Word: mishra
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Because of recent political agitation in India's Bihar state, a force of at least 1,000 security men was present last week when the Indian Minister for Railways, Lalit Narayan Mishra, 51, formally opened a new 36-mile-long rail line from Samastipur to Muzaffarpur. Mishra had just finished his remarks and was stepping down from the dais when a time bomb exploded, ripping the dais to pieces and wounding Mishra as well as 24 bystanders (four of whom later died). Mishra himself died the following day during emergency surgery...
...first ranking national politician assassinated in India since Mohandas Gandhi was shot in 1948, Mishra had recently been the target of corruption charges involving the issuance of import licenses during his term as Minister for Foreign Trade (1970-73). The agitation in Bihar has been aimed at unseating a state government that Mishra, himself a Bihari, had strongly backed. The movement has been led by one of India's most respected political leaders, Jayaprakash Narayan, 72, a founder of the Socialist Party and one of the last of Gandhi's immediate disciples. Narayan has been pressing...
Violent Elements. Ironically, Mishra's death might well strengthen Mrs. Gandhi's position if, as expected, she decides to call new parliamentary elections this year. It reinforces her charge that Narayan's movement has been taken over by violent elements, and that reactionary forces are seeking to overthrow the country's democratic system. More important, it removes from her government a controversial minister whom she had refused to dismiss but who had become a serious political embarrassment...
...possibility of such drastic repercussions has hardly made the striking railwaymen popular. Nonetheless, many Indians were outraged when Railway Minister Lalit Narayan Mishra, 51, precipitately arrested George Fernandes, 43, a Socialist from Goa who is president of the All India Railwaymen's Federation, and other union leaders while they were in the midst of negotiations. One of the unionists died in jail of a heart attack. Mishra claimed authority for his harsh action under India's Maintenance of Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention. Opposition forces in Parliament, including the pro-Moscow Communists who usually support Indira...