Sonia lauds Indira Gandhi: ‘Even her critics recognised her core personality’

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Saturday that even the critics of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi recognised the “unchanging core of her personality, that defined who she was and what she did”.

She was speaking at the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize ceremony in New Delhi on the occasion of the latter’s 150th birth anniversary. The award was conferred on Pratham, an NGO involved in improving quality of education.

According to Sonia, Indira was fiercely committed to “all-inclusive patriotism; her staunch secularism; her indomitable courage and fortitude; her empathy for the poor and instinctive rapport with the people.”

The former Congress president also hailed Indira’s “unwavering support to self-reliance in all fields, especially in science and technology; her firm belief in the value of education as an instrument of social emancipation and empowerment; and her passionate conviction in environmental conservation and protection of biodiversity, even as India strove for a faster pace of economic growth.”

Sonia’s remarks to highlight Indira’s legacy comes against the ruling dispensation’s efforts to criticise the Nehru-Gandhi family and dynasty politics and devalue the political legacy of the family.

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, is given to people whose work have exemplified Indira’s ideals and causes.

Conferring the award to Pratham, Sonia referred to Indira quoting Swami Vivekananda to say what is important is not what one knows, but what one becomes. Sonia hailed Pratham as a “remarkable institution” that in less than 30 years has “made a name for itself in the field of education, not only in India but globally as well.”