India : Events after 1960

• 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
industrialization 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

• Lal Bahadur Shastri succeeded Jawaharlal Nehru.

• He became the next Prime Minister of India.
• During his tenure, India and Pakistan went to war
over the Kashmir issue in 1965.
• The Soviet Union tried to mediate between the two countries.
• Lal Bahadur Shastri gave the slogan ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ with which he
highlighted the importance of Indian soldiers and Indian farmers.
• Lal Bahadur Shastri breathed his last at Tashkent in 1966.
 Indira Gandhi

• Indira Gandhi became the Prime Minister of

India in 1966.
• 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 country called Bangladesh.
• 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 political situation in India grew unstable.
• The Allahabad High Court gave the verdict in 1974 that Indira Gandhi;
the then Prime Minister had misused the government machinery during
her election campaign. It led to nationwide strikes and protest.
• During this period, the situation became more complicated
due to the movement led by Jay Prakash Narayan.
• The situation of law and order in the country worsened and 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 short-lived.
• 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 Sikh bodyguards in Indira
Gandhi’s personal security assassinated her.
• During this period, an organization called
United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) carried on a
major movement in North-east 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.
• He faced a lot of criticism in the context of corruption that took
place during a defence equipment deal, especially the purchase
of long-range canons from a foreign company called Bofors.
• Political corruption became a crucial issue in the general
elections that followed and the Congress party was defeated.
• 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 Rajiv Gandhi 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 organization 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.
• The terrorist activities there forced the Kashmiri Pandits to
leave the valley. This problem grew serious day by day and
today it has taken the form of terrorism.
 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 Union 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.
• During this period, the Ram Janmabhumi and Babri Mosque issue at Ayodhya
came to the forefront.
• In the elections conducted between 1996 and 1999, no political party got a
clear majority in the Lok Sabha.
• This resulted in three governments in a short span of time.
• Those led by Prime Ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, H.D. Devegowda and Inder
Kumar Gujral were 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 another war between India and Pakistan in Kargil region over
the Kashmir issue. India defeated Pakistan in this war as well.
 Indian economy
• Right from independence, the modernization 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 Atal Bihari Vajpayee techniques and
increased the production of foodgrains.
• The experiment in cooperative 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 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.
• 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.