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> the first national family planning program An odd euphemism for a program that, in practice, involved forced sterilizations and eugenics: https://www.bbc.co

> the first national family planning program An odd euphemism for a program that, in practice, involved forced sterilizations and eugenics: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30040790 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-30040790 According to Vox: "In 1975, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the declaration of a national emergency. She seized dictatorial powers, imprisoned her political rivals, and embarked, with the help of her son Sanjay, on a mass, compulsory sterilization program that registers as one of the most disturbing and vast human rights violations in the country’s modern history." Source: https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/future-perfect/2019/6/5/18629801/emergency-in-india-1975-indira-gandhi-sterilization-ford-foundation https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/future-perfect/2019/6/5/186... Of course, as the OP notes, America is partly to blame. The exact quote from Johnson was...a bit more direct: > When an adviser asked the president if he wanted to promise [Indira] Gandhi more food aid during her visit, he exploded: “Are you out of your fucking mind? … I’m not going to piss away foreign aid in nations where they refuse to deal with their own population problems.” Source: https://qz.com/india/1414774/the-legacy-of-indias-quest-to-sterilise-millions-of-men/amp/ https://qz.com/india/1414774/the-legacy-of-indias-quest-to-s...

rep_movsd 5y ago
The Gandhi family was all about total control and megalomania Sikh genocide in 1984 Putting the opposition in jail and declaring an emergency Ass kissing USSR and adopting "socialist" ideals - in the 60s you needed licenses to own things like radios and bicycles - till the 1990s there were only 3 to 4 brands of cars you could buy in India without being a millionaire The Congress party was so hated for so many decades, which is why the nationalist right-wing party of Modi keeps winning even though he is also over the top.
- no1lives4ever 5y ago
  So you have replaced one over the top megalomaniac with another?
  - jpgvm 5y ago
    Increasing political polarisation seems to be a worldwide problem at this point. Precious few regions seem (currently) exempt from this most dangerous path.
vorpalhex 5y ago
If America can change the entire fertility of a country merely by the president getting frustrated, imagine what we could do when the entire legislature is upset! Or the one comment is just used to defray blame, America does not have cosmic superpowers and India is in fact capable of making their own national decisions, seeing that they are a state. Sanger like most historical characters is imperfect (so was LBJ) but it is a gross simplification of history to pitch them as the root cause.
- dwaltrip 5y ago
  I’m guessing by that the threat of less aid money was probably more important than the president’s frustration level… But I agree the overall story is complex and we can’t blame things entirely on singular policy comments, even those from powerful foreign nations.
kderbyma 5y ago
yeah....I'm getting tired of people praising her...she was a psychopath and horrible horrible person.
muststopmyths 5y ago
Darkly hilarious in hindsight, but when I was in first grade, there was a rumor one day at school that there was going to be forced "nasbandi" at school that day. We were kids and had no idea what the word (Hindi for vasectomy) meant but we were still freaked out for a while, because we knew it was bad. I still remember a Hindi protest song about it to this day, almost 50 years later. This was during the Emergency (as that time is known in India).

rep_movsd 5y ago

The Gandhi family was all about total control and megalomania Sikh genocide in 1984 Putting the opposition in jail and declaring an emergency Ass kissing USSR and adopting "socialist" ideals - in the 60s you needed licenses to own things like radios and bicycles - till the 1990s there were only 3 to 4 brands of cars you could buy in India without being a millionaire The Congress party was so hated for so many decades, which is why the nationalist right-wing party of Modi keeps winning even though he is also over the top.

no1lives4ever 5y ago
So you have replaced one over the top megalomaniac with another?
- jpgvm 5y ago
  Increasing political polarisation seems to be a worldwide problem at this point. Precious few regions seem (currently) exempt from this most dangerous path.

vorpalhex 5y ago

If America can change the entire fertility of a country merely by the president getting frustrated, imagine what we could do when the entire legislature is upset! Or the one comment is just used to defray blame, America does not have cosmic superpowers and India is in fact capable of making their own national decisions, seeing that they are a state. Sanger like most historical characters is imperfect (so was LBJ) but it is a gross simplification of history to pitch them as the root cause.

dwaltrip 5y ago
I’m guessing by that the threat of less aid money was probably more important than the president’s frustration level… But I agree the overall story is complex and we can’t blame things entirely on singular policy comments, even those from powerful foreign nations.

kderbyma 5y ago

yeah....I'm getting tired of people praising her...she was a psychopath and horrible horrible person.

muststopmyths 5y ago

Darkly hilarious in hindsight, but when I was in first grade, there was a rumor one day at school that there was going to be forced "nasbandi" at school that day. We were kids and had no idea what the word (Hindi for vasectomy) meant but we were still freaked out for a while, because we knew it was bad. I still remember a Hindi protest song about it to this day, almost 50 years later. This was during the Emergency (as that time is known in India).