Presented by Nicholas Witchell and Jeremy Paxman, BBC. Brian Hanrahan and Michael Blakey reporting in New Delhi.

“Delhi is tonight again under curfew. The army is on the streets there and in thirteen other towns and cities across the country. As the violence between Hindu and Sikh continues. The latest estimate puts the number of dead in the two days since Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination by Sikh extremists at about 350. Some reports put it higher at more than 500. In Delhi, world leaders have started to arrive for Mrs. Gandhi his state funeral tomorrow. Mrs. Thatcher left Britain this morning. She and the others are being welcomed in Delhi by a huge security operation, as the Indian authorities try to prevent further violence during the funeral. The new Indian Prime Minister, Mrs. Gandhi’s son, Rajiv, has again appealed for calm. This madness must stop, he said. My mother asked us to shed not blood but hatred.

Yet the reports of violence continue. In Delhi as elsewhere, Sikhs have been set upon, beaten and in some cases burnt to death. Some of the worst violence has been in the state of Haryana, just north of the capital. To the east, in Bihar state, it’s reported about 80 people have been killed. To the north in Jammu, Sikhs were surrounded in a temple, grenades were thrown and an unknown number were killed. In the big cities like Calcutta, the Sikh populations are reported to be in hiding.

Nicholas Witchell, BBC

Reporting on the day’s events, Brian Hanrahan from New Delhi.

The arrival of the army in Delhi checked the widespread violence but didn’t stop 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, it’s 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.

Brian Hanrahan, BBC

“They put fire to our factories and damaged and tried to damage our lives. We hardly rescued our life.”

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.

In Delhi itself it’s reported that about 200 people have died, 90 of them today, when mobs rioted in the capital setting many homes ablaze. A second report from Delhi. Our reporter, Michael Blakey.

This morning, after a night of terror, every Sikh taxi driver was off the streets. A new luxury coach was destroyed close to a government building. One of the most horrific deaths on a night which saw some of the worst violence since partition happen 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 a leading opposition MP’s 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 twenty years led the biggest democracy in the world and died at the hands of two assassin. 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 respects to a remarkable woman who led her country out of poverty.

Mrs Thatcher left London this afternoon for Delhi and the opposition leaders Neil Kinnock, David Steele and David Owen were on the same plane. A large number of police were on guard when Mrs Thatcher and the opposition leaders arrived for their flight by an RAF plane. Mrs Thatcher criticised the minority of Sikhs in Britain, who had, she said, gloated over Mrs Gandhi’s murder. Did she fear for her own safety?

One is no longer concerned about one’s own security. Prime Minister.

Must have crossed your mind though, surely?

Oh, yes. It’s just something one lives with.

More than 50 leaders from all over the world will be in Delhi tomorrow for Mrs Gandhi’s funeral. The Indian authorities are mounting an unprecedented security operation to protect them and to try to prevent any of the unrest spilling onto the streets of Delhi, whilst the funeral is in progress. The Indian authorities believe as many as 10 million people will line the funeral route. 10,000 members of the Indian Army have been called into Delhi. They’ll be augmented by thousands more members of the Navy, Air Force and the police.

Teen Murti House where Mrs Gandhi’s body has been lying in state since the assassination will be the starting point for the funeral procession. From there the route will wind 4 miles through the city. The cortege led by a gun carriage bearing Mrs. Gandhi’s body and followed by a motorcade of VIPs is expected to take four and a half hours to complete the journey to the field at Raj Ghat where the cremation will take place.

Princess Anne representing the Queen and the British politicians are expected to stay at the British High Commissioner’s residence or at the Presidential palace. Security there is already tight. Other world leaders, including the Soviet Prime Minister, Nikolai Tikhonov, and the American Secretary of State, George Schultz, will stay at their own embassies. Mrs. Thatcher and the British politicians will have their own armed Special branch bodyguards travelling with them in the motorcade. A second security ring will be provided by members of India’s diplomatic protection unit. not since the funeral of Pandit Nehru twenty years ago, has India felt so much unrest and emotion, surrounding a state occasion that is bringing to Delhi fifty of the world’s leaders.”

Brian Hanrahan and Michael Blakey of the BBC reporting in New Delhi.