It was not so long ago that the most revered member of Rajasthan's aristocracy late Rajmata Gayatri Devi left her mansion to sit on a stretch of pavement to protest against the real estate developers who are aiming to change the skyline of this historic pink city Jaipur.
Her actions were only symbolic, but they clearly echoed the increasing anger amongst the conservationists at the damage being caused by rapid construction in one of the most popular tourist destinations of the country.
With the economic boom, the new explosion in building construction has altered the city's character. Pink city is losing its distinction from other cities, as new Jaipur looks like any other city in India with similar architecture with malls and multistorey buildings covering its skyline.
Founded in 1727, Jaipur is known for its richness of palaces, forts and its walled city, a medieval maze of bazaars. Although, major monuments have been benefited from restoration work, conservation experts are concerned that the rest of the historic city is drowning beneath new, often illegal, construction work.
The famous walled city of Jaipur has also not been left behind with this entire construction spree. Radical alterations are being made to the ancient buildings of old Jaipur without realizing the loss of its original architecture.
With each passing year, Jaipur is in less of gain and more of loss from urban modernization. The question of the peak hour is whether constructions done in a wide scale will leave Jaipur with its own identity which makes it memorable and known as the Royal City.
After Operation Bluestar ended and the complex was still in a state of chaos and disorder, then president Zail Singh visited the place June 8, 1984. Given the impact the incident had on the psyche of people in Punjab and elsewhere, the authorities were in a hurry to clean up the place, withdraw the army and hand over the Golden Temple complex to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC).
Consequently, over 1,200 workers from the municipal corporation were engaged in sprucing up the place. It was amidst this exercise that prime minister Indira Gandhi visited the Golden Temple on the morning of June 23. Local media persons were not allowed access to the complex. In fact the media was not permitted to cover the visit of even Zail Singh.
The walled city was under tight security cover and even the movement of pedestrians was restricted. Deciding not to let the occasion be given a miss, my colleague, Gurdip Singh and I walked towards the walled city and reached near the footbridge when we saw a cavalcade of vehicles heading towards the army cantonment.
Indira Gandhi was returning from the complex and was seated in the front seat of a white Ambassador car, wearing a white-bordered sari and goggles. We waved to her and she reciprocated.
Minutes later, we were with Giani Sahib Singh, head priest of the Golden Temple, who had briefed Gandhi exhaustively. After paying obeisance inside the sanctum sanctorum, she had sat down to listen to 'kirtan' (religious hymns). The Giani showed her the extensive damage to certain buildings, particularly the Akal Takht (the highest temporal seat of Sikh religion). The priest told us that he had made some demands, including allowing devotees to pay obeisance daily even if it was only for a fixed time period.
That was the last I saw of Indira Gandhi.
She was assassinated on the morning of Oct 31, 1984. As the day advanced, the news cast shock, anguish, confusion and fear in the city. The confusion was all the more prevalent in the Shiromani Akali Dal, among the head priests and the SGPC who took vacillating stands on the killing.
Nevertheless, in the intervening period between her visit to the Golden Temple in June and her assassination, Gandhi launched what came to be known as 'healing touch' aimed at assuaging the hurt religious sensibilities of the devotees and the devout especially the Sikhs.
The direct broadcast of gurbani from 'Harmandar Sahib' (popularly known as Golden Temple) at dawn and dusk was one such step. The other 'healing touch' was to repair and restore the buildings, particularly the Akal Takht, damaged because of army operations in as short a period of time as possible.
In this decision fault-lines were visible sooner than later as neither the Sikh political nor religious leadership accepted the entrusting of this task to Nihang chief, Baba Santa Singh, who was drafted into this kar sewa by the then union home minister Buta Singh, with the centre providing the finances and the army engineers tactical support.
With the passage of time, the government-repaired Akal Takht was demolished. The rest is history.
The morning after Gandhi's assassination, some local journalists went to Agwan, a non-descript village, barely 20 km from the border with Pakistan. It is about eight km from Dera Baba Nanak. This was the village of Satwant Singh, one of the assassins of Indira Gandhi.
When we reached the village, we found that some people had not heard about her assassination. The sarpanch (village headman) and others heard the news in disbelief and could not believe that their own 'munda' (boy) could do such a thing.
The house of Satwant Singh was deserted. The police had taken away Tarlok Singh, his father, in the wee hours of November 1. Other family members had fled.
Looking back, one observes that Amritsar and its people have shown resilience and are back in business-as-usual mode. This is evident from a revisit to the place this month after a prolonged gap.
The chaotic traffic inside the walled city has become more pronounced. The disorder is on account of the construction of flyovers, particularly on roads leading to the Golden Temple from the bus terminus. Vehicle entry is restricted beyond Jallianwala Bagh.
