Indira Gandhi, Amrit Kaur named by TIME among '100 Women of the Year'

Former prime minister Indira Gandhi and freedom fighter Amrit Kaur have been named by the TIME magazine among world's 100 powerful women who defined the last century in a new project that "spotlights influential women who were often overshadowed."
The profile in TIME said that in 1976, Gandhi, "'Empress of India' had become India's great authoritarian."
Kaur's profile said that the young princess returned to India in 1918 after studying at Oxford and soon became fascinated by Mahatma Gandhi's teachings. Born into the royal family of Kapurthala, Rajkumari Kaur "decided her life's mission was to help India break free from its colonial ties and oppressive societal norms."

Outlining the reason for the Women of the Year' project, TIME said that for 72 years, it had named a Man of the Year, who "was almost always a man, usually a President or a Prime Minister or perhaps a titan of industry. Throughout history, these are the kinds of men who have wielded influence over the world."
The project is an exercise in looking at the ways in which women held power due to systemic inequality. "Women," former TIME editor-in-chief Nancy Gibbs writes, "were wielding soft power long before the concept was defined."