Bijnor, Nov 5 (PTI) At least 25 people were injured when members of two communities clashed with each other over the issue of taking out a religious procession at Khaspura village in the district, police said.
The violence broke out yesterday when a group of Sikhs were obstructed from carrying out a procession by members of Jat community, who placing a bullock cart in the way.
The Jats were protesting against non-paving of the dilapidated roads in their areas by Sikhs, they said.
Enraged at this the Sikh community members allegedly took out their weapons and rushed at the members of the Jat community who hurled stones at the procession, police said.
The Sikhs set on fire about a dozen houses, some vehicles the village, they said adding, about 25 people from both the sides were injured and hospitalised.
with thanks : source : http://www.ptinews.com/news/362825_25-injured-in-clashes-between-Sikh-and-Jat-community
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
Punish those involved in 1984 Sikh riots: Human Rights Watch to Indian govt
Punish those involved in 1984 Sikh riots: Human Rights Watch to Indian govt
PTI 3 November 2009, 09:23am IST
NEW YORK: An international human rights group has asked the Indian government to prosecute those involved in 1984 Sikh riots, following the
assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
"The victims of the 1984 massacres have waited for the law to take its course and, sadly, they are still waiting. The Government should prosecute those involved in the riots," Meenakshi Ganguly, senior researcher on South Asia at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said.
"Both the militants and the security forces committed horrific crimes, justifying them by pointing to the abuses of the other, and yet those who suffered most were ordinary civilians," she added.
Two decades after the incident, victims and their families seeking justice "have been confronted by government opposition and obfuscation, including prolonged trials, biased prosecutors, an unresponsive judiciary, police intimidation, and harassment of witnesses," a HRW statement noted.
It further alleged that no senior government officials or politicians have been prosecuted despite evidences of their role in the atrocities.
Numerous commissions of inquiry, each with the promise of justice, have produced no tangible results, it added.
Widespread killing of Sikhs by violent mobs were triggered after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punish-those-involved-in-1984-Sikh-riots-Human-Rights-Watch-to-Indian-govt/articleshow/5191436.cms
SikhsIndia
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PTI 3 November 2009, 09:23am IST
NEW YORK: An international human rights group has asked the Indian government to prosecute those involved in 1984 Sikh riots, following the
assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
"The victims of the 1984 massacres have waited for the law to take its course and, sadly, they are still waiting. The Government should prosecute those involved in the riots," Meenakshi Ganguly, senior researcher on South Asia at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said.
"Both the militants and the security forces committed horrific crimes, justifying them by pointing to the abuses of the other, and yet those who suffered most were ordinary civilians," she added.
Two decades after the incident, victims and their families seeking justice "have been confronted by government opposition and obfuscation, including prolonged trials, biased prosecutors, an unresponsive judiciary, police intimidation, and harassment of witnesses," a HRW statement noted.
It further alleged that no senior government officials or politicians have been prosecuted despite evidences of their role in the atrocities.
Numerous commissions of inquiry, each with the promise of justice, have produced no tangible results, it added.
Widespread killing of Sikhs by violent mobs were triggered after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Punish-those-involved-in-1984-Sikh-riots-Human-Rights-Watch-to-Indian-govt/articleshow/5191436.cms
SikhsIndia
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tens of thousands of Sikhs attend community parade in Yuba City
By Ravinder Singh Robin
Yuba City (United States), Nov. 2(ANI): Tens of thousands of people from different parts of the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, and India attended the 30th Annual Sikh Parade here on Sunday.
The nearly five mile religious procession was taken out to mark the tercentenary celebrations of Guruship of Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhs, in Yuba City, about 125 miles from San Francisco Bay Area.
Over the last three decades, this parade has grown from a local community event to an international one. Initially, it commenced with a few hundreds of people and the parade today aims to aware people about Sikhism, their culture and customs.
Each year Sikhs travel to Yuba City from different parts of the world to partake in one of the largest devotional celebrations in the Western Hemisphere. It is estimated to generate 20 to 30 million dollars for the local economy.
Amid chants of ‘Satnam Waheguru’ and religious sloganeering of ‘Jo Bole so Nihal’ the Punj Pyaras or, the five Sikh clergies led the parade, carrying the Sri Nishan Sahib, the religious flag of Sikhism.
Also, there were flags of California State in the parade.
As the procession started off from the Sikh Temple of Yuba City, a helicopter hovering above the ceremonial parade showered a rain of flowers from high above the procession.
