The -3- Lady Leaders of -3- Democracies:

The Three Outstanding Lady Leaders of the Globe:

Margaret Hilda Thatcher of United Kingdom, Mrs. Indira Gandhi of Indian Union of Democracy and Hillary Rodham Clinton of the United States of America are the three distinguished leaders of the Globe who were distinct in their vision of thought in past, present and in future to recon with. Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Indira Ghandi was the Prime Minister of India and Hillary Clinton is the acting Secretary of State of the United States of America. On analysis one can discover a glorious similarity in their life style, activity and thought.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher of United Kingdom:

Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for the period 1979-1990. She was born in 13^th Oct’ 1925 in Grantham in Lincolnshire of England. It appears that her mindset was influenced in disguise by the activity of her father who had a command over the society as a leader of local Politician. The undercurrent urge for leadership tempted Margaret Thatcher to complete the course of Law and qualified as a barrister even though she completed a course in Chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford.  She became the leader of the Conservative Party in 1975 when the country was passing through a crisis of economic situation suffering with high inflation, high unemployment & stagnation with poor growth rate. On 19^th January 1976, she made a fiery speech in Kensington Town Hall attacking Soviet Union. She said “The Russians are bent on world dominance and they are rapidly acquiring the means to become the most powerful nation the world has seen”. In response the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Unions gave her a nick name “Iron Lady” published in the paper. Since then the word ‘Iron Lady’ has been associated with her name.

Britain never negotiated with Terrorist:

Thatcher became the Prime Minister of United Kingdom in 1979. It is Thatcherism, an economic policy of her own that set the United Kingdom on the path to recovery and long term growth. She never came down under the treat of agitation. In the struggle of agitation subjecting fast until death, She remained firm on IRA even after nine starved to death. She said “Crime is crime” and Britain should not negotiate with terrorists. The strike ended. At last Thatcher established the Anglo-Irish Inter- Government Council, which would act as a forum for meetings between the Irish & British Government. She on behalf of British Govt. gave Republic of Ireland an Advisory role in the governess of Northern Ireland.

Thatcher recaptured Falkland Island:

On 2 April 1982, the ruling Military junta in Argentina invaded the Falkland Island and South Georgia. Argentina government claims that the island belongs to Argentina and is not a British overseas territory. Thatcher asked the British Naval Force to recapture the Island and eject the invaders. Conflict escalated involving into an amphibious and ground combat operation. The conflict continued for months together bringing the loss of life. British lost 255 service men while Argentine lost 649 fighters. On 14^th June Argentine surrendered. Victory in the South Atlantic brought a wave of patriotic enthusiasm and supports for the Thatcher Government. Her personal image had risen to the top which permitted her the Prime Minister ship for the next term.

Brighton bombing:

Thatcher narrowly escaped injury in the Brighton Hotel bombing carried out by the Irish Republic Army killing the wife of a cabinet Minister and many others, on the early morning of 12^th October 1984, the day before her 59^th birthday. Thatcher went there to attend the Conservative Party Conference and she was staying at the Hotel. But however, in the next day the conference was held as per schedule. She delivered her speech in defiance of bombers, a gesture which won widespread approval of courage across the political spectrum and increased enormously her personal popularity with the public.

Thatcher was a catalyst of courage in the international events:

Thatcher was the inspiration who set in motion a series of interconnected events that gave a revolutionary twist to the country’s last two decades and instigated mankind and the millennium on a note of future prosperity. In the event of downfall of Soviet imperialism and the triumph of Capitalism, the almost universal acceptance of the market as indispensable to prosperity – Margaret Thatcher contributed in large extent in that transformation and it is not possible to see how any would have occurred without her active participation. It her fascination with politics led her into Parliament at the age of 34, when she justified her own policy was the best. At the age of 44 she was successful to get a place in the cabinet as Education Minister. In 1975 she challenged Edward Heath for the Tory leadership and she was lucky to win because the candidate of the party’s right wing abandoned the contest at the last minute.

Mrs. Indira Gandhi of Indian Union of Democracy:

Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru who was one of the most important National Leader of India, came into active politics in 1964 after the death of her father. She appeared at first as a member of Rajysabha and later became a member in Lal Bahadur Shastri’s cabinet as a Minister of information and Broadcasting. The then Congress President K. Kamaraj was instrumental in making Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India after the death of Shastri. Gandhi soon had shown her wisdom to win the elections outmaneuvering the opponents. She became the most powerful leader like Margaret Thatcher and had prevailed her own policy and principle without any hindrance.

Indira Gandhi remained as Prime Minister of India for 15 years:

Like Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi remained in the post of Prime Minister for a long period of time because of her popularity in public. She, namely Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi, was prime Minister of the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977 and for another term from 1980 until her death in 1984 by an assassin who was no other person than her own bodyguard. She had been growing up in a political atmosphere because of her father Nehru was being involved very much in National politics. She was born in a house, a center of politics where her Grand Father Motilal Nehru was also the most outstanding National leader. She was educated at Somerville College, University of Oxford, England during the late 1930. In early 1940, she spent time in Switzerland to recover from chronic lung disease. There she met a young Parsi man, Feroze Gandhi. Later she married him in India in 1942 under Hindu rituals. After the birth of two sons Rajiv and Sanjoy Gandhi, their relation was strained and ultimately they were separated. Feroze Gandhi died in September 1960 due to heart attack.

