This Day In History

[Guest]

Aug 22 1907
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bhikhaiji Cama is best known for having unfurled a "Flag of Indian Independence" on <b>August 22, 1907</b>, at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany. That flag, a slight modification of the Calcutta Flag, was co-designed by <b>Cama, Veer Savarkar and Shyamji Krishna Varma</b>, and would later serve as a template upon which the current national flag of India is based.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


A little details about the flag: (link)

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->This flag had green at the top, saffron in the centre and red at the bottom, the green standing for Islam and the saffron for both Hinduism and Buddhism. The flag had eight lotuses in a line on the green band representing the eight provinces of British India. The words Vande Mataram, in the Devanagari script, were inscribed on the central band. On the lowest band, towards the hoist of the flag was a crescent, and towards the fly a sun. The flag was jointly designed by Bhikaiji Cama, Veer Savarkar and Shyamji Krishna Varma.[4] After the outbreak of World War I, this flag became known as the Berlin Committee Flag after it was adopted by the Indian Revolutionaries at the Berlin Committee. This flag was actively used in Mesopotamia during the First World War. The Ghadar Party flag was also used in the United States as a symbol for India for a short period of time.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bodhi]

<b>August 26, 1947</b>

Sheikhpura, Pakistan: The largest single-day massacre during the partition took place on this date.

Tacitly assisted by the district administration and police, Baluchi Regiment soldiers of Pakistan Army played havoc in the predominantly Sikh townships in Sheikhpura of West Punjab and killed about 10,000 Sikhs-Hindus in a single day. Women were particularly raped and molested in thousands, to dishonor the whole community and prove that the Hindu-Sikhs were incapable of protecting them, and finally to force them to leave Pakistan and go to east Punjab in India.

As a result Sikhs of Sheikhpura were forced to leave their richest lands and flee to east punjab. It was their labour in the preceding centuries which had turned the jungles (Bars) of Lyallpur, Montgomery and Sheikhupura into rich wheat-producing lands. The industry and tenacity of Sikhs had made them masters of vast cultivated areas, and that was the created wealth that Sikhs were forced to leave behind for the new Muslim masters to enjoy.

http://voi.org/books/mla/ch12.htm

http://www.massviolence.org/Thematic-Chron...07?artpage=1-12

[Bodhi]

The military begining of the end of the 1857 revolution could be said to have started either today or tomorrow in that year. With reinforcement from Punjab's native sepoys, British forces started to storm Delhi, which was until now controlled by "purabia-s" and "tilanga-s" for the last four months. Delhi would finally fall to British hands on September 14 1857, followed by an organized massacre, looting and arson.

Lucknow reinforcement will then begin but Awadh will not fall until November 1857. Larger parts of UP and Bihar will remain liberated from British control even after that and the revolution was not completely over for eighteen more months, until the very mid of 1859.

[Bodhi]

15 Sep 1860 : Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, or Engineer Visvesvarayya, born at Muddenahalli village in Chikkaballapur Karnataka. 15 Sep celebrated as Engineer's day in his memory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokshagundam_Visvesvarayya

<i>Bodhiji, pardon my edit. Need to add a date here.. - Viren</i>
Sept 23, 1965
Indo-Pak war, cease fire declared

[Bodhi]

25 Sep 1857

It has been 10 days since Delhi has fallen. Zafar and his queens who had taken shelter in the maqbara of Humayun have been captured. His sons have been killed, indeed mass-lynched, and their naked and brutalized dead bodies left rotting near the city Kotwali at Chandani chowk for every englishman and their native agents to see and for vultures to devour. At the same time general indiscriminate massacre of Native Rebels from all surrounding villages is going on. (writes V D Savarkar, translation mine)

On todays date, Lord Canning sent an official notification from Calcutta to London addressing Queen Victoria. In that he writes:

"(There is a)... violent rancour of a very large proportion of the English Community against every native Indian of every class... Not one man in ten seems to think that the hanging and shooting of some 40 or 50,000 mutineers besides other rebels can be otherwise than practicable and right." (writes W. Dalrymple in The Last Mughal)

"Gallows were erected throughout the gutted city. They say there is not a neighbourhood in Delhi without its own place of execution.", wrote an Urdu poet Salihah Abid Hussein who chroniclized those days.