Thousands of Sikhs walked alongside hundreds of floats. Along the parade route, Sikh families who set up temporary stalls distributed free drinks, snacks and cooked meal for the visitors along the parade route.
Sikhs have been a part of the American landscape for over 130 years. And, the Yuba City area, which has some of the best agricultural land, is known for the largest Sikh population of farm owners.
Tajinder Singh Dosanjh, a senior member of the local committee, said that the annual parade helps people to meet each other and witness a large religious gathering and offers a platform to the Sikhs to discuss their issues.
Besides it being a religious function, the local people here opine that the procession also demonstrates their political and economic strength along with the unity among the Sikhs.
John Gill, a senior Sikh leader of Yuba city, said that by doing such events the community would move ahead to create awareness in the USA about Sikhs so there would no more hate crime against Sikhs due to mistaken identity.
Many U.S Congressmen and representatives of the Governor’s office attended the parade besides the Sikh devotees.
Wally Herger, member, Congress, on this occasion said that after 9/11 we have been facing a lot of challenges and it is important that we should not mix up out friends (Sikhs) with the radical groups of Islam.
We need continued efforts to make sure that American public is made aware about the Sikh community.
Nearly 40 floats decorated as per traditional themes, which reflected the vibrant nature of the Sikh Culture, Sikhism and of the Sikh way of life, were also one of the major attractions during the parade. (ANI)
with thanks : source : http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/67010.htm
SikhsIndia
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Yuba City (United States), Nov. 2(ANI): Tens of thousands of people from different parts of the United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, and India attended the 30th Annual Sikh Parade here on Sunday.
The nearly five mile religious procession was taken out to mark the tercentenary celebrations of Guruship of Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhs, in Yuba City, about 125 miles from San Francisco Bay Area.
Over the last three decades, this parade has grown from a local community event to an international one. Initially, it commenced with a few hundreds of people and the parade today aims to aware people about Sikhism, their culture and customs.
Each year Sikhs travel to Yuba City from different parts of the world to partake in one of the largest devotional celebrations in the Western Hemisphere. It is estimated to generate 20 to 30 million dollars for the local economy.
Amid chants of ‘Satnam Waheguru’ and religious sloganeering of ‘Jo Bole so Nihal’ the Punj Pyaras or, the five Sikh clergies led the parade, carrying the Sri Nishan Sahib, the religious flag of Sikhism.
Also, there were flags of California State in the parade.
As the procession started off from the Sikh Temple of Yuba City, a helicopter hovering above the ceremonial parade showered a rain of flowers from high above the procession.
Thousands of Sikhs walked alongside hundreds of floats. Along the parade route, Sikh families who set up temporary stalls distributed free drinks, snacks and cooked meal for the visitors along the parade route.
Sikhs have been a part of the American landscape for over 130 years. And, the Yuba City area, which has some of the best agricultural land, is known for the largest Sikh population of farm owners.
Tajinder Singh Dosanjh, a senior member of the local committee, said that the annual parade helps people to meet each other and witness a large religious gathering and offers a platform to the Sikhs to discuss their issues.
Besides it being a religious function, the local people here opine that the procession also demonstrates their political and economic strength along with the unity among the Sikhs.
John Gill, a senior Sikh leader of Yuba city, said that by doing such events the community would move ahead to create awareness in the USA about Sikhs so there would no more hate crime against Sikhs due to mistaken identity.
Many U.S Congressmen and representatives of the Governor’s office attended the parade besides the Sikh devotees.
Wally Herger, member, Congress, on this occasion said that after 9/11 we have been facing a lot of challenges and it is important that we should not mix up out friends (Sikhs) with the radical groups of Islam.
We need continued efforts to make sure that American public is made aware about the Sikh community.
Nearly 40 floats decorated as per traditional themes, which reflected the vibrant nature of the Sikh Culture, Sikhism and of the Sikh way of life, were also one of the major attractions during the parade. (ANI)
with thanks : source : http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/67010.htm
SikhsIndia
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They eat, love and pray on Guru Nanak's birthday
BANGALORE: Guru Nanak's birth anniversary marks the biggest celebrations of Gurupurab for Sikhs across the world. For devotees in Bangalore, Shri
Guru Singh Sabha (gurudwara) on Kensingston Road came alive on Monday with Sikhs offering prayers and meeting community members on this occasion.