Devotees now walk to the complex from beyond Jallianwala Bagh. Inside the complex, it takes over half-an-hour from the main 'Darshni Deori' to the sanctum sanctorum to pay obeisance. Some repair and construction work is still underway in the 'Parikrama' (symbol of prayer). The physical marks of Operation Bluestar may, over a period of time blur. But will the scars embossed and embedded in the psyche ever get erased?
Milestones in Indira Gandhi's life:
Nov 19, 1917: Indira is born
1938: Joins Indian National Congress
1942: Marries Feroze Gandhi
Sep 11, 1942: Couple is imprisoned at Naini Central jail, Allahabad, on charges of subversion
1947-1964: Remains with her father Jawaharlal Nehru as hostess and close supporter
1947: Under Mahatma Gandhi's instructions, Indira Gandhi works in riot-affected areas of Delhi.
1953-57: Serves as chairman of the Central Social Welfare Board
1955: Becomes member of Congress Working Committee and Central Election Committee
1956: Becomes member of Central Parliamentary Board
1956-60: Becomes president of Youth Congress
1960: Feroze Gandhi, her husband, dies
1964: Nehru, her father, dies
1964: Elected to parliament in his place
1964-66: Serves as minister of information and broadcasting
1966: Becomes prime minister after death of Lal Bahadur Shastri
1971: Calls for general election and wins by an enormous margin
- Declares war with Pakistan over Bangladesh
- India's first satellite launched into space
1973: Demonstrations in country over soaring prices and corruption
1974: India tests nuclear device.
June 1975: High Court of Allahabad finds her guilty of illegal practices during election campaign; ordered to vacate her Lok Sabha seat.
- Declares state of emergency. Thousands jailed.
1977: Calls for early elections but loses.
- Faces charges of corruption and authoritarianism, is expelled from parliament and is imprisoned.
1978: Released from prison
- Resigns from Congress
- Becomes leader of Indian National Congress
- Wins seat through by-election
1980: Re-elected as prime minister
- Sanjay Gandhi, her youngest son, dies in plane crash
June 1984: To crush secessionist movement in Punjab, she launches Operation Blue Star. Sends troops into the Golden Temple of Amritsar.
Oct 31, 1984: Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
Anxiety in government and Congress circles is growing even as seven helicopters, including four from the Indian Air Force, are on
desperate search and rescue mission for the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, which has been missing since 9.27am on Wednesday.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy remained untraced Wedneday evening, nearly seven hours after his helicopter went missing amid bad weather in a densely forested Maoist stronghold, triggering a desperate search by the military and police.
TV9 News Channel Website
The government said at least five Indian Air Force and one private helicopter had joined the hunt for the missing chopper that carried YSR, as the 60-year-old chief minister is known, and his special secretary besides two pilots from Hyderabad to Chittoor, 588 km away and closer to Tamil Nadu.
Flanked by Finance Minister K. Rosiah, Chief Secretary Ramakanth Reddy urged people in the Nallamalla forest area that covers Kurnool and adjoining districts to alert the police if they learnt anything about the helicopter.
YSR's fate caused tremors in New Delhi, where the office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were in touch with the state government, Reddy told reporters here.
The state government had also alerted both the home and defence ministries in New Delhi.
The chief secretary said two air force helicopters from Secunderabad and three from Bangalore were looking for the chief minister's helicopter along with a private chopper from Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh has also urged New Delhi to send an unmanned aircraft to the area.
The state government had lost touch with the chief minister at around 9.45 a.m.
"So far we have not been able to get any confirmation (about the chief minister). It is possible that because of the strong winds and heavy rains, it may have landed in some unfamiliar area," Reddy said. "If you land in an unfamiliar forested area, getting out will be very difficult."
He urged people living in the forested region to "kindly help us. If you get any signal, any reliable information, contact the nearest police station".
YSR had taken off from Hyderabad to attend a function in Chittoor Wednesday morning. The helicopter went off the radar amid inclement weather, causing panic in Hyderabad.
Shortly before before the finance minister and chief secretary spoke, there were conflicting versions about YSR's fate.
Social Welfare Minister P. Subhash Chandra Bose said the chief minister was safe after the helicopter landed in Kurnool district, but police both in Hyderabad and Kurnool declined to back the minister's claim.
"We have information that the chief minister is safe," said Chandra Bose. He did reveal any details.
Congress MP from Nandyal S.P.Y. Reddy, however, told a television channel that he was yet to receive any information about YSR's whereabouts from the police.
A high-level meeting was held at the state secretariat here after the helicopter went missing.
It was attended by Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy, Chief Secretary Ramakant Reddy, Director General of Police S.S.P. Yadav, the chief minister's close aide and Rajya Sabha MP K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao and senior state ministers.
A doctor by training, YSR is presently one of the most influential leaders in the Congress after leading the party again to a spectacular win in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in April-May this year.
Elected to the state assembly for the fifth time, YSR is also a four-time Lok Sabha member and holds the record of never losing an election.
