Assassination of Indira Gandhi

2022-01-10T21:38:44Z

2001:14BA:4630:D000:8DC3:A659:2CE2:7780: /* Assassination */

{{Short description|1984 assassination of the 3rd Prime Minister of India}}{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Assassination of [[Indira Gandhi]]
| location = at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi
| date = 31 October 1984
| image = PathOfMartyrdom.JPG
| caption = The spot where Gandhi was shot down is marked by a glass opening in the crystal pathway at the Indira Gandhi Memorial.
| time = 9:29 a.m.
| type = [[Gun violence]]
| weapons = .38 (9.1mm) revolver and [[Sterling submachine gun]]
| assailants = [[Satwant Singh]] and [[Beant Singh (assassin)|Beant Singh]]
}}

{{Use Indian English|date=August 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
[[File:Indira gandhi memorial.jpg|thumb|200px|Memorial at the place of assassination, [[Safdarjung Road]], [[New Delhi]]]]
{{Indira Gandhi series}}
Indian Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] was assassinated at 9:29
a.m. on 31 October 1984 at her residence in [[Safdarjung Road]], [[New Delhi]]. She was killed by her [[Sikh]] bodyguards<ref name=bbconthisday>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/31/newsid_3961000/3961851.stm |title=1984: Assassination and revenge |access-date=23 January 2009 |work=BBC News |date=31 October 1984 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215211511/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/october/31/newsid_3961000/3961851.stm |archive-date=15 February 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Satwant Singh]] and [[Beant Singh (assassin)|Beant Singh]] in the aftermath of [[Operation Blue Star]]. Operation Blue Star was an Indian military action carried out between 1 and 8 June 1984, ordered by Indira Gandhi to remove [[Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale]] and his followers from the holy Golden temple of the [[Harmandir Sahib]] in [[Amritsar]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]. The collateral damage included the death of many pilgrims, as well as damage to the [[Akal Takht]].<ref name="Kiss_Khalistan">{{cite book |last1=Kiss |first1=Peter A. |title=Winning Wars amongst the People: Case Studies in Asymmetric Conflict |date=2014 |publisher=Potomac Books |isbn=9781612347004 |page=100 |edition=Illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uIY6AwAAQBAJ&q=khalistani+currency+bhindranwale&pg=PA100 |access-date=15 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715235735/https://books.google.com/books?id=uIY6AwAAQBAJ&lpg=PA100&dq=khalistani%20currency%20bhindranwale&pg=PA100#v=onepage&q=khalistani%20currency%20bhindranwale&f=false |archive-date=15 July 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all|quote=In operation Bluestar a force of several battalions occupied the holy precincts in a battle lasting several hours. Bhindranwale and man of his associates were killed – but there was a very large number of civilian casualties as well.}}</ref> The military action on the sacred temple was criticized both inside and outside India.

==Post Operation Blue Star==
[[Operation Blue Star]] was a large Indian military operation carried out between 1 and 8 June 1984, ordered by Indira Gandhi to remove leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of the Harmandir Sahib complex in [[Amritsar]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]].<ref name="TH_Mi6">{{cite news |title=RAW chief consulted MI6 in build-up to Operation Bluestar |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/raw-chief-consulted-mi6-in-buildup-to-operation-bluestar/article5579516.ece |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=16 January 2014 |location=Chennai, India |first=Praveen |last=Swami}}</ref>

In June 1984, the Indian government ordered a military operation, Operation Blue Star to clear [[Harmandir Sahib | Darbar Sahib, Amritsar]] and thirty other [[Gurdwaras]] of militant Sikhs led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale who were with many other pilgrims in Gurdwaras. During this operation, the [[Indian army]] had around 83 casualties with 700 injuries, and 450-500 Sikh militants were killed. The handling of the operation, damage to the holy shrine and loss of life on both sides, led to widespread criticism of the Indian government.{{citation needed|date=October 2021|reason=no examples of criticisms provided}}

The perception of threat to Gandhi's life increased after the operation.<ref name="dnaindia_tryst">{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-operation-blue-star-india-s-first-tryst-with-militant-extremism-2270293|title=Operation Blue Star: India's first tryst with militant extremism – Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis|date=5 November 2016|website=Dnaindia.com|access-date=29 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103012225/http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-operation-blue-star-india-s-first-tryst-with-militant-extremism-2270293|archive-date=3 November 2017|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Accordingly, Sikhs were removed from her personal bodyguard by the [[Intelligence Bureau (India)|Intelligence Bureau]] due to the fear of assassination. However, Gandhi was of the opinion that this would reinforce her anti-Sikh image among the public and strengthen her political opponents. She ordered the [[Special Protection Group]] to reinstate her Sikh bodyguards, including Beant Singh who was reported to be her personal favorite.{{cn|date=October 2021}}