The scores of devotees who thronged the gurdwara also included people from other communities. Guru Sabha is one of the biggest shrines in the state. For the last 15 days, early morning prayers were being offered with bhajans and free food -- langar khana -- apart from regular prayers on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Men in bright-coloured pagdis and women decked up like brides poured in throughout the day. For children and students from North India, this was a fun day and a welcome break from books, while the elderly listened to the chantings from the holy Guru Granth Sahib and bhajans sung by musicians from Amritsar. There were several such chanting sessions during the day in addition to lectures on moral behaviour, interspersed with kirtans.
Some devotees also offered shawls for the holy grave and engaged in community service. Holy books, posters of Guru Nanak, kara (swords) and kangra (bangles) were also sold outside the gurudwara.
Langar khana is a tradition where devotees are offered free food. The special delights this year were maa chole ka daal, kheer and halwa, which drew crowds from people across communities. The gurudwara offers this food for free to a good number of poor people.
The evenings were spent at community gatherings, and members had delicious meals at Punjabi restaurants across the city.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/They-eat-love-and-pray-on-Guru-Nanaks-birthday/articleshow/5190706.cms
SikhsIndia
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Guru Singh Sabha (gurudwara) on Kensingston Road came alive on Monday with Sikhs offering prayers and meeting community members on this occasion.
The scores of devotees who thronged the gurdwara also included people from other communities. Guru Sabha is one of the biggest shrines in the state. For the last 15 days, early morning prayers were being offered with bhajans and free food -- langar khana -- apart from regular prayers on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Men in bright-coloured pagdis and women decked up like brides poured in throughout the day. For children and students from North India, this was a fun day and a welcome break from books, while the elderly listened to the chantings from the holy Guru Granth Sahib and bhajans sung by musicians from Amritsar. There were several such chanting sessions during the day in addition to lectures on moral behaviour, interspersed with kirtans.
Some devotees also offered shawls for the holy grave and engaged in community service. Holy books, posters of Guru Nanak, kara (swords) and kangra (bangles) were also sold outside the gurudwara.
Langar khana is a tradition where devotees are offered free food. The special delights this year were maa chole ka daal, kheer and halwa, which drew crowds from people across communities. The gurudwara offers this food for free to a good number of poor people.
The evenings were spent at community gatherings, and members had delicious meals at Punjabi restaurants across the city.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/They-eat-love-and-pray-on-Guru-Nanaks-birthday/articleshow/5190706.cms
SikhsIndia
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Sikhs pay obeisance at Golden Temple
Several Sikhs on Monday paid obeisance in the sanctum sanctorum of Harmandhar Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, in Amritsar on the occasion of birth anniversary of founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev.
Devotees queued up to pay obeisance in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple since morning and at Akal Takht (Highest Sikh Temporal Seat).
Before paying obeisance in the Golden Temple, the devotees took holy dip in the sacred tank of Temple at the marbled periphery with the belief that that holy dip would wash away their all-bad deeds of previous births.
According to the management of Golden Temple, a sum of Rs 1.5 crore has been counted in Amritsar on Monday, which was offered by the Sikh devotees while paying obeisance.
Special arrangements to facilitate the devotees were made by the management of the Golden Temple. Langar Community Kitchen) was cooked for nearly four lakhs devotees.
Heavy task force of Shiromani Gurdwara Pharbandhak Committee (SGPC) was deployed in the periphery of the Golden Temple to provide sense of security in the minds of the visiting devotees.
with thanks : source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/punjab/Sikhs-pay-obeisance-at-Golden-Temple/Article1-471941.aspx
SikhsIndia
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Devotees queued up to pay obeisance in the sanctum sanctorum of the Golden Temple since morning and at Akal Takht (Highest Sikh Temporal Seat).
Before paying obeisance in the Golden Temple, the devotees took holy dip in the sacred tank of Temple at the marbled periphery with the belief that that holy dip would wash away their all-bad deeds of previous births.
According to the management of Golden Temple, a sum of Rs 1.5 crore has been counted in Amritsar on Monday, which was offered by the Sikh devotees while paying obeisance.
Special arrangements to facilitate the devotees were made by the management of the Golden Temple. Langar Community Kitchen) was cooked for nearly four lakhs devotees.