23-year old Lt. Edward Ommaney casually notes in his diary on the date, "19 men hanged opposite the Kotwali Gallow, and 9 on the other."

But only V D Savarkar writes about the bravery of those soldiers who instead of falling to British decided to flee and run towards Kanpur Agra and Lucknow to continue fighting the remaining battles. He also records the bravery of those soldiers who decided to not get captured by British alive and (in true tradition of indian warriors) came face to face with british shoting at them, and indeed chose a heroic death.

Hugh Chisester writes in his diary on that day: "There has been nothing but shooting these villains for the last three days, some 3 to 4 hundred were shot yesterday."

Savarkar laments the loss of Delhi, but says no shame on delhi defeat. He says, dantaChedo hi nagAnAM shlAghyo girividAraNe. (brave elephants always have broken teeth, crushed in challenging the rough mountains.)

[Guest]

September 27, 1907
Bhagat Singh born

[Guest]

2 October 1869
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi born

2 October 1904
Lal Bahadur Shastri born
Many forget Shastri while celebrating Gandhi Jayanthi.

7th Oct. 1556
Hemu was crowned at Purana Qila in Delhi

[Bodhi]

September 22, 1687:
Golconda taken by Mughals after a long seige.

September 18, 1719:
Rosan Akhtar assumed the Mughal throne in Delhi with the title of "Muhammad Shah". Muhammad Shah ruled till his death in April 1748. His rise to throne came after the downfall of Farrukhsiyar, who after his deposition was cruelly killed, and a brief 9 months period under two young princes Rafi-ud-darjat and Rafi-ud-daula, and a proxy rule by Vazir Sayyad Abdullah and his brother. (All of this happened with military blessings of Bajirao, who secured from Mugal court, in return, legal firmans of mughal-recognized maratha authority to collect chauth, sardeshmukhi and swaraj in South)

October 1724:
Making good the opportunity of confusion in Delhi, mughal subedar of Hyderabad declares himself a sovereign under the title of Nizam-ul-Mulk and later Asaf-Jah. This also followed after blessings from Bajirao, whom Nizam secretly met at Chikalthana on 4th January 1721 and established some sort of undeclared understanding before declaring himself as sovereign of Hyderabad.

October 1727:
Nizam was however following the policy to undermine the growing power of Maratha nation, and continued his intrigues with rogue Maratha satraps, which resulted in the break out of long drawn was in October 1727.

After months of battle, Bajirao crushed all ambitions of Nizam and humiliated him by taking a surrender of Nizam's trapped and starving army at Palkhed in February 1728. This episode also showed the brilliant military leadership of Bajirao. He left Poona in September 1727, and ravaged Berar. But hearing of the Nizam’s descent on Poona, he swooped upon Burhanpur and Aurangabad to draw away Nizam-ul-mulk. His tactics proved to be correct.

But this was only first of the series of humiliations to the Hyderabad at the hands of Bajirao to whose genius Nizam was no match.

In 1738, Bajirav once again confronted the Nizam at Bhopal. The latter proved no match to the tactical superiority of Bajirav and found himself besieged at Bhopal by the Maratha forces. He had no alternative but to surrender. A formal treaty was signed on 7th January 1738, at Doraha Sarai under which the Nizam undertook to obtain for the Marathas the province of Malva under imperial seal. This was indeed a great triumph for the Marathas. Within a period of 30 years after the death of awranzib, this completed their seize of Gujarat and Malva, besides humbling the Nizam a second time.