==Assassination==
At about 9:20 a.m. Indian Standard Time, on 31 October 1984, Gandhi was on her way to be interviewed by British actor [[Peter Ustinov]] who was filming a documentary for [[Raidió Teilifís Éireann|Irish television]]. She was wearing a saffron [[saree]] with a black border, and accompanied by constable Narayan Singh, personal security officer Rameshwar Dayal and personal secretary, [[R. K. Dhawan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/the-last-day-of-indira-gandhi-1379440-2018-10-31|title=The last day of Indira Gandhi|first1=Prabhash K. |last1=Dutta |date=31 October 2018|website=India Today}}</ref> She was walking through the garden of the Prime Minister's Residence at No. 1 Safdarjung Road in New Delhi towards the neighboring 1 Akbar Road office.<ref name=cnn>{{cite web |title=25 years after Indira Gandhi's assassination |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-and-indira-25-years-after-a-pms-assassination/104183-37.html |date=30 October 2009 |publisher=[[CNN-IBN]] |access-date=5 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104180327/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-and-indira-25-years-after-a-pms-assassination/104183-37.html |archive-date=4 November 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Gandhi passed a [[wicket gate]] guarded by Satwant and Beant Singh, and the two men opened fire. Beant fired three rounds into her abdomen from his .38 ({{convert|0.38|inch|mm|disp=out}}) revolver;<ref name=smith/> then Satwant fired 30 rounds from his [[Sterling submachine gun]] after she had fallen to the ground.<ref name=smith/> Both men then threw down their weapons and Beant said, "I have done what I had to do. You do what you want to do." In the next six minutes, Border Police officers Tarsem Singh Jamwal and Ram Saran captured and killed Beant, while Satwant was arrested by Gandhi's other bodyguards, along with an accomplice trying to escape; he was seriously wounded.<ref name=tdaily>{{cite news |title=Questions still surround Gandhi assassination |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w1seAAAAIBAJ&pg=1354,5824409&dq=assassination+of+indira+gandhi&hl=en |access-date=19 January 2013 |newspaper=Times Daily |date=24 November 1984 |agency=AP |location=New Delhi}}</ref> Satwant Singh was hanged in 1989 with accomplice [[Kehar Singh]].<ref>Dr. Sangat Kr. Singh, ''The Sikhs in History'', p. 393</ref>

[[Salma Sultan]] gave the first news of the assassination of Gandhi on Doordarshan's evening news on 31 October 1984, more than ten hours after she was killed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-riots-that-could-not-be-televised/536471/ |title=The riots that could not be televised |publisher=Indianexpress.com |date=3 November 2009 |access-date=31 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205154910/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-riots-that-could-not-be-televised/536471/ |archive-date=5 December 2009 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/We+the+eyeballs/1/1328.html |title=We the eyeballs : Cover Story – India Today |publisher=Indiatoday.intoday.in |access-date=31 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215111034/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/We+the+eyeballs/1/1328.html |archive-date=15 December 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It is alleged by the Indian government that Gandhi's secretary R. K. Dhawan overruled intelligence and security officials who had ordered the removal of policemen as a security threat, including her assassins.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/28/world/india-releases-stinging-report-on-gandhi-s-death.html | work=The New York Times | first=Sanjoy | last=Hazarika | title=India Releases Stinging Report on Gandhi's Death | date=28 March 1989 | access-date=5 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107062316/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/28/world/india-releases-stinging-report-on-gandhi-s-death.html | archive-date=7 November 2017 | url-status=live | df=dmy-all }}</ref>

Beant was one of Gandhi's favorite guards, whom she had known for ten years.<ref name=smith>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=William E. |title=Indira Gandhi's assassination sparks a fearful round of sectarian violence |url=http://www.sikhtimes.com/bios_111284a.html |access-date=19 January 2013 |newspaper=Time |date=12 November 1984 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103043002/http://www.sikhtimes.com/bios_111284a.html |archive-date=3 November 2012 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Because he was a Sikh, he had been taken off her staff after Operation Blue Star; however, Gandhi had made sure that he was reinstated.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.readersdigest.in/culturescape/story-the-death-of-indira-gandhi-sagarika-ghose-124682|title=She Handpicked Him, He Shot Her Dead|last=Ghose |first=Sagarika |publisher=Reader's Digest |date=December 28, 2018 |website=readersdigest.in |access-date=June 17, 2020}}</ref> Satwant was 22 years old when he killed her, and had been assigned to Gandhi's guard just five months before her assassination.<ref name=smith/>