Heavy task force of Shiromani Gurdwara Pharbandhak Committee (SGPC) was deployed in the periphery of the Golden Temple to provide sense of security in the minds of the visiting devotees.
with thanks : source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/punjab/Sikhs-pay-obeisance-at-Golden-Temple/Article1-471941.aspx
SikhsIndia
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Sunday, November 1, 2009
Nanak naam jahaz hai, charhe so utre paar
Nanak naam jahaz hai, charhe so utre paar,
Jo sharda kar sevde,gur paar utaran haar.
Aap ji nu, te aap de parivar nu Gurupurab
diyan, lakh lakh vadhaiyan hon ji.
Aap ji da
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Manmohan a balm, but anger still lingers in Sikhs
Anita Joshua
Twenty five years ago today, the streets of the capital were ablaze as well-armed mobs, with the evident backing of the police and ruling Congress party, exacted a bloody revenge on Delhi’s Sikh community for the assassination of Indira Gandhi by two of her bodyguards.
By the time the powers-that-be decided to restore order, some 4,000 innocent men, women and children had been hunted down and killed.
Two-and-a-half decades later, the system has been relatively generous in handing out cash as compensation for the victims’ families. But of the redemptive currency closest to the hearts of the country’s proud Sikh community -- justice -- there has been precious little.
While the rest of the country has moved on to newer tribulations and tragedies, the absence of justice for the victims of November 1984 has been like a raw wound for most Sikhs.
Unable to have closure the proper way, many in the community have grudgingly seen in the Congress party’s decision to pick Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister a symbolic making of amends. “As a signalling device, it was a useful one for the Congress to have Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister; whatever be the circumstances of his elevation to that office,” said editor of Seminar, Tejbir Singh.
“Somewhere, the fact that a Sikh has become Prime Minister a far-fetched possibility given that the community accounts for only 1.9 per cent of the country’s population -- indicates that there is no underlying community discrimination.”
More so now than in 2004. That the Congress decided to project Dr. Singh as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is seen as an affirmation of confidence in his leadership.
“It has been like a balm on the community,” admits H.S. Phoolka, the lawyer who has been pursuing the carnage cases in court. At the same time, he points to the selective amnesia in the Congress on the issue of the party’s complicity in the Sikh carnage.
“The Congress wants us to forget it; view it as an aberration. When they made Manmohan Singh Prime Minister, they stepped up this rhetoric; saying, ‘forget it now at least we have apologised and now made your man the Prime Minister. Our answer has been that the apology came 21 years late and under the Indian legal system an apology is not a substitute for punishment for murder. We want justice.”
Ever in denial mode, the Congress insists the Sikhs have moved on since 1984 and made peace with the party; having elected it to power in Punjab in between. “We are sensitive to the sentiments of Sikhs which is why we dropped Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler when there were protests from within the community against their candidature for the Lok Sabha elections,” is the Congress refrain.
However, for Tejbir Singh, these protests particularly, the incident involving journalist Jarnail Singh throwing a shoe at Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram are evidence that the issue is easy to rekindle.
with thanks : source : http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article41569.ece
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Anti-Sikh riots: Court allows examination of Tytler CD
By IANS
October 31st, 2009
NEW DELHI - A city court Saturday allowed the counsel of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims to examine the CD in which Congress leader Jagdish Tytler has been shown standing next to the body of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit asked the counsel for the victims’ association to examine the eight CDs in the court Nov 16.
Said H.S. Phulka, counsel of the victim’s association: “The day and the time was not mentioned in all the CDs.”
The persons who were seen in the CD like R.K. Dhawan (Indira Gandhi’s secretary), Amitabh Bachchan (Bollywood star and close friend of the family) and some other senior political leaders were not examined by the investigation officer in the case. The entire CD looks fishy, Phulka told IANS.
In the morning, the 18-minute CD was shown in the chamber of the judge in the presence of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials, Phulka and his team of lawyers.
The court has now fixed the next hearing for further arguments Dec 1.
The CBI had, in the last hearing, said the witnesses, who deposed about the alleged role of Tytler in the anti-Sikh riots, were “not reliable”.
But recently another witness Jasbir Singh had said that Tytler, along with others, was involved in the attack at Gurdwara Pul Bangash in north Delhi and killed Thakur Singh and Badal Singh.
The probe agency will Saturday continue its argument on the version given by Jasbir Singh.
The CBI had last month during the hearing also placed before the court audiovisual evidence showing that Tytler was near the body of assassinated prime minister Indira Gandhi at the time the murders of Thakur Singh and Badal Singh are alleged to have taken place.