In April 1740, Bajirav died, but not before inflicting another heavy defeat on Nasir Jung, the son of Nizam-ul-mulk in January-February of 1740. (Persian chroniclers of Nizam-ul-mulk such as Sayyad Muhammad Ali—Tarikhe Rahat Afza, Gulam Ali—Khajana i Amira and others give a wrong versien of the battle between Nasir Jung and Bajirav, claiming that Bajirav was heavily defeated. Grant Duff in his History of the Marathas, adopts the same line. This view is positively wrong because if Nasir Jung was a victor, why did he cede Handia and Kharganv to Bajirav ? These two districts were handed over to the Marathas by the treaty of Mungi Sevganv signed on February 17th, 1740)

But the liquidation of this muslim power in south at the hands of Marathas continued even under the next Peshwas, Balaji Bajirao and Madhavarao all the way until the Maratha forces finally marched into the heart of Hyderabad, and Hyderabad state was in the end reduced to a third rate power by the end of that century.

THE MARATHAS AND THE NIZAM (gazeetter reprint)

And of course:

<b>18 September 1948 </b>
Indian army entered the Secunderabad Cantonment, after a simple 4-day Operation Polo which led to the last Nizam declaring a "unilateral ceasefire" and merger with the Union of India.

[Bodhi]

<b>October 11, 1578:</b>

Hardly within 2 years after the Battle of Haldighati (June-1576), the frenzy of the activities and successes of mahArANA pratApa forced the great turuShka to himself march to mewAD and its allies with his imperial force. It is on this date, that Akbar finally reached gogunDA the new make-shift capital of pratApa. Before reaching here Akbar had subdued the surrounding allies that pratApa had gained in previous two years, namely Jalore, Nadole and Sirohi.

Akbar campaigned for the rest of the year throughout the forts and forests of mewAD, along with the generals from the house of Ambar. To provoke and force pratApa out in the open, he did sack the shrine of ekali~Nga, had the altar-stone turned in a box in which to keep Quran. He also uprooted the vigraha of bhawAnI from the shrine (where she is said to have appeared to bappA and granted blessings in form of a divine sword and armour.) These objects were sent off to Agra.

Despite the provocation and hectic campaign throughout the rest of the year, Akbar managed to gain nothing against pratApa, and frustrated with his failure he left towards Agra early in January of 1579.

[1580-onwards his adopted brother, and poet-devotee, Abdurrahim khan-e-khana was put in charge of campaign against pratApa, and in the years that ensued while pratApa continued to free up as many as 36 forts and fortresses of his motherland from turuShka-s, Rahim only returned to Mughal capital with poetic admiration, nearly a fascination, towards the character of pratApa.]

[Bodhi]

<b>14 October 1956</b>: Dr. B R Ambedkar accepted Buddhism in Nagpur along with thousands of his followers.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->This way is not something new. This path was not brought here from somewhere else. This path is from here, it is purely Indian. The Buddhist religion has been in India for two thousand years. Truly speaking, we regret that we did not become Buddhists before this. The chief reason for the destruction of Buddhism is the Moslem invasion. The Moslems in their onslaught broke and destroyed images. They at first encroached on the Buddhist religion in this way. Fearing the invasion, the Buddhist Bhikkhus disappeared. Some went to Tibet, some went to China, some went wherever they could go. For the protection of religion, laymen are required.

Nagasena was learned. He was a Brahmin. The discussion that took place between Nagasena and Milinda is famous throughout the world as a book. That book's name is Milinda Punha. Milinda asked this question: "Why does religion languish?" Nagasena gave three reasons in his answer.

The first reason is that some religion is immature. In that religion, the basic principles have no depth. That makes for a temporal religion, and the religion will hold fast only if it suits the times.

The second reason is that there may be no learned men to spread the religion. If there are none, the religion languishes. Learned men should preach religious wisdom. If the propagandists of a religion are not ready to hold discussion with opponents, the religion will die.

The third reason is this: if religion and religious philosophy are only for the learned, the religion will not survive.

