Indira was an early environmentalist

Forty-five years ago on December 16, 1971, Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, made an announcement in the Lok Sabha: “The West Pakistan Forces have unconditionally surrendered in Bangladesh. The instrument of surrender was signed in Dacca at 16.31 hours at IST today by Lt. Gen. A.A.K. Niazi on behalf of the Pakistan Eastern Command. Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora GOC-in-C of the India and Bangladesh forces in the Eastern Theatre accepted the surrender. Dacca is now the free capital of a free country.”

Two days later, on December 18, she again addressed Parliament: “All the world admires a deed well done. And I think, with all modesty, we can say that we have done this action well. But let us not forget that the road ahead is still long and very steep, and we’ve many peaks to scale. Let us hope that we can do this with the same spirit in which we have faced this challenge; and that we will go ahead from peak to peak raising our nation to new heights of quality and of excellence”.

What is remarkable in these speeches is the restrain, the economy of words. After winning an extraordinary war in spite of all odds, in face of open hostility of mighty powers like the United States and China, the victory speech was muted, full of controlled maturity that is the hallmark of a true statesman. What a contrast to the high- decibel self-congratulatory chest thumping of the current regime.

That was Indira Gandhi, a woman with nerves of steel, who 32 years after her death is still considered to be the most popular Prime Minister of India. As the nation celebrates her birth centenary, her journey from “gungi gudiya” to “Durga” is much debated and discussed. Loved for her groundbreaking measures like nationalisation of banks and land reforms, hated for the imposition of the Emergency, catastrophic defeat of her party post-Emergency and her triumphant return to power like a golden phoenix emerging from ashes are events that create legends.

So much has been written about Indira Gandhi that there seems to be nothing new to say. However, as the world is facing a major threat in form of environmental crisis, more pervasive and probably far more devastating than any war though less apparent, it is perhaps relevant to discuss Indira Gandhi’s concern and contribution to the cause of environment. Like a true visionary, she had the foresight to understand the impact of global warming while it was still a topic restricted to academic conferences and seminars.

In June 1972, the UN held the first global conference on the human environment in Stockholm. While many developing nations thought of boycotting the conference due to the perceived dichotomy between development and environment protection, Indira Gandhi used this platform to express her opinion that poverty alleviation and environment protection are not mutually conflicting ideas. While she questioned, “are not poverty and need the greatest polluters?” thus drawing attention to the realities of poverty in developing countries, she also stated categorically that “we have to prove to the disinherited majority of the world that ecology and conservation will not work against their interest, but will bring an improvement in their lives”. Indiraji’s landmark speech in this conference laid the foundation for the collective responsibility and the need for cooperation between rich and developing nations that would further develop into key principles of the politics of climate change.

Indira Gandhi’s personal love for nature and her foresight laid the legal and institutional framework for India’s environment policy.

Way back in 1969, India hosted the first International Conservation Union followed by a complete ban on tiger shooting. In 1972, Wildlife Protection Act was enacted by Parliament that facilitated establishment of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. Project Tiger, the biggest initiative of the time to save an endangered species, was launched in 1973.

She spearheaded the Forest Conservation Act in 1980 restricting commercial activities in forests. She saved the Silent Valley in Palakkad, Kerala, responding to peoples’ protests against a hydro-power project that would have destroyed pristine forests and habitat of lion tailed macaques, an endangered species.

In November 1981, much before it became a well-established fact that construction activities on coasts are a threat to ecology, she issued a stern letter to every chief minister of coastal states stipulating that nothing should be allowed within 500 metres of the high tide line in order to maintain the beauty and ecological integrity of the nation’s beaches. In July 1972, she wrote a letter to the then Bihar chief minister asking him to stop some commercial project in Madanpur forest. Her genuine concern for saving forests is indicated by the fact that the letter was written from Shimla at a time when she was in midst of historic discussions with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto after the Bangladesh war.

Known to be an avid bird watcher, she personally tracked the arrival of migratory birds like the Siberian crane. I heard this account from one of her ministers who had the privilege of working closely with her.

Once, while sitting in the garden having a serious discussion, she suddenly looked up and pointed out a golden oriole perched on a branch. The baffled gentleman, himself from a rural background, decided not to be outdone; so he pointed out and named another bird. Indira Gandhi immediately saw through and accepted the hidden challenge, pointing out and naming another bird. So did her minister. It went on for a while before better sense prevailed and they went back to their discussion.

Indira Gandhi had the vision to understand the need to maintain the precarious balance between development and environment. In her words, “The future is at our doorstep. We must endeavour to bequeath to our children not a denuded environment, but a better and richer India.”