Over 3,000 Sikhs were killed in the riots in various cities following the assassination of Indira Gandhi Oct 31, 1984.
with thanks : source : http://blog.taragana.com/law/2009/10/31/anti-sikh-riots-court-allows-examination-of-tytler-cd-15719/
SikhsIndia
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October 31st, 2009
NEW DELHI - A city court Saturday allowed the counsel of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims to examine the CD in which Congress leader Jagdish Tytler has been shown standing next to the body of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit asked the counsel for the victims’ association to examine the eight CDs in the court Nov 16.
Said H.S. Phulka, counsel of the victim’s association: “The day and the time was not mentioned in all the CDs.”
The persons who were seen in the CD like R.K. Dhawan (Indira Gandhi’s secretary), Amitabh Bachchan (Bollywood star and close friend of the family) and some other senior political leaders were not examined by the investigation officer in the case. The entire CD looks fishy, Phulka told IANS.
In the morning, the 18-minute CD was shown in the chamber of the judge in the presence of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials, Phulka and his team of lawyers.
The court has now fixed the next hearing for further arguments Dec 1.
The CBI had, in the last hearing, said the witnesses, who deposed about the alleged role of Tytler in the anti-Sikh riots, were “not reliable”.
But recently another witness Jasbir Singh had said that Tytler, along with others, was involved in the attack at Gurdwara Pul Bangash in north Delhi and killed Thakur Singh and Badal Singh.
The probe agency will Saturday continue its argument on the version given by Jasbir Singh.
The CBI had last month during the hearing also placed before the court audiovisual evidence showing that Tytler was near the body of assassinated prime minister Indira Gandhi at the time the murders of Thakur Singh and Badal Singh are alleged to have taken place.
Over 3,000 Sikhs were killed in the riots in various cities following the assassination of Indira Gandhi Oct 31, 1984.
with thanks : source : http://blog.taragana.com/law/2009/10/31/anti-sikh-riots-court-allows-examination-of-tytler-cd-15719/
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Saturday, October 31, 2009
25 years after Indira Gandhi's assassination
IANS 31 October 2009, 10:00am IST
NEW DELHI: Indians on Saturday flocked to Shakti Sthal to pay homage to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 25th death anniversary.
Known as 'Iron Lady', she ruled the country for 15 years in two stints before being assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the slain leader's daughter-in-law, were amongst the first to pay tribute at her memorial on the banks of the Yamuna river.
An all-religion prayer was also organised on the occasion.
The assassination on October 31, 1984 triggered massive anti-Sikh riots in which 3,000 people were killed in three days in the national capital.
It was a moment in time; it shook India and stunned the world. As Prime Minister Indira Gandhi walked briskly up to the picket gate dividing her home from her office that fateful on Wednesday morning 25 years ago, a hail of gunfire from two of her Sikh bodyguards sent her crumpling to the ground in a blood-soaked heap.
Her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, still in her nightdress, ran out to the garden as R.K. Dhawan, Gandhi's additional private secretary and shadow of many years, scrambled to help the 66-year-old leader.
But 31 bullets fired into a frail body gave her little chance. Although she was packed off in an Ambassador car in Sonia Gandhi's lap to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), doctors at the operating theatre knew it was a battle they could not win.
Although a police officer who wheeled her in said she was already dead, officially her death was announced several hours later as the Indian establishment tried to come to terms with losing the woman who had ruled for 15 years in two stints, two years less than her father and first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's unbroken 17 years.
Gandhi had been on her way to give an interview to British playwright and actor Peter Ustinov, who was waiting with his crew in the garden of neighbouring 1, Akbar Road, for the appointed time of 9.30 a.m. The silence of the morning was broken by the death rattle of bullets that sent flocks of birds scurrying into the sky, its echoes reverberating in Delhi's leafy and tranquil Lutyens' Zone and elsewhere in the days following that Oct 31, 1984.
Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, the two bodyguards, surrendered after emptying their magazines into her. The two were taken away to the guardhouse, where Beant was shot dead by other guards when he tried to escape. Satwant Singh was hanged to death five years later in 1989.
Her death - in apparent reprisal for the Indian Army's assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984 to confront heavily armed Sikh extremists - left a political vacuum in the capital. Elder son Rajiv Gandhi, her presumptive successor, was away in Kolkata. So was Pranab Mukherjee, No. 2 man in the cabinet even then. President Zail Singh was away on a visit to Yemen. They all tried to rush back to the capital to deal with a situation for which no one was prepared.