We should remember these reasons as we now accept the path of Buddhism.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Bodhi]

October 2-5, 1670: The Second Great Loot of Surat by Marathas

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->So great was the alarm there, however, that on the 3rd
the English factors removed their treasure from the shore
to one of their ships, and next day loaded all their
broadcloth, quicksilver, currall (coral?) &c, on board
ship, "to secure them against any attempts of Shivaji."
Two other English ships, which were due to sail,
were detained at Swally till 10th October, by which
time the Marathas were expected to withdraw from
the district. The English factors with the help of the
ships' carpenters even ran up a wooden platform at
one end of the marine yard and mounted eight guns
on it, "to defend the Company's estate the best we
could."

An official inquiry ascertained that Shivaji had
carried off 66 lakhs of Rupees' worth of booty from
Surat, viz., cash, pearls, and other articles worth
53 lakhs from the city itself and 13 lakhs worth from
Nawal Sahu and Hari Sahu and a village near Surat.
(Akhbarat, 13-10.)

But the real loss of Surat was not to be estimated
by the booty which the Marathas carried off. The
trade of this, the richest port of India, was practically
destroyed several years after Shivaji's with-
drawal from it, the town used to throb with panic
every now and then, whenever any Maratha force
came within a few days' march of it, or even at false
alarms of their coming. On every such occasion the
merchants would quickly remove their goods to ships,
the citizens would flee to the villages, and the
Europeans would hasten to Swally. Business was
effectually scared away from Surat, and inland pro-
ducers hesitated to send their goods to this the greatest
emporium of Western India.

For one month after the second sack, "the town
was in so great a confusion that there was neither
governor nor Government," and almost every day
was troubled by rumours of Shiva's coming there
again. "On the 12th (i. e., only a week after his
departure) it was again rumoured that he was return-
ing with 6,000 horse and 10,000 foot, and that he had
already reached Pent, a place about 25 miles distant.
At once there was a general exodus and the town was
changed from a busy port into the death-like quiet
of a desert. The Turkish, English and French
merchants abandoned their factories."

At the end of November, and again about 10th
December, 1670, the alarm was revived ; and the
European merchants met together to concert means
of guarding their respective interests. The landward
defences of Swally were strengthened by adding a
breastwork on the north side of the choultry, and the
entrance to the harbour or "hole" was guarded by
stationing a ship there. The English used to remove
their money and goods from Surat to this place at
every such alarm.

In June 1672 the success of the Maratha forces
under Moro Pant in the Koli State of Ramnagar, on
the way to Surat, kept the city in constant terror for
a long time. The Maratha general openly demanded
chauth from Surat, threatening a visitation if the
governor refused payment. There was the same
panic again in February and October 1672, September
1673, October 1674, and December 1679. In short,
the destruction of the trade and financial prosperity
of Surat was complete. (F. R.)

(resulting in a heavy loss of revenue to Mughal chest, while increase of Shivaji's)
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

(From Jadunath Sarkar's Shivaji & His Times)

[Bodhi]

A letter of Shivaji to the beseiged Governor of Surat, and third of a series.

"I demand for the third time, which
I declare shall be the last, the chauth or quarter
of the king's revenue under your Government.
As your Emperor has forced me to keep an army
for the defence of my people and my country, that army
must be paid by his subjects. If you do not send me
the money speedily, then better make ready a large house
for me in Surat, for I shall go and sit down there and receive
the revenue and custom duties myself. Know this, that there
is none who can now stop me."

[Bodhi]

<b>October 12, 1737:</b> The worst ever recorded earthquake in India, over 8 on the Richter scale, followed by devastating hurricane (probaby accompanied by a tsunami), hit the shores of Bengal near Kolkata, on the night between October 11 and 12, claiming at least 300,000 lives. East India Company chronicles record some massive disaster without caling it an earthquake. Some historians have of late disputed the event altogether, many doubt the number killed.

