October 31 marks the death anniversary of former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi who was killed on this day by two of her own bodyguards in 1984 after five months of military action at the Golden Temple as part of 'Operation Blue Star'.
Gandhi was the only female prime minister of India. She served as the Indian prime minister from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her death in October 1984. Indira is popularly called as the "Iron Lady of India". She is credited for the nationalisation of banks and the privy purses of the royal families abolition among others.
Day of Indira Gandhi’s death: Appointments and meetings
Her first appointment for the day was with the English documentary maker Peter Alexander Ustinov, with whom Indira had to shoot that day. Later in the day, Indira Gandhi was to meet former prime minister of England, James Callaghan. He was succeeded by Margaret Thatcher, who was the prime minister of Britain during the time of Indira Gandhi’s killing in 1984.
Indira Gandhi was to host a dinner for the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, British princess Anne in the evening.
Indira Gandhi’s last walk in 1984
Indira Gandhi was prepared for the interview with Peter Ustinov by 7.30 am. She had breakfast with toasts, orange juice, eggs and cereal. She wore a saffron saree with a black border for the shoot of the documentary.
Dr KP Mathur contacted her home at 1 Safdarjung road after she had completed her breakfast. Dr Mathur monitored Indira Gandhi's health each day. Peter Ustinov was waiting for Indira Gandhi at the Prime Minister’s Office, at the time situated at 1 Akbar Road adjacent to her home.
More From This Section
At 9.10 am, Indira Gandhi left her home for the PMO. She was walking down to 1 Akbar Street. Indira Gandhi was joined by constable Narayan Singh, personal security official Rameshwar Dayal and personal secretary RK Dhawan; the veteran Congress leader who passed away in August this year.
What exactly happened at the time of Indira Gandhi’s assassination?
When Indira Gandhi arrived at the gates of 1 Akbar Road, she was in discussion with RK Dhawan, Narayan Singh was carrying an umbrella to safeguard her from the early winter sun. Out of nowhere, one of her bodyguards, Beant Singh fired at her from his gun. The shot hit her in the abdomen. Beant Singh fired two additional shots into her chest.
Another assailant, Satwant Singh was standing close by holding his carbine when Beant Singh yelled at him to fire at Gandhi. Satwant Singh soon emptied all of the 25 bullets, with most of them piercing Indira Gandhi's body. Rameshwar Dayal was hit and fell.
RK Dhawan and a cop, Dinesh Bhatt carried Indira Gandhi to her Ambassador vehicle. Her political secretary Makhanlal Fotedar was also present. As they started towards AIIMS hospital, Sonia Gandhi came running yelling 