Rajiv Gandhi was persuaded, first by cousin and political aide Arun Nehru and then by Zail Singh, to step into the void and was sworn in as India's prime minister that evening. But by that time violence had already broken around AIIMS and there were reports of Sikhs being targeted in retaliation as extremist Sikh groups abroad hailed her killing.
Gandhi's body was brought in a gun carriage through deserted roads on the morning of Nov 1 to her father's sprawling Teen Murti Road residence and site of the Nehru Museum. Long queues of supporters and opponents filed past her body, while the world mourned the passing of a leader who was equally revered as she was despised.
Riots had erupted in several parts of the city overnight as organised mobs, alleged to be led by Congress party leaders, picked out Sikhs, assaulted them, snipped their locks, vandalised their property, torched their homes and began an orgy of lynching the like of which had not been witnessed since the division of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947.
For the next three days, as the country mourned, Delhi burned with the anti-Sikh violence spreading to Kanpur, Meerut and Ramgarh, where the Sikh Regimental Centre was based.
Working class neighbourhoods like Trilokpuri, Tilak Nagar, Seemapuri, that were exemplars of close-knit community living, overnight became monuments to hatred. Entire Sikh neighbourhoods went up in flames, their male members dragged out and burnt alive as vendetta-hungry mobs cheered. Even Sikh homes in affluent south Delhi were targeted and their homes razed. Some were even dragged out of buses and trains as they tried to flee the city.
The madness went unchecked for three days before a shell-shocked and paralysed administration called in the army on the evening of Nov 3. By that time, at least 3,000 Sikhs had been killed, thousands injured and brutalised and a community's collective psyche left so badly scarred that it has not healed even after a generation.
A few days later Rajiv Gandhi, at a massive memorial rally for his slain mother at India Gate, sought to extenuate the violence by saying: "When a big tree falls, the earth shakes."
A quarter century later, Mrs Gandhi's legacy endures.
Her Italian-born daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, who now leads the ruling Congress, is often compared to her for her style and tight control over the party.
Indira Gandhi's policy of bank nationalisation, which heralded a state control over the country's fiscal policies and public enterprise, has been hailed as far-sighted and instrumental in preventing Indian banks from going the way of Western banks that collapsed in the wake of last year's economic meltdown.
Her muscular foreign policy, which led to the division of Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh, is still held out as an example of Indian hard power that critics say has been a tough act to follow by successive governments.
But, as her critics say, the imposition of emergency in June 1975 blotted her democratic credentials. Though she lifted emergency 19 months later and called for elections, which she lost, her image took a heavy beating and she never really recovered.
She returned to power in 1980. And, after younger son Sanjay Gandhi's death in an aircrash in June that year, she became a pale shadow of her former self.
She briefly basked in her reputation as a global statesperson when her government hosted both the Non- Aligned Movement Summit and the Commonwealth Summit in 1983. The following years, she bungled badly when she ordered the army into the Vatican of the Sikhs -- and paid with her life four months later.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/25-years-after-Indira-Gandhis-assassination/articleshow/5176355.cms
SikhsIndia
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NEW DELHI: Indians on Saturday flocked to Shakti Sthal to pay homage to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 25th death anniversary.
Known as 'Iron Lady', she ruled the country for 15 years in two stints before being assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the slain leader's daughter-in-law, were amongst the first to pay tribute at her memorial on the banks of the Yamuna river.
An all-religion prayer was also organised on the occasion.
The assassination on October 31, 1984 triggered massive anti-Sikh riots in which 3,000 people were killed in three days in the national capital.
It was a moment in time; it shook India and stunned the world. As Prime Minister Indira Gandhi walked briskly up to the picket gate dividing her home from her office that fateful on Wednesday morning 25 years ago, a hail of gunfire from two of her Sikh bodyguards sent her crumpling to the ground in a blood-soaked heap.
Her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, still in her nightdress, ran out to the garden as R.K. Dhawan, Gandhi's additional private secretary and shadow of many years, scrambled to help the 66-year-old leader.
But 31 bullets fired into a frail body gave her little chance. Although she was packed off in an Ambassador car in Sonia Gandhi's lap to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), doctors at the operating theatre knew it was a battle they could not win.
