11-06-2008, 08:18 PM
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-->
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-->