficiency and
social justice have been the characteristics
of Indian economy. India wanted to
acquire modernity and self-reliance by
establishing industries. We wanted to
establish an economy based on social
justice through planning. For this, the
National Planning Commission was
established that would coordinate
development through the policy of Five
Year Plans.
The Narasimha Rao Government
started economic reforms from 1991.
These economic reforms are called as
economic liberalisation. The Indian
economy flourished as a result of the
implementation of this policy. The foreign
investment in India increased. Skilled
Indian professionals helped reform the
Indian economy. The field of information
technology opened several avenues of
employment in the country. The changes
after 1991 are also described as
‘globalisation’.
Science and technology : Two major
events must be mentioned while describing
India’s efforts towards self-reliance. Dr M.
S. Swaminathan is known as the father of the Green Revolution in 1965. He
implemented new scientific agricultural
techniques and increased the production of
foodgrains. The experiment in co-operative
dairy movement by Dr. Verghese Kurien
led to increase of milk production in India.
This is called as ‘White Revolution’.
India had also made a lot of progress
in the fields of atomic energy and space
research. Dr. Homi Bhabha laid the
foundation of the Indian atomic power
programme. India insisted on using atomic
energy for peaceful purposes like generation
of electricity, pharmaceuticals and defence.
India has achieved considerable success in
space technology as well. In 1975, the first
satellite ‘Aryabhatta’ was launched. Today,
India has a successful space programme
and many satellites have been launched
under this programme. India has also
made considerable advancement in the
telecom sector.
Changes in social field : During this
period, there were several major changes
in the social field in India.
Some of the changes are related with
the issue of the empowerment of women,
and the others are related with the policies
regarding the uplift of the deprived sections
of the society. To promote the all-round
development of women and children, a
separate ‘Department of Women and Child
Development’ was created in 1985 under
the Ministry of Human Resource
Development. Some laws were made to
ensure social justice to women and to help
the implementation of various schemes in
this direction. They include the Prohibition
of Dowry Act, Equal Remuneration Act.
As per the 73rd and 74th Constitution
Amendments, seats were reserved for
women in the local self-government bodies.
According to the makers of the Indian
Constitution, some constituents of the
Indian society were deprived of dignity
and equal opportunities due to the caste
system. The ‘Kakasaheb Kalelkar
Commission’ was set up in 1953 to make
recommendations so as to improve their
condition. In 1978, a commission was
constituted under the chairmanship of B.
P. Mandal to study the issue of the other
backward classes. The policy of reservation
was adopted in order to strengthen the
representation of backward sections in
various services and institutions. The
Government passed the Prevention of
Atrocities Act in 1989 to enable those
belonging to the Scheduled castes and
tribes to live with dignity and respect,
free from fear, violence and oppression of
the upper classes.
Globalisation : Globalisation brought
about many changes in different fields like
economy, politics, science and technology
and society and culture. We have discussed
some of these changes in the above
paragraphs. India has emerged as an
important country on the global scene in
different spheres. India is an important
member of international organisations like
G-20 and ‘BRICS’ (Brazil, Russia, India,
China, South Africa). India has experienced
an important revolution in the field of
telecommunication technology.
Mobile phones, internet and the
communication facilities based on satellite
have spread all across the country. In the
political field, India has demonstrated to
the world how a stable democracy can
function successfully. All this has resulted
in a total transformation in the lifestyle
of Indians and especially the youth. These
changes are visible from their dietary
habits, clothing, language and beliefs.
In the next chapter, we are going to
study some internal challenges before
India.
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