India: Death's Return Visit

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Rajiv's greatest liability -- the fact that he was not by nature a politician -- was also his virtue. "Those who talked to Rajiv Gandhi noted the absence of humbug that is so typical of our political leaders," wrote Datta-Ray. Yet many thoughtful Indians and foreign leaders are not at all ready to write off the world's largest democracy. "Indian democracy has weathered such blows before and can do so again," said a senior British diplomat. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith, U.S. ambassador to New Delhi during the Kennedy Administration, called the system "imperfect but secure." Said Galbraith: "The idea that the people of India would surrender their sovereignty to any form of dictatorship is not true. And I would feel sorry for anyone who tried to impose it on them."

What may be the end of the line for the Nehrus and Gandhis may also rid India of the cult of personality and the stranglehold of centralized power. When Indira was elevated to the Congress presidency in 1959, Nehru was the first to abhor the prospect of a dynasty. He later told an American interviewer, "I am not capable of ruling from the grave. How terrible it would be if I, after all I have said about the processes of democratic government, were to attempt to handpick a successor. The best I can do for India is to help our people as a whole generate new leadership as it may be needed." A full generation later, that time of need has come.