India: Government and Political Challenges Chapter 9 Section 2

Indian Government Federal System: #1 power divided between central gov’t and state gov’t In India Federal gov’t more powerful than state gov’t

Indian Government World’s largest democracy Constitution (1950): individual rights and social services Outlawed: Untouchability Healthcare Federal Union of States 28 states and 7 territories Parliamentary Democracy: #2 Form of government in which power lies in the hands of the political party that wins a majority of seats in parliament Prime Minister: leader of political party wins majority

Indian Government 3 Branches of Government #3 Parliament Two houses: #3 Council of State: members are chosen by the state legislatures: Upper House – Rajya Sabha House of the People: elected directly by the people – Lower House – Lok Sabha Council of Ministers – Cabinet – executive powers

The 2014 general election took place in nine phases in India, the longest election in the country's history, from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha. Indian Elections 2014

Emblem of India Dr. Manmohan Singh Prime Minister 2004 INC OUT 2014 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 2014 BJP Party

Political Parties Many political parties: federal and state level To represent the interests of different caste, language, religious, or regional groups #4 INC: dominated for years – party of independence #5 BJP: Bharata Janata Party #5 Cultural Nationalism - Hindutva Coalition of opposition to INC Coalition: #6 If no party wins a majority of seats in parliament Government in which several parties join to rule - issues

Dividing Forces #7 Divisions: Caste system Cultural Diversity Treatment of Sikhs and Separatism Muslim-Hindu clashes Modern nationality limited

Government Weakens the Caste System #8 Obstacle to Modernization Outlawed Untouchability - Constitution Discrimination illegal Compensatory discrimination: quota system – to help Harijans/Dalit (p.207) Set aside openings for Untouchables Government, public jobs, education Still not fully accepted - Why? gap between law and tradition

Unifying Forces #9 Bonds: Commitment to Democracy Millions of Indians share a common faith Hindu traditions create important ties for the majority of Indians Strong leaders

What force both divides and unifies the people of India? #10 Religion

India’s Persecution of the Sikhs Indira Gandhi was Nehru’s daughter. She married a man named Gandhi who was no relation to the Mahatma. Indira continued industrialization, begun by her father. In 1975 Gandhi was convicted on two counts of corruption in the 1971 campaign. While appealing the decision, she declared a state of emergency, imprisoned her political opponents, and assumed emergency powers. Governing by decree, she imposed total press censorship and implemented a policy of large-scale sterilization as a form of birth control. When long-postponed national elections were held in 1977, Gandhi and her party were soundly defeated. Although very popular at the polls, she faced a great challenge in dealing with nationalist movements among minority groups, especially the Sikhs in Punjab state. The Sikhs sought independence of Punjab, and when they used terrorism, Indira struck back. The Golden Temple -- an extremely holy Sikh shrine at Amritsar was being used by the terrorists as a weapons storehouse and a sanctuary. Indira ordered a military raid on the temple in which hundreds of Sikhs were brutally killed. In the process, the temple was badly damaged. In retaliation, just a few months later on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards. Punjab Operation Blue Star June 1984 was an Indian military operation, ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, under the pretext of removing Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The activists, led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, were accused of amassing weapons in the Sikh temple.

Indian Leaders

Nehru Family

Jawaharlal Nehru First Prime minister of India (1947-1964) Ally of Gandhi Goal: to create a modern industrialized secular nation #11 casteless Secular: without official religion socialism

Non-Alignment Movement

Indira Gandhi #11 Nehru’s daughter. Prime Minister of India, 1966-1984. Continues Nehru’s policies. Faced corruption charges & internal rebellion. Assassinated in 1984 by Sikh assassin Indira Gandhi was Nehru’s daughter. She married a man named Gandhi who was no relation to the Mahatma. Indira continued industrialization, begun by her father. In 1975 Gandhi was convicted on two counts of corruption in the 1971 campaign. While appealing the decision, she declared a state of emergency, imprisoned her political opponents, and assumed emergency powers. Governing by decree, she imposed total press censorship and implemented a policy of large-scale sterilization as a form of birth control. When long-postponed national elections were held in 1977, Gandhi and her party were soundly defeated. Although very popular at the polls, she faced a great challenge in dealing with nationalist movements among minority groups, especially the Sikhs in Punjab state. The Sikhs sought independence of Punjab, and when they used terrorism, Indira struck back. The Golden Temple -- an extremely holy Sikh shrine at Amritsar was being used by the terrorists as a weapons storehouse and a sanctuary. Indira ordered a military raid on the temple in which hundreds of Sikhs were brutally killed. In the process, the temple was badly damaged. In retaliation, just a few months later on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards.

Rajiv Gandhi #11 Liberalization of the Economy Indira’s son. Prime Minister of India, 1984-1989. Liberalization of the Economy Also faced rebellion. Assassinated in 1991 while campaigning Show Assassination Video 16:00 - 31:20 . General elections in November 1989 brought the defeat of Rajiv Gandhi. Officials in his government were accused of taking kickbacks from the Bofors Company of Sweden in a purchase of guns for the army. Vishwanath Pratap Singh, leader of the Janata Dal party, was sworn in as prime minister on Dec. 2, 1989. In March 1990 India withdrew the last of its 50,000 troops from Sri Lanka. The peacekeeping force failed in its three-year effort to reconcile the Tamils with the majority Sinhalese. Campaigning to return to office, Gandhi was killed by a bomb blast on May 21, 1991.

Why do you think India has been able to remain the world’s largest democracy?