Although a police officer who wheeled her in said she was already dead, officially her death was announced several hours later as the Indian establishment tried to come to terms with losing the woman who had ruled for 15 years in two stints, two years less than her father and first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's unbroken 17 years.
Gandhi had been on her way to give an interview to British playwright and actor Peter Ustinov, who was waiting with his crew in the garden of neighbouring 1, Akbar Road, for the appointed time of 9.30 a.m. The silence of the morning was broken by the death rattle of bullets that sent flocks of birds scurrying into the sky, its echoes reverberating in Delhi's leafy and tranquil Lutyens' Zone and elsewhere in the days following that Oct 31, 1984.
Beant Singh and Satwant Singh, the two bodyguards, surrendered after emptying their magazines into her. The two were taken away to the guardhouse, where Beant was shot dead by other guards when he tried to escape. Satwant Singh was hanged to death five years later in 1989.
Her death - in apparent reprisal for the Indian Army's assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in June 1984 to confront heavily armed Sikh extremists - left a political vacuum in the capital. Elder son Rajiv Gandhi, her presumptive successor, was away in Kolkata. So was Pranab Mukherjee, No. 2 man in the cabinet even then. President Zail Singh was away on a visit to Yemen. They all tried to rush back to the capital to deal with a situation for which no one was prepared.
Rajiv Gandhi was persuaded, first by cousin and political aide Arun Nehru and then by Zail Singh, to step into the void and was sworn in as India's prime minister that evening. But by that time violence had already broken around AIIMS and there were reports of Sikhs being targeted in retaliation as extremist Sikh groups abroad hailed her killing.
Gandhi's body was brought in a gun carriage through deserted roads on the morning of Nov 1 to her father's sprawling Teen Murti Road residence and site of the Nehru Museum. Long queues of supporters and opponents filed past her body, while the world mourned the passing of a leader who was equally revered as she was despised.
Riots had erupted in several parts of the city overnight as organised mobs, alleged to be led by Congress party leaders, picked out Sikhs, assaulted them, snipped their locks, vandalised their property, torched their homes and began an orgy of lynching the like of which had not been witnessed since the division of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947.
For the next three days, as the country mourned, Delhi burned with the anti-Sikh violence spreading to Kanpur, Meerut and Ramgarh, where the Sikh Regimental Centre was based.
Working class neighbourhoods like Trilokpuri, Tilak Nagar, Seemapuri, that were exemplars of close-knit community living, overnight became monuments to hatred. Entire Sikh neighbourhoods went up in flames, their male members dragged out and burnt alive as vendetta-hungry mobs cheered. Even Sikh homes in affluent south Delhi were targeted and their homes razed. Some were even dragged out of buses and trains as they tried to flee the city.
The madness went unchecked for three days before a shell-shocked and paralysed administration called in the army on the evening of Nov 3. By that time, at least 3,000 Sikhs had been killed, thousands injured and brutalised and a community's collective psyche left so badly scarred that it has not healed even after a generation.
A few days later Rajiv Gandhi, at a massive memorial rally for his slain mother at India Gate, sought to extenuate the violence by saying: "When a big tree falls, the earth shakes."
A quarter century later, Mrs Gandhi's legacy endures.
Her Italian-born daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, who now leads the ruling Congress, is often compared to her for her style and tight control over the party.
Indira Gandhi's policy of bank nationalisation, which heralded a state control over the country's fiscal policies and public enterprise, has been hailed as far-sighted and instrumental in preventing Indian banks from going the way of Western banks that collapsed in the wake of last year's economic meltdown.
Her muscular foreign policy, which led to the division of Pakistan and the birth of Bangladesh, is still held out as an example of Indian hard power that critics say has been a tough act to follow by successive governments.
But, as her critics say, the imposition of emergency in June 1975 blotted her democratic credentials. Though she lifted emergency 19 months later and called for elections, which she lost, her image took a heavy beating and she never really recovered.
She returned to power in 1980. And, after younger son Sanjay Gandhi's death in an aircrash in June that year, she became a pale shadow of her former self.
She briefly basked in her reputation as a global statesperson when her government hosted both the Non- Aligned Movement Summit and the Commonwealth Summit in 1983. The following years, she bungled badly when she ordered the army into the Vatican of the Sikhs -- and paid with her life four months later.
with thanks : source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/25-years-after-Indira-Gandhis-assassination/articleshow/5176355.cms
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