History in Flux

Indira Gandhi and the ‘Great All-Party Campaign’ for the Protection of the Cow, 1966–8

Bibliographic Data

ID10074535
AuthorsIan Copland (Monash University, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume49
Issue2
Pages410-439
Publication date2014-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0022009413515535
OpenAlexW2050728376
LanguageEN
Citations received7

This article contends that the late 1960s, a period rife with crises in Indian political and economic affairs, merits close attention from historians wanting to construct narratives of the country's post-Independence experience. More particularly it demonstrates how the challenge posed to the Congress-led Government of India by one of these crises – an agitation for central cow-protection legislation, which arrived at a crucial moment in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's first term – proved, against the odds, to be the making of her as a politician and a national leader. At two levels, then, this is an article about ‘turning points' and their application to the writing of contemporary Indian history: for if the late 1960s marked a turning point in the larger Indian story, so, too, they marked a decisive break in the biography of Mrs Indira Gandhi

Aesthetics · Art · Biography · Economic history · Government (linguistics · Independence (probability theory · Legislation · Literature · Narrative · Period (music · Political science · Politics · Prime minister · Turning point · History · Indian History and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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