RAJIV GANDHI & RAMA'S KINGDOM

by Ved Mehta

This elegantly written book by the renowned author Ved Mehta is a chronicle of a tumultuous dozen years of recent Indian history―from the unsettled conditions that preceded the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to the Hindu revival that followed the assassination of her son Rajiv. As Mehta explores the impulses that brought about the political and economic changes between 1982 and 1994, he also reveals what life is like in modern India, giving us a memorable portrait of an enigmatic land.

Mehta begins by describing the politics that swirled around Indira Gandhi during the last two years of her life―in particular, the growing hostility among Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims. He tells of the Sikhs' demand for special status, their uprising against the Hindus in the Punjab, the government's retaliation, the murder of Mrs. Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards, and the anti-Sikh rioting that followed. He goes on to reconstruct the circumstances surrounding Rajiv's election as his mother's successor; the change in atmosphere from optimism to disenchantment as Rajiv's government became mired in a kickback scandal; Rajiv's loss of office to V.P. Singh in the 1989 election; and his murder, by a secessionist Tamil group from Sri Lanka in 1991. Throughout, Mehta provides vivid details of aspects of Indian history and culture, such as the impact of the accident at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, the debate between the judiciary and Muslim clerics over economic support of divorced Muslim women, the peculiarities of the Indian telephone system, and the effect of television and movies on Hindu revivalism. His lucid and incisive book is mandatory reading for those who wish to understand India today.

Genres: India, Nonfiction

209 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Indian-American journalist Ved Parkash Mehta

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ved_Mehta

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me better understand the socio-political milieu in India during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure as prime minister (1985-89). The author provide very good insight into some of the key events in India in the 1980s, including the anti-Sikh riots in the aftermath of Indira's assassination, the Shah Bano case, the Bofors defense procurement scandal, the early efforts to dismantle the License Raj and the rise of Hindu nationalism. My only complaint is that the book gave scant attention to Rajiv's foreign policy decisions, particularly India's military interventions in the Maldives and Sri Lanka (the latter of which led to Rajiv's assassination in 1991). Operation Brasstacks was notably absent from the book as well.