October 31st

On this day – 31st October 1984 – The assassination of India’s first female prime minister

Indira Gandhi, the daughter of India’s first prime minister, was elected as the Prime minister in 1966. She was a ruthless politician who worked towards centralizing the powers in India. She was re-elected in 1980 and it was during this term she was assassinated. Two of her Sikh bodyguard assassinated her on the 31st of October 1984 as a response to the assault on the Golden Temple. The assassination led to anti-Sikh riots where around 2800 Sikhs in India were murdered. The two assassins who killed Gandhi were hanged in 1989, while the murders of the Sikhs have yet to be properly prosecuted.