CIA 1

Indian Literatures: Themes and Concerns

Submitted to: Dr Aditi Dirghangi
Submitted by: Sanjana Singh
20214249
Christ (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR
QUESTION: Explain the violence and its intensity after the assassination of Mrs. Gandhi?
What other incident does it bring back to the memory of the Sikh community?
Substantiate with examples.

The people who supported Indira Gandhi's early ascent to power in 1966 did so because they
believed she would be a timid leader who was simple to control. She was one of the most
influential women of the 20th century. On the contrary, her administration was characterized by
brutal politics and the concentration of power.
During her tenure as prime minister, militant Sikhs, led by the extreme Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale, pushed for special status for Punjab, where the Sikh population is predominated.
As a result of the tense circumstances, numerous people were killed in incidents around the
Punjab province. Gandhi then ordered Operation Blue Star to expel the Sikh terrorists and
remove Bhindranwale in June 1984.
He was seeking safety in Punjab's Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple, a
revered Sikh temple complex. Over the next few days, the Indian army killed approximately 500
people, including Bhindranwale, and sustained more than 300 fatalities. The attack also
significantly damaged the temple's structures, further infuriating the Sikh community. Retaliation
demands expanded widely. She had sparked a dreadful massacre at the Golden Temple, the
holiest of holies, in Amritsar, the sacred city of the Sikhs. It is not the kind of spot where one
would want to station soldiers, but the Indian army was ordered to assault Jarnail Bhindranwale
there and did so.
But in any case, when she sent her forces inside the Golden Temple and they captured
Bhindranwale and killed him along with several other followers, the game was already over and
the Sikhs were only a matter of time. They did this in the following October when she was killed
as she made her way from her home to her office. One of her own Sikh guards, who served as
her bodyguard, killed her. As a result, Gandhi was shot more than 30 times just a few months
later, on October 31, 1984, by her own Sikh bodyguards.
Outrage over Gandhi's passing was felt by many Hindus and members of the Congress party in
particular. The fires were already visible around town, and many of Sikhs perished in the days
that followed in New Delhi as well as other locations across the nation. Over the course of the
next few days, about 3,000 Sikhs were killed throughout India, including 2,100 only in Delhi on
the orders of certain members of the central government and the Delhi police. Therefore, there
were several Sikh refugees in New Delhi once more, this time residing in the gurdwaras and Sikh
temples and being mostly cared for by the Sikh community, despite assistance from other
organizations.
Anywhere in the nation, the first events began in Calcutta. A Sikh was reportedly assaulted at 11
a.m. on November 1 at Writers' Buildings, and another Sikh was also attacked at the same time
in the Kidderpore area. At around 1:30 PM, a Sikh was attacked in front of the Tea Board.
According to reports in the national press, Congress-I employees and volunteers got loose
starting in the morning in several parts of Calcutta. In order to control the situation, the Army
was called in, and by 2.30 PM, it had taken control of the city.
Mobs took control of Madras city and broke storefront windows, forced store owners to close
their doors, and set fire to two buses belonging to the Punjab Association-run Adarsha
Vidyalaya.
Angry mobs in Madhya Pradesh attacked Sikh-owned stores and gas stations in Jabalpur and
Indore. The alarm was given to the Army.
Few occurrences were reported for October 31 in Uttar Pradesh, which saw horrible arson,
looting, and killing incidents from November 1 on, mainly in Kanpur. When word of Mrs.
Gandhi's murder spread, large crowds gathered in the streets. The stores were shut. However,
that was it.
One text that discusses this assassination and its impact on the Indian community, particularly
the Sikh Community, is "The Ghost of Mrs. Gandhi" by Amitav Ghosh. Amitav Ghosh
underlines the compassion that people have for the victims of these disturbances, deeds that are
not documented in history or journalistic accounts. The author in his text talks about the real-life
incidents he witnessed after the assassination took place.
He described how the author departed the university with his buddy Hari Sen, who lived in
Safdarjung Enclave, after finishing his lecture. Crowds have gathered around the streets in search
of Sikhs. When a mob encircled the bus and the passengers said there were no Sikhs on board, a
woman on the vehicle instructed a Sikh to crouch and hide. The Sikhs were being burned alive as
well as their homes, shops, and other property by the mobs. The Sikhs' protectors, Muslims and
Hindus, were also hurt by the violence.
Ghosh paints a picture of a world plagued by engagement and attention rather than an "aesthetic
of apathy" by presenting tales of terror, cruelty, and bravery. The horrors of the society Ghosh
depict, as well as its animating spirit, wouldn't exist in a world designed with an aesthetic of
indifference; instead, it would be bland and colorless. Karahasan's observation regarding the
primacy of the written word raises the even more radical possibility that the unwritten world will
just vanish.

References
Indira Gandhi’s Assassination and the Anti-Sikh Riots, October 1984. (2015, October 19). Retrieved from
ADST: https://adst.org/2015/10/indira-gandhis-assassination-and-the-anti-sikh-riots-october-
1984/

Prelude to Violence. (2022, August 11). Retrieved from Outlook:

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/prelude-to-the-violence/228236
The Ghosts of Mrs Gandhi. (n.d.). Retrieved from The NewYorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1995/07/17/the-ghosts-of-mrs-gandhi