War with Pakistan in 1971:

The Pakistan Army conducted widespread atrocities against the ordinary common people of East Pakistan subjecting to flee an estimated 10 million refugees to India causing financial hardship and instability to the country. Indira Gandhi sent Indian Army against the UN resolution undertaken by American President Richard Nixon supporting Pakistan. But however, India was politically supported by Soviet Union due to Treaty of Friendship when a Soviet veto prevented further action at the UN. India became victorious in 1971 war and East Pakistan turned into Bangladesh. The popularity of Indira Gandhi increased to all time high.

Nuclear weapon Program in India by Indira:

Indira Gandhi knows very well that India is struggling hard to overcome poverty but even remaining under economic restrain the country is compelled to go to produce some kind of nuclear weapon for its safety and integrity in response to the nuclear threat from the People’s Republic of China. Nuclear weapon Program was initiated by Indira Gandhi in India in 1967 and in 1974, India successfully conducted underground nuclear test near the desert of Pokhran in Rajasthan. Because of nuclear research today India had advanced in nuclear technology and now nuclear energy is used for peaceful purpose constructing nuclear reactor and also energy is used in space exploration with immense reputation.

Poverty and corruption was the set back of Indira Administration:

 A period of instability led her to impose a state of emergency in 1975. During emergency the administrator, the police and all other government officials became powerful and corrupt and set a terror of repression over the mass people. She was heartened very much on seeing such affairs and very soon she lifted the emergency and initiated the process of fresh election in the country. This was a major set back of her leadership. She lost the election but she again regained the public faith and came to power in 1980.

Indira Gandhi was fearless in the Service of Nation:

Like Margaret Thatcher She never tolerated insurgency in the country. In 1984, under her leadership, the Indian Army forcefully entered the Golden Temple, the most sacred Sikh Shrine in Punjab, to remove armed insurgent present inside the temple.  She knows that the operation in Golden Temple will hurt the sentiment of Sikh community but as a leader of Indian Republic she deserves the right to protect the nation above the sentiment of community even though she knew it would jeopardize her personal safety. She publicly said “Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic”. She was assassinated on Oct. 31, 1984 in retaliation to this operation. Mrs. Gandhi was a spirit of peace who lived, fought and died for the country to maintain its unity and integrity. She was a pioneer of world peace which was reflected in her activity towards the contribution to the non-alignment movement, in the implementation of socialist policies to upgrade the poor. She was a world leader to think India as well as the entire globe, a better and peaceful place.

Hillary Rodham Clinton:

Clinton was the 67^th United States Secretary of States working under the administration of President Barack Obama. She was fearless and dutiful as it appeared from her visit to few countries and her outspoken speeches.

21Oct, 2009 (Wed) US Secretary of State vowed that US will never establish a normalize relation with North Korea as long as the State has not discarded the nuclear arsenals. She said “Current sanctions will not be relaxed until Pyongyang takes verifiable, irreversible steps toward complete denuclearization”. North Korea has twice carried out detonations of nuclear weapons instead of warning from US. The resumption of six-nation disarmament talks with Pyongyang was initiated but it appeared the progress is very slow. She said the UN nuclear monitoring body known as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should have the resources to ensure that all the nations must comply with the international obligation.

Visit of Clinton to China:

Feb.22, 2009, Secretary of States Hillary Clinton made a visit to China to increase the financial situation of US. She urged China to continue buying US Treasury bonds to support financially the United States and strengthen the administration of President Barack Obama. She said “our economies are so intertwined”. The United States is the single largest buyer of the exports that drive growth in China, the world’s third largest economy. Economically both the countries are inter se depended. However, the visit of Clinton to China had shaken Japan. The defense analyst Hisao Yuwashima said “It is important that the two countries have a friendly relationship, but a military alliance would be dangerous, I fear, because it is not clear how much control the Clinton government has over its military”.

Clinton’s Bio-data:

Clinton was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father Ellsworth Rodham was an English immigrant. In 1965, she enrolled at Wellesley College and in 1968 she elected the President of Student Union.  As a native of Illinois, Hillary Rodham attracted national attention in 1969 when she was recognized as first student commencement speaker at Wellesley College. She successfully carried the course of law after graduation from Yale Law School in 1973. She came to Arkansas in 1974 and married Bill Clinton in 1975.  In 1994, she was the First Lady of United States, when she moved to NY and designed her Health Care Plan. She was elected as US senator in 2000 as the first female senator. She was re-elected in 2006 with wide margin. In 2008 election, Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. She narrowly lost to Senator Barack Obama. After Presidential Election, She was chosen by the President Barack Obama as the Secretary of States of the United States.

Visit of Clinton to Pakistan:

Pakistan, a country born by the division India with the plea of religious identity is now passing through a turbulent state of affairs. People are unhappy because of poverty, unrest and low rate of growth. Every political party attempted their best to acquire power. The easiest path to mobilize public opinion is to raise the slow -gone against India and Kashmir although the leaders know very well that the draw back of the administration was the cause of all roots by dint of which they had to lose the territory of East Pakistan. The religious affinity could not over come the lack of administration and the sufferings of the people of the country. In the midst of unrest military always had taken the opportunity to rule the country with iron hand submersing the democracy. Keeping secret to acquire Kashmir of India by force, Pakistan’s ambition is to build up friendship with neighbor country China & Afghanistan under all circumstances. Pakistan instigated Taliban, al-Qaida to rule over Afghanistan. The 9/11 attack over US altered the situation. Pakistan allied with America but is acting in secret with Taliban and al-Qaida. Hillary Clinton is successful to alter the scenario of Pakistan whereby the army is now forced to attack the territory of terrorist control by Taliban and al-Qaida. It is a great success of Mrs. Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State of Untied States, of course much has to be seen in near future.