Presented by Julia Somerville. Michael Blakey and Brian Hanrahan from New Delhi.

“The Indian authorities are mounting a huge security operation in Delhi tonight, in preparation for tomorrow’s funeral of Mrs Indira Gandhi. Millions of Indians are expected to line the route along with heads of government and political leaders from all over the world. Today, the violence has continued, directed against the Sikh community in revenge for Mrs Gandhi’s assassination at the hands of two of her Sikh bodyguards. Latest reports put the death toll over 500. More than 300 have died in Delhi alone. There have been allegations that the police and army have ignored calls for help from Sikhs under attack by Hindu mobs. In the atmosphere of violence and uncertainty, rumours of plots and atrocities have swept the country.

Today, India’s new Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, went on television to appeal for calm.

Disgraceful incidents of arson, loot and murder have taken place. This must stop forthwith. The government will ensure the safety of life and property of every citizen, irrespective of his caste, creed or religion. Indira Gandhi gave her life so that a united India should live and prosper. Anything that creates a division between brother and brother comes in the way of national unity. This violence is only helping the subversive forces to achieve their ends. Communal madness will destroy us. It’ll destroy everything India stands for.

PM Rajiv Gandhi, 2 November 1984

In Delhi, thousands of mourners continue to file past the body of Mrs Gandhi. They were joined throughout the day by world leaders arriving for the funeral. Our first report is from Michael Blakey.

This morning, Delhi was under curfew and orders had been given to the military to shoot arsonists on site. They’d had a busy night. After a day in which more than 100 people had been killed throughout the country, the streets were littered with burned out cars and taxis, most of them owned by Sikhs, who operate most of the transport in the city. They’d taken the full fury of the violent backlash after the assassination of Mrs Gandhi. One of the most horrific deaths on a night which saw some of the worst violence since partition, happened in the garden of an opposition MP, Mr Ram Villas Paswan.

A Sikh taxi driver, chased by the mob, sought refuge in the home of Mr Paswan. He ran for what he thought was safety, but he was caught. He was then doused with petrol. Someone lit a match and the taxi driver burnt to death.

The worst thing that can happen in the country is now happening. There is no law and order in this country. If this can happen in opposition, leading opposition in this house, what happens to the common man in the street? This happened to he was burned alive in that car. He was burned alive in the garage along with the car.

All this happened at just 300 yards from the main parliament building. And then the home of the MP was put to the torch. I was told that six calls were made to the police. They never turned up.

The only people doing business were the flower sellers. They were making wreaths for the mourners, who will tomorrow attend the cremation of the woman who for almost 20 years led the biggest democracy in the world and died at the hands of two assassins. Tomorrow, in a field not far from the centre of the city, hundreds of thousands of Indians and politicians and leaders from all around the world will pay their last respect. The site being prepared today is close to the spot where both her father and her son Sanjay were also cremated.

The arrival of the army in Delhi checked the widespread violence but didn’t stop it completely. They had orders to shoot on site and their presence was a considerable deterrent. They deployed in some force in the city centre, but the attacks on Sikhs continued elsewhere. The army will need more men to bring complete order. The roads cleared now of traffic and people, have plenty of debris, some of it still smouldering.

What is remarkable is that the violence was so widespread, with Hindus turning on Sikhs almost everywhere, discharging a resentment, which has been building up for months. A feeling of anger still pervades parts of the capital.


Brian Hanrahan, BBC

There’s a curfew, although it’s not strictly enforced its closed shops and offices and emptied the roads of their usual throngs. There’s still nothing like an official count of deaths and damage. But rumours abound and one sent us to a small town 30 minutes drive from Delhi.

Saberbad is slightly industrialised and looks peaceful enough, with Hindus and Sikhs living close together. But this morning, three Sikh factories were surrounded by a mob and their contents ransacked and burnt. The few dozen Sikhs who’ve lived here peacefully for sixteen years have lost almost everything they own. The attack went on for several hours and it seems nobody tried to stop it.

They put fire to our factories and damage and tried to damage our lives. We hardly rescued our lives.

But theirs is a tiny tragedy. We found it by accident while asking about something else. Incidents like this are so commonplace, they go unreported. Before the attack, the household had given refuge to a Sikh traveller who had been pulled from a passing train by an angry mob. They’d beaten him, but he’d managed to run away.

I got in that hurt and this body got hurt.

His scarred arms and bruised face notwithstanding, he was lucky to have escaped. Many haven’t been so fortunate. Eleven bodies have been found in trains arriving in Delhi. Travellers killed during the journey.

Mrs Thatcher is among the many political leaders now on their way to Delhi for the funeral. With her went the three opposition party leaders at Westminster. At Heathrow, she criticised those Sikhs living in Britain who’d celebrated the news of Mrs Gandhi’s death.

We received a message from Delhi that both the government and the people of India are really both indignant and distressed about the really outrageous behaviour of a tiny minority of people in this country who gloated over the murder of Mrs Gandhi.

This is the celebrating Sikhs you’re talking about?

Yes.

I think that people in India are right to feel indignant and distressed about that, but I want them to know that I think the overwhelming majority of the people in Britain utterly condemn this despicable behaviour.

BBC Television News will show the state funeral of Indira Gandhi as it happens in a special programme tomorrow morning.”

Michael Blakey, BBC, reporting from New Delhi