Assassination of Indira Gandhi
1984 murder in New Delhi, India
Indira Gandhi, the Indian prime minister, was assassinated at 9:30 am on 31 October 1984 at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi by her two bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. This was after the Indian Armed Forces carried out Operation Blue Star between 1 and 8 June 1984 on Gandhi's orders. The military operation was to remove Sikh militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other Sikh separatists from the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest site of Sikhism. The operation resulted in the death of many pilgrims as well as damage to the Akal Takht and the destruction of the Sikh Reference Library.
Gandhi's assassination led to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which were instigated by nationalist mobs and political figures from the Indian National Congress (INC), Indira Gandhi's party, who orchestrated pogroms against Sikh populations throughout India. Four days of mob violence resulted in the destruction of 40 historic gurdwaras and other important Sikh holy sites. Official Indian government figures put the death toll at 3,350, while other sources have claimed that between 8,000 and over 16,000 Sikhs were killed.
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 militant Sikh followers from the buildings of the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.
229 armed Sikh militants were killed inside the Golden Temple complex during the operation, which also led to at least 554 civilian deaths. 717 dead bodies were found inside Golden temple complex, 501 civilians and 216 militants killed between 3 and 9 June.
“Assassination of Indira Gandhi” enters the record as 1984 murder in New Delhi, India. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Assassination, Indira and Gandhi can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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