[Bodhi]

<b>October 17, 1817:</b>

Syed Ahmed Khan, (decorated by British with prefix of 'Sir' & suffix of 'Bahadur'), was born in Delhi in a pathan-arabic family of heriditary Mugal administrators. He in a milestone in the history of Indian Muslims, and a renewer (or founder) of modern Islamic Separatism in India. He founded what later became Aligarh Muslim University, was an ardent propmoter of Urdu, a strong opposer of Congress or any Hindu-Muslim mixup, inspiration of Muslim League (which was founded after his death), supporter of British as long as they supported separate Muslims identity through concessions, very strong promotor of Umma the pan-islamic internationalism, and mentor of several modern indian muslim thinkers who later nourished the Islamic separatism in India. One must read Sita Ram Goel's "Muslim Separatism: Causes and Consequences" for a surgical analysis.

[Bodhi]

<b>October 22, 1947</b>

Hordes of Islamic tribals from Pakistan, backed by Pakistani Army, invade Kashmir to "liberate" it from Hindu rule. The state forces of Dogra king were not able to withstand the invasion, and the Maharaja signed The Instrument of Accession that was finally accepted by the Government of India on October 27, 1947. Indian forces begin counter offensive the same day.
wiki link

<b>October 20, 1962</b>

China invaded India on October 20, 1962.

In Ladakh the Chinese attacked south of the Karakoram Pass at the northwest end of the Aksai Chin Plateau and in the Pangong Lake area about 160 kilometers to the southeast. The defending Indian forces were easily ejected from their posts in the area of the Karakoram Pass and from most posts near Pangong Lake. However, they put up spirited resistance at the key posts of Daulat Beg Oldi (near the entrance to the pass) and Chushul (located immediately south of Pangong Lake and at the head of the vital supply road to Leh, a major town and location of an air force base in Ladakh). In the eastern sector, in Assam, the Chinese forces advanced easily despite Indian efforts at resistance. On the first day of the fighting, Indian forces stationed at the Tsang Le post on the northern side of the Namka Chu, the Khinzemane post, and near Dhola were overrun. On the western side of the North-East Frontier Agency, Tsang Dar fell on October 22, Bum La on October 23, and Tawang, the headquarters of the Seventh Infantry Brigade, on October 24. the Indian military desperately sought to regroup its forces. Specifically, the army attempted to strengthen its defensive positions in the North-East Frontier Agency and Ladakh and to prepare against possible Chinese attacks through Sikkim and Bhutan. Army units were moved from Calcutta, Bihar, Nagaland, and Punjab to guard the northern frontiers of West Bengal and Assam. Three brigades were hastily positioned in the western part of the North-East Frontier Agency, and two other brigades were moved into Sikkim and near the West Bengal border with Bhutan to face the Chinese.

As late as October 20, the day China officially invaded India, PMO forbade IAF any authority of deployment "for the fears of escalation". Recent Researches suggest that IAF's strength was superior to Chinese, and use of airforce could have changed the game in 1962. In mid of half-hearted political support and semi-spirited diplomacy, within one month, India had not only lost to Chinese many strategic positions, but also morale for a long time to come. War ended on november 21.

[Bodhi]

<b>31 October 1984:</b>

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assassinated by her own bodyguards Satawant Singh and Beant Singh with their service weapons in the garden of the Prime Minister's Residence at 1, Safdarjung Road in New Delhi. Beant Singh shot her thrice using his side-arm and Satwant Singh fired twenty-two rounds into her using a Sten submachine gun. Beant Singh was shot dead and Satwant Singh was shot and arrested by her other bodyguards (hanged after many years through judicial process). Indira Gandhi died on her way to AIIMS, in her official car, but she was not declared dead until many hours later. Official accounts stated as many as 29 entry and exit wounds and 31 bullets were extracted from her body. Anti-Sikh riots started the next day in Delhi and many other parts of India, for which several leaders of Congress party were later found guilty by the courts.

