By Vinod Sharma
Mrs Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984. Two of the Prime Minister’s bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh fired over 30 bullets at her from point blank range, purportedly to avenge the humiliation of Sikhs and the desecration of the Golden Temple during “Operation Blue Star” – in June of that year.
The assassination of one of the most powerful and popular Prime Ministers sent shockwaves throughout the nation, unleashing some of the most vicious communal violence, if one can say that, India had ever seen.
Before I come to my personal account, let me put the sequence of events on that day –31 October 1984:
9:20 AM: Indira Gandhi shot by two of her security guards, at her official residence, No. 1, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi.
Rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) immediately.
11:00 AM: All India Radio announces that the two security guards who shot Indira Gandhi were Sikhs.
4:00 PM: Rajiv Gandhi returns from West Bengal and reaches AIIMS, amidst stray incidents of mob violence in and around that area.
5:30 PM: The cavalcade of the President of India, Giani Zail Singh, who returned from a foreign trip (cutting short his visit) was stoned as it approached AIIMS.
5:40 PM (onwards): Mobs fanned out in different directions from AIIMS. The violence against Sikhs spread. Violence included destruction of Sikh properties. It took place even in the VIP areas, like Prithviraj Road, Pandara Road and Aurangzeb Road.
And, what followed on 1st of November and thereafter is all history, not to be forgotten.
Here in Mussoorie –
It was a usual Wednesday morning on 31 October 1984. Those who know Mussoorie, know well that ‘Autumn’ is one of the best seasons of the town. A very pleasant morning, with bright sunshine.
I was getting ready for office.
My phone bell rang. And, Dinesh Singh, the then Minister of External Affairs, was on the line: “Vinod, there is bad news. The Prime Minister has been shot dead. Err… not really dead, but she has been badly wounded and has been taken to the hospital, in a very-very serious, critical condition.”
I immediately made two calls. One to the District Magistrate and the other to Arun Singh, the MOS for Defence (as he was also in town that day).
At around 10.15 a.m., the Inspector, Mussoorie Kotwali, came to my residence with 4 constables. (Mussoorie being an otherwise peaceful town never had much police force.)
As expected, the trouble started immediately at around that time, as two Sikh officers of the Punjab & Sindh Bank ran for security and shelter to my official residence (the Bank was around 150 yards from the SDM’s Residence). The Bank officers informed us that a group of locals (some students) attacked the Bank and ransacked the counters.
The police force and I reached the Bank immediately and found that the attackers had already left the place. They ran towards the Gurdwara (which was around 250 metres from the Bank), damaging the windowpanes of a well-known restaurant “Whispering Windows” owned by an influential and popular Sikh gentleman, DP Singh.
They tried to damage the property of the Gurdwara but met stiff resistance from some local residents and the worshippers of the temple situated adjacent to the Gurdwara.
They were on scooters and bikes. By the time they were chased, they disappeared into the by-lanes of the town.
By this time, everything seemed to be normal.
At around 4.00 p.m. (approximately the time Rajiv Gandhi arrived at the AIIMS), the news came to me that a huge crowd of some students and locals, armed with sticks and stones, was moving towards the Landour area of the town. (Landour, so to say, old Mussoorie. It has a number of Sikh residences.)
We, along with our skeleton force, rushed to the entrance of Landour Bazaar, the clock tower. The mob, around 400-500 in number, damaged a few shops in Kulri Bazaar on the way to Landour.
As we reached the entry point of Landour, the area was full of Hindus and Sikhs armed with guns, swords and sticks (Hindus fully prepared to protect the Sikhs). In the meanwhile, the agitated mob reached that point. The situation was – on our right, we had a strong mob of students, armed with sticks and stones, and, on the left side of us, a strong crowd of Hindus protecting Sikh families.
We hardly had any force with us. Only thing we could do was to threaten them with dire consequences, if they tried to cross that line and tried to harm the Hindus and Sikhs of this area. This scuffle carried on for almost an hour or so. Finally, with great difficulty, after struggling for some time, we used mild force and were able to disperse the crowd. Clamped Section 144 CrPC and forced everyone to remain indoors for the next 24 hours or so. Normalcy prevailed immediately thereafter.
That was precisely what had happened on the fateful day, the 31 October 1984.
What actually had happened:
What actually happened on that day was – one local school owner opened a big bank account with the Punjab & Sindh Bank. He brought some sweets along, to be distributed to the Bank staff. It was a mere coincidence that, exactly around that time, the news about the assassination of the PM came in. A local student leader (not really a very significant one), who was there at that time, tried to take advantage of that situation. He was the one, who organised the march on the Mall Road and instigated the crowd to reach Landour area (the area of Sikh habitation).
(He was arrested and booked under the NSA later).
It was evident that most of the Sikh shops and the restaurant were damaged by their own staff. As a matter of fact, had Hindus of the Landour area not come forward to protect the Sikhs, the situation would have been really bad. The Hindus and other communities of Mussoorie stood as a strong shield between the mob and the Sikh families. And, I can say, the Hindus and the Sikhs of Mussoorie brought normalcy in the town, within 24 hours.
This is precisely what had happened on that fateful day – 31 October 1984.
(Vinod Sharma is a retired IAS officer)
