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Lal Bahadur Shastri, the third Prime Minister of India, died in office on 11 January 1966, aged 61, while in Tashkent, then the capital of the Uzbek SSR in the Soviet Union and now the capital of Uzbekistan. His death was officially attributed to heart failure resulting from a myocardial infarction,[1] which has been generally accepted by his biographers and several journalists,[2][3] though the circumstances of his death have nevertheless generated conspiracy theories that he was assassinated.[3]
Background
edit- Previous health concerns
Both during his early political career and as a cabinet minister, Shastri's health had been fragile, and he was known to overwork himself; in October 1958, he experienced a heart attack which resulted in several weeks of hospitalisation.[4] His health caused concern prior to his succeeding Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister.[5] In June 1964, he experienced a second, though mild, heart attack, which did not require hospitalisation, but which forced him to rest until July, when he recovered completely.[6]
- Tashkent Conference
On 4 September 1965, the Premier of the Soviet Union, Alexei Kosygin, sent a letter to Shastri in which the Soviet Union formally offered to mediate a peace settlement between India and Pakistan.[7] Both countries had been engaged in armed conflict since a covert infiltration of Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani forces in August. India accepted the Soviet offer on 18 September, followed by Pakistan on 11 November.[8] Both countries agreed to a ceasefire on 23 September, following a United Nations Security Council resolution adopted on 20 September.
On 23 November, Shastri agreed to meet the President of Pakistan, Muhammad Ayub Khan, for talks in Tashkent, and conveyed India's formal acceptance to the Soviet government on 2 December.[7] Two weeks before the conference began, Kosygin dispatched a personal advisor, Leonid Zamyatin, to Tashkent to finalise accommodations and protocol arrangements. On 30 December, Kosygin arrived in Tashkent with his personal physician, arranged for local doctors to be ready as needed, and personally made sure chefs would be available who could prepare the dishes preferred by the Indian and Pakistani leaders; advised that Shastri was a strict vegetarian, Kosygin ensured Shastri would be served accordingly.[9]
Shastri flew from Delhi's Palam Airport to Tashkent on 3 January 1966, accompanied by a government delegation which comprised Defence Minister Yashwantrao Chavan, External Affairs Minister Swaran Singh, Foreign Secretary Chandra Shekhar Jha, Home Secretary Lallan Prasad Singh and Vice Chief of the Army Staff Lieutenant-General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam. Accompanying the prime minister were his principal secretary Lakshmi Kant Jha and his additional private secretary (and later biographer) Chandrika Prasad Srivastava. India's ambassador to the Soviet Union, Triloki Nath Kaul, and the Indian high commissioner to Pakistan Kewal Singh Choudhary, were also included.[10]
Dignitaries
editGovernmental representatives
editCountry | Dignitary |
---|---|
Afghanistan | Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal (Prime Minister) |
Burma | U Thi Han (Foreign Minister) |
Cambodia | Son Sann (Deputy Prime Minister) |
France | Louis Joxe (Personal Representative of the President, Minister of Administrative Reforms) |
Iran | Abbas Aram (Foreign Minister) |
Japan | Naka Funada (Special Representative) |
Nepal | Surya Bahadur Thapa (Prime Minister) |
Sikkim | Palden Thondup Namgyal (Chogyal) |
Soviet Union | Alexei Kosygin (Premier) |
United Arab Republic | Hussein el-Shafei (Vice-President) |
United Kingdom | George Brown (First Secretary of State and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party) Edward Heath (Leader of the Opposition) Louis Mountbatten (Last Viceroy and Governor-General of India; personal representative of the Queen) |
United States | Hubert Humphrey (Vice President) Dean Rusk (Secretary of State) |
Uzbek SSR ( Soviet Union) | Rahmankul Kurbanovich Kurbanov (Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Uzbek SSR) |
Notes
edit- ^ "Medical Report of the Death of the Prime Minister of India, L. B. Shastri" (PDF). Press Information Bureau. Government of India. 1966. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ Srivastava 1995, pp. 406–407.
- ^ a b Biswas, Soutik (27 August 2009). "Was Mr Shastri murdered?". BBC News. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
- ^ Srivastava 1995, pp. 60.
- ^ Srivastava 1995, pp. 80.
- ^ Srivastava 1995, pp. 107–108.
- ^ a b Srivastava 1995, pp. 330–332.
- ^ Srivastava 1995, pp. 331.
- ^ Srivastava 1995, pp. 343–344.
- ^ Srivastava 1995, pp. 332.
References
edit- Srivastava, C. P. (1995). Lal Bahadur Shastri: A Life of Truth In Politics. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563980-4.
1 month
List
edit- Key
- † Died in office
# | MP | Chamber | Party affiliations | Terms served | Began service | Ended service | Time in office | Overall tenure |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Najma Heptulla (b.1940) |
Rajya Sabha | INC (1980–2004) BJP (2004–2010, 2012–2016) |
6 terms | 5 July 1980 | 4 July 2010 | 29 years, 11 months and 29 days | 34 years, 4 months and 12 days | |
3 April 2012 | 20 August 2016 | 4 years, 4 months and 17 days | ||||||
Manmohan Singh (b.1932) |
Rajya Sabha | INC (1991–present) | 6 terms | 1 October 1991 | 14 June 2019 | 27 years, 8 months and 13 days | 32 years, 1 month and 7 days | |
20 August 2019 | present | 4 years, 11 months and 29 days | ||||||
Ram Jethmalani (1923–2019) |
Rajya Sabha | JD (1988–1994) Independent (1994–2006) Nominated (2006–2009) Independent (2010–2016) RJD (2016–2019) |
6 terms | 3 April 1988 | 2 April 2006 | 17 years, 11 months and 30 days | 30 years, 6 months and 13 days | |
10 April 2006 | 26 August 2009 | 3 years, 4 months and 16 days | ||||||
5 July 2010 | 4 July 2016 | 5 years, 11 months and 29 days | ||||||
8 July 2016 | 8 September 2019 † | 3 years and 2 months | ||||||
Mahendra Prasad (1940–2021) |
Rajya Sabha | INC (1985–1992) Nominated (1993–1994) Other (2000–2006) JD (U) (2006–2021) |
7 terms | 31 January 1985 | 6 July 1992 | 7 years, 5 months and 6 days | 30 years, 4 months and 27 days | |
27 August 1993 | 24 November 1994 | 1 year, 2 months and 28 days | ||||||
3 April 2000 | 27 December 2021 † | 21 years, 8 months and 24 days |
JD (1989–1990, 1996–1998)
LJP (2000–2002, 2004–2020)
Ravi Shankar Prasad
2 years, 8 months and 21 days
7 years, 1 month and 11 days
60 years, 109 days
7 years, 91 days