<b>31 October 1649</b>

A letter of Prince Murad Baksh, the then Mughal viceroy of the Deccan, is dated 31 October 1649, which he wrote to Shahji to inform him that Shivaji's appeal for his release (from Bijapur's prison) had been received, and that as the Prince was soon going back to the imperial Court, he would there report the prayers of Shahji to the Emperor Shahajahan and take his orders. He asked the Maratha chief to send his agent to Court to receive the Emperor's firman and assurance of safety, and on his own behalf presented him with a robe of honour. Shivaji had written to Prince Murad Bakhsh, entreating him to secure the Emperors pardon for Shahjis past conduct and protection for him and his sons in future. What both Mughals and Bijapuris failed so see at this stage was that these were ploys of young and shrewd would-be founder of hindavi swaraj, to peacefully free up his father from the prison of the enemy before openly leaping onto their territories.

<b>31 October 1672</b> (or a few days later, per different accounts)

Shivaji begins the invasion of Qutub Shahi telangana. Hearing of this, Mughal viceroy Bahadur Khan quickly set out to its defence from Ahmadnagar due eastwards, and arrived as fast as he could near the fort of Ramgir in pursuit of maratha-s. But he is too late now. The baffled Mughal general returned by way of modern Nizamabad. The unopposed Marathas in their retreat divided into two bodies: one escaping south and storming Golkonda and the other turning northwards to Chanda, and thence westwards into Berar proper.

[Bodhi]

more:

<b>October 1492</b>

Christopher Columbus logbook records for the first time the term "Indies" for his location. In a weather report: "And all these days since I've been in the Indies it has rained more or less."

<b>29 October 1999:</b>

A Super Cyclone, the worst in the history of India, lashes the State of Orissa. Winds howl to 256 km/h (160 mph) and torrential rains followed by a tidal surge that reached as high as 10 metres (33 ft) pummeled the entire coastal region. <b>20,000 people</b> and 700,000 cattle die, 90 million trees are uprooted or damaged, and 20 million people are homeless. Estimated property damages exceeds US $1.35 billion.

<b>31 October 1876</b>

A catastrophic cyclone strikes Bengal in which about 200,000 people are thought to have lost their lives. Storm surge of 3-15 m recorded in Ganga delta before the cyclone hits Backergunj (now in Bangladesh). Cyclone and floods drowned over 100,000 in a day.

<b>31 October 1945</b>

All India Jamiyat-Ulama-i-Islam Conference in Calcutta adopted the ill-famous resolution declaring the demand for the creation of Pakistan as a religious and sacred need, by authority of the law of shariat and Muhammad and al-Quran. It declared an all-out mobilization of Indian Moslems for the creation of Pakistan as the only way for them to save their religion. Legacy of a Divided Nation By Mushirul Hasan

[Bodhi]

<b>October 31, 1883</b>

Died, Swami Dayananda Saraswati in Ajmer, Rajasthan at an age of 59. His open opposition to orthodoxy and his message of 'Back to the Veda' cost him his life, when he was poisoned while a guest of the Maharaja of Jodhpur. On his deathbed, he forgave his poisoner, the Maharaja's cook, and actually gave him money from his pocket to flee the king's wrath. Unable to recover, he finally died at Ajmer on the evening of Diwali day, October 31, 1883.

<b>October 31, 1875: </b>

Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel, lovingly called 'Sardar', the Iron Man and integrator of Modern India, is born in Nadiad of Gujarat.

<img src='http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/Sardar2_%28Small%29.jpg/180px-Sardar2_%28Small%29.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

<b>November 5, 1915: </b>

Died, Sir Pherozeshah Merwanjee Mehta, the "Uncrowned King of Bombay", the co-founder of Indian National Congress and an early voice of modern Indian Nationalists. Although he was a strong pillar of the "naram" side of the Congress, together with G K Gokhle and Ranade, taking opposite positions to the "garam" side being led by the three famous Hawks, the keshari-s from Maharashtra, Punjab and Bangal, his contributions in shaping of Modern Indian Nationalism is of no small importance.