[[File:IndiraGandhi-SareeAtTimeOfDeath.JPG|200px|thumb|Gandhi's blood-stained [[saree]] and her belongings at the time of her assassination, preserved at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum in [[New Delhi]].]]
Gandhi was taken to the [[All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi]] at 9:30 a.m., where doctors operated on her. She was declared dead at 2:20 p.m. The postmortem examination was conducted by a team of doctors headed by [[Tirath Das Dogra]], who stated that 30 bullets had struck Gandhi from a [[Sterling submachine gun|Sterling sub-machine gun]] and a revolver. The assailants had fired 33 bullets at her, of which 30 had hit; 23 had passed through her body, while seven remained inside. Dogra extracted bullets to establish the identity of the weapons and to correlate each weapon with the bullets recovered by ballistic examination. The bullets were matched with respective weapons at CFSL Delhi.
===Funeral===
Gandhi's body was taken in a [[gun carriage]] through Delhi roads on the morning of 1 November to [[Teen Murti Bhavan]] where her father stayed and where she lay in state.<ref name=cnn/> She was cremated with full state honours on 3 November near [[Raj Ghat and associated memorials|Raj Ghat]], a memorial to [[Mahatma Gandhi]], at an area named ''Shakti Sthal''. Her elder son and successor [[Rajiv Gandhi]] lit the pyre.

The following foreign dignitaries attended the state funeral, among others:<ref name="report">{{cite web|title=MEA Annual Report 1984-85|url=https://mealib.nic.in/?2513?000|website=Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India|date=1985|accessdate=13 June 2021}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Country
! Dignitaries
|-
| {{flag|Algeria}} || [[Abdelhamid Brahimi]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Australia}} || [[Ninian Stephen]] (Governor-General) [[Bob Hawke]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Bhutan}} || [[Jigme Singye Wangchuck]] (King)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Cambodia}} || [[Heng Samrin]] (Head of State) [[Chan Sy]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Canada}} || [[Brian Dickson]] (Chief Justice) [[Joe Clark]] (Former Prime Minister and Secretary of State for External Affairs)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|China}} || [[Yao Yilin]] (Vice-Premier)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Czechoslovak Socialist Republic}} || [[Lubomír Štrougal]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|East Germany}} || [[Horst Sindermann]] (President of the People's Chamber)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Fiji}} || [[Penaia Ganilau]] (Governor-General) [[Kamisese Mara]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|France}} || [[Laurent Fabius]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Indonesia}} || [[Umar Wirahadikusumah]] (Vice-President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Japan}} || [[Yasuhiro Nakasone]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Jordan}} || [[Prince Hassan bin Talal]] (Crown Prince)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Kenya}} || [[Mwai Kibaki]] (Vice President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Laos}} || [[Souphanouvong]] (President) [[Kaysone Phomvihane]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Liberia}} || [[Harry Moniba]] (Vice President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Mauritius}} || [[Anerood Jugnauth]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Mongolian People's Republic}} || T. Ragchaa (First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Nauru}} || [[Hammer DeRoburt]] (President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Nepal}} || [[Lokendra Bahadur Chand]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|New Zealand}} || [[David Beattie]] (Governor-General) [[David Lange]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|North Korea}} || [[Pak Song-chol]] (Vice-President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|People's Republic of Bulgaria}} || [[Todor Zhivkov]] ([[General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party|General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party]] )<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|People's Republic of Mozambique}} || [[Samora Machel]] (President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Poland}} || [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Philippines|1936}} || [[Imelda Marcos]] (First Lady)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|South Korea|1984}} || [[:ko:채문식|Chae Mun-shik]] (Speaker of the National Assembly)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|USSR}} || [[Nikolai Tikhonov]] (Chairman of the Council of Ministers)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|SFR Yugoslavia}} || [[Veselin Đuranović]] (President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Syria}} || [[Zuhair Masharqa]] (Vice President) [[Farouk al-Sharaa]] (Foreign Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Tanzania}} || [[Julius Nyerere]] (President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Uganda}} || [[Milton Obote]] (President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|United Kingdom}} || [[Margaret Thatcher]] (Prime Minister).<ref name="report" />
The Princess Royal (Representing Her Majesty The Queen)
|-
| {{flag|United States}} || [[George Shultz]] (Secretary of State)<ref>https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/statement-assassination-prime-minister-indira-gandhi-india</ref>
|-
| {{flag|Vanuatu}} || [[Ati George Sokomanu]] (President) [[Walter Lini]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Vietnam}} || [[Trường Chinh]] (President) [[Phạm Văn Đồng]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Zambia}} || [[Kenneth Kaunda]] (President)<ref name="report"/>
|-
| {{flag|Zimbabwe}} || [[Robert Mugabe]] (Prime Minister)<ref name="report"/>
|-
|}

