New Delhi, Dec 15 : Congress President Sonia Gandhi Today remembered the legacy of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, as said the former PM would not have wanted the celebrations in “boastful spirit”, but in a spirit of reflection and resolve.

The Congress President was speaking at a program to commemorate 50 years of the Bangladesh liberation war.

“Much has been written about 1971 and indeed much will continue to be written. Undoubtedly, individuals played a pivotal and defining role and we owe so much to each and every one of them. But it was in reality the triumph of the will of the people of the Bangladesh and a fulfillment of their aspirations. It was also a victory of the people of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi,” Sonia Gandhi said.

“So, today, we celebrate a magnificent accomplishment. But I think, Indira Gandhi would have wanted us to do so, not in a boastful spirit or in a spirit of self-glorification, but in a spirit of reflection and resolve,” she said.

The Congress president said it was the extraordinary convergence of a well-planned and perfectly-executed political, diplomatic and military strategy that gave 1971- a distinctive place in the history of the sub-continent.

“It was a history that reshaped geography as well.”

Sonia Gandhi said it will not be an exaggeration to say that 1971 was, in many ways, Indira Gandhi’s finest year – starting with the massive mandate she received in March.

“When the crisis erupted with the brutal crackdown in Dhaka and other places, she immediately understood its implications and swung into action. She reached out to all political parties and public figures. She wrote to Presidents and Prime Ministers. She dispatched emissaries abroad. She ensured that the USSR was with India. She travelled tirelessly to Western capitals. She sensitized the entire world community to the cause of the people of Bangladesh with personal interviews, meetings and appeals,” said the Congress President.

“And how can we ever forget the manner in which she stood up with the greatest fortitude to the crass insensitivity and crude bullying of the then President of the United States and some of his advisers and did India proud. Those were tension-filled days, weeks and months. But she remained supremely composed and confident drawing upon her immense reserve of inner strength,” she said.

She highlighted that Indira Gandhi also was the Home Minister right through this turbulent period.

“Her cabinet had a distinguished galaxy of stalwarts like Jagjivan Ram, Defence Minister; Sardar Swaran Singh, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Y B Chavan and so many others,” she added.(UNI)