<img src='http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1e/C375.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[Guest]

Oct 31st '84 Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikh extremists.
Anti-Sikh Riots
Congress goons retaliate against entire sikh community.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->October 31, 1984

9:20 AM: Indira Gandhi is shot by two of her Sikh security guards at her residence, No. 1 Safdarjung Road, and rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Approximately 10:50 AM: Indira Gandhi dies.[6][7]

11:00 AM: All India Radio listeners learn that the two security guards who shot Indira Gandhi were Sikhs.

4:00 PM: Rajiv Gandhi returns from West Bengal and reaches AIIMS. Stray incidents of attacks in and around that area.

5:30 PM: The motorcade of President Zail Singh, who is returning from a foreign visit, is stoned as it approaches AIIMS.

Late Evening and Night: Mobs fan out in different directions from AIIMS. The violence against Sikhs spreads, starting in the neighboring constituency of Congress Councillor Arjun Das. The violence includes destruction of Sikh properties. Shortly after Rajiv Gandhi is sworn in, senior advocate and opposition leader, Ram Jethmalani, meets Home Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao and urges him to take immediate steps to save Sikhs from further attacks. Delhi's Lt. Governor, P.G. Gavai and Police Commissioner, S.C. Tandon, visits some of the affected areas, but no precautionary follow-up actions are initiated. It is alleged that Rajiv Gandhi deliberately delayed in calling in the Army, a move which many believe could have saved the lives of many.[citation needed]

During the night of October 31st, several Congress leaders hold meetings and mobilize support of a full scale assault against Delhi's Sikhs.

November 1, 1984

Very Early Morning: Several Congress leaders hold meetings mobilizing their followers to attack Sikhs on a mass scale. The first killing of a Sikh occurs in east Delhi in the early hours of November 1.

Approximately 9:00 AM: Armed mobs take over the streets of Delhi and launch a massacre. The first targets are Gurdwaras, the holy temples of Sikhs, to prevent Sikhs from collecting there and putting up a combined defense. Mobs are armed with iron rods of a uniform size. Activist editor Madhu Kishwar claims seeing the rods being distributed amongst the miscreants. Mobs also have abundant supplies of petrol and kerosene. Victims later traced the source of kerosene to dealers belonging to the Congressional party.

Throughout the day: Police units, though adequately armed and supplied, take no action against miscreants in most places. The few areas where the local police stations take prompt measures against mobs see hardly any killings or major violence; Farsh Bazar and Karol Bagh are two such examples. In other localities, the priority of the police, as later stated by the then police commissioner S.C. Tandon before the Nanavati Commission, is to take action against Sikhs who resist the attacks.

Most of the mobs are led by Congress members, including those from affluent families. The worst affected areas are low income colonies like Trilokpuri, Mongolpuri, Sultanpuri and Palam Colony.

The Congress leaders later identified by the victims as organisers of the carnage include three MPs H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Dharam Dass Shastri and 10 councillors Arjan Dass, Ashok Kumar, Deep Chand, Sukhan Lal Sood, Ram Narayan Verma, D.R. Chhabbra, Bharat Singh, Vasudev, Dharam Singh and Mela Ram.

November 2, 1984:

Throughout the day: Curfew is in force throughout Delhi - but only on paper. The Army is also deployed throughout Delhi but nowhere is it effective because the police do not co-operate with soldiers (who are not allowed to open fire without the consent of senior police officers and executive magistrates). Meanwhile, mobs continue to rampage with the same ferocity.

November 3, 1984:

Late Evening: The national Army and local police units work together to subdue the violence. After law enforcement intervention, violence is comparatively mild and sporadic.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

[Shambhu]

BJP student wing member spits on Geelani's face
http://sarvesamachar.com/click_frameset.ph...news-41718.html

Nov 6 is a day I will always remember