Missing Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Rajasekhara Reddy still not found?
With panic and anxiety writ large on their faces, hundreds of Congress party workers gathered at the state secretariat here waiting to hear some news about the whereabouts and safety of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who remained untraced since his chopper went missing Wednesday morning.
State ministers, top bureaucrats, a large number of state employees, ruling party leaders and workers descended at the secretariat, the seat of government, as the word spread that the chief minister remained untraced even eight hours after his chopper lost contact with the air traffic control.
With prayers on their lips, the Congress leaders and admirers of YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, stood outside the D block in the secretariat, which houses the Chief Minister's Office.
They were raising slogans "Long live YSR" as the security personnel had a tough time controlling the crowd.
There was some relief when state ministers told reporters that the chief minister was safe and his chopper had landed somewhere.
There were also reports on Sakshi television channel owned by the chief minister's son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy that YSR was safe and spoke to his close aide K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao.
The channel also claimed that the chief minister would be reaching Hyderabad in an army helicopter any moment.
However, minutes later Finance Minister K.Rosaiah told reporters at the secretariat that the chief minister remained untraced.
He only hoped that the chopper had landed in some forest area and appealed to people to help trace it.
"We are worried after what Rosaiah said. We were earlier happy that the chief minister is safe. We are now praying to god," said Sudhakar Reddy, a Youth Congress leader.
Another Congress supporter said: "I am confident that he is safe. He is people's man. He did a lot for the welfare of people. Nothing will happen to him."
At Gandhi Bhavan, the headquarters of the ruling Congress, a large number of women workers were seen praying for the safety of their leader.
Hundreds of others gathered outside the chief minister's camp office in Begumpet bringing the traffic to a halt in the busy area.
Four other along with Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in the missing helicopter
Hopes for the safety of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy were fading along with daylight Wednesday evening, eight hours after his helicopter went missing amid bad weather in a densely forested Maoist stronghold, triggering a desperate search by the military and police.
There were fears that the falling darkness would impede rescue operations by the five Indian Air Force and one private helicopter that had joined the hunt for the missing chopper. It was carrying YSR, as the 60-year-old chief minister is known, and his special secretary, his security officer besides two pilots from Hyderabad to Chittoor, 588 km away and closer to Tamil Nadu.
Flanked by Finance Minister K. Rosiah, Chief Secretary Ramakanth Reddy urged people in the Nallamalla forest area that covers Kurnool and adjoining districts to alert the police if they learnt anything about the helicopter.
YSR's fate caused tremors in New Delhi, where the office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were in touch with the state government, Reddy told reporters here.
The state government had also alerted both the home and defence ministries in New Delhi.
The chief secretary said two air force helicopters from Secunderabad and three from Bangalore were looking for the chief minister's helicopter along with a private chopper from Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh also urged New Delhi to send an unmanned aircraft to the area.
The state government had lost touch with the chief minister at around 9.35 a.m.
"So far we have not been able to get any confirmation (about the chief minister). It is possible that because of the strong winds and heavy rains, it may have landed in some unfamiliar area," Reddy said. "If you land in an unfamiliar forested area, getting out will be very difficult."
He urged people living in the forested region to "kindly help us. If you get any signal, any reliable information, contact the nearest police station".
YSR had taken off from Hyderabad to attend a function in Chittoor Wednesday morning. The helicopter went off the radar amid inclement weather, causing panic in Hyderabad.
Shortly before before the finance minister and chief secretary spoke, there were conflicting versions about YSR's fate.
Social Welfare Minister P. Subhash Chandra Bose said the chief minister was safe after the helicopter landed in Kurnool district, but police both in Hyderabad and Kurnool declined to back the minister's claim.
"We have information that the chief minister is safe," said Chandra Bose. He did reveal any details.
Congress MP from Nandyal S.P.Y. Reddy, however, told a television channel that he was yet to receive any information about YSR's whereabouts from the police.
A high-level meeting was held at the state secretariat here after the helicopter went missing.
It was attended by Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy, Chief Secretary Ramakant Reddy, Director General of Police S.S.P. Yadav, the chief minister's close aide and Rajya Sabha MP K.V.P. Ramchandra Rao and senior state ministers.
A doctor by training, YSR is presently one of the most influential leaders in the Congress after leading the party again to a spectacular win in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in April-May this year.
Elected to the state assembly for the fifth time, YSR is also a four-time Lok Sabha member and holds the record of never losing an election.
Four-year-old Sanjay Balakrishnan died of influenza A (H1N1) infection at a private hospital here Monday, becoming the sixth swine flu victim in the country.
Sources at Neta Hospital, where the boy was admitted, said he had been hospitalised with fever and diarrhoea last week. Later, he was diagnosed with kidney failure and chest congestion.
On Saturday, Balakrishnan tested positive for swine flu. The next day, he suffered multiple organ failure and was put on ventilator. He died Monday morning.