==Aftermath==
Over the next four days, 8,000 Sikhs were killed in [[1984 anti-Sikh riots|retaliatory violence]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Delhi to reopen inquiry in to massacre of Sikhs in 1984 riots|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10607451/Delhi-to-reopen-inquiry-in-to-massacre-of-Sikhs-in-1984-riots.html| first=Dean |last=Nelson |date=2014-01-30 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|access-date=3 May 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The Justice Thakkar Commission of Inquiry (headed by Justice [[Manharlal Pranlal Thakkar]]), set up to probe Gandhi's assassination, recommended a separate probe for the conspiracy angle behind the assassination. The Thakkar Report stated that the "needle of suspicion" pointed at R. K. Dhawan for complicity in the conspiracy.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19890415-Thakkar-commission-report-leak-govt-try-to-accuse-Arun-Nehru-of-being-the-main-culprit-815980-1989-04-15 |title=Thakkar Commission report leak: Govt try to accuse Arun Nehru of being the main culprit |first=Prabhu |last=Chawla |date=April 15, 1989 |magazine=[[India Today]] |access-date=2018-10-30 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Satwant Singh and alleged conspirator Kehar Singh were sentenced to death. Both were executed on 6 January 1989.{{cn|date=October 2021}}

A Punjabi movie titled ''[[Kaum De Heere]]'' (''Gems of the Community'') highlighting the role/lives of the two guards that assassinated Indira Gandhi was set to be released on 22 August 2014, but was banned by the Indian government<ref>{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Centre-blocks-release-of-controversial-film-on-Indira-Gandhis-assassins-Kaum-de-Heere/articleshow/40606687.cms |title=Centre blocks release of controversial film on Indira Gandhi's assassins 'Kaum de Heere' |work=[[The Times of India]] |location=Mumbai |date=August 21, 2014 |agency=Times News Network |access-date=31 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121153206/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Centre-blocks-release-of-controversial-film-on-Indira-Gandhis-assassins-Kaum-de-Heere/articleshow/40606687.cms |archive-date=21 November 2014 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140821/latest-news.htm |title=Film on Indira Gandhi's assassins barred from release |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |location=Chandigarh, India |agency=[[Press Trust of India]] |date=August 21, 2014 |access-date=31 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233520/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140821/latest-news.htm |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> for 5 years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Delhi HC clears release of Punjabi movie 'Kaum De Heere' |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/punjab/delhi-hc-clears-release-of-punjabi-movie-kaum-de-heere-824741 |access-date=15 September 2021 |work=The Tribune |agency=Press Trust India |date=29 August 2019}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|India}}
* [[Punjab insurgency]]
*[[Shakti sthal]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130227011011/http://www.delhiwonders.com/delhi-indira-gandhi-memorial Indira Gandhi Memorial] Indira Gandhi assassination books in Tamil in two volumes by Mrs. Z.Y. Himsagar and S. Padmavathi, M.A., M.L., Notion press.com, CHENNAI, 2016 edition, {{ISBN|9789352065967}} {{ISBN|9789352065974}}
* [http://indiragandhi.in/en/memorial/virtual-museum Explore the Virtual Memorial of Indira Gandhi]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gandhi, Indira}}
[[Category:Assassination of Indira Gandhi| ]]
[[Category:1984 anti-Sikh riots]]
[[Category:1984 crimes in India]]
[[Category:Crime in Delhi]]
[[Category:1980s murders in India]]
[[Category:1984 murders in Asia]]
[[Category:October 1984 events in Asia]]
[[Category:Female murder victims]]
[[Category:1980s in Delhi]]
[[Category:Assassinations in India]]
[[Category:Indira Gandhi|Assassination]]
[[Category:Indira Gandhi administration|Assassination]]
[[Category:Assassinated heads of government]]
[[Category:Deaths by person in India]]
[[Category:1984 in India]]
[[Category:State funerals]]
[[Category:Funerals by person]]
[[Category:Funerals in India]]

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Assassination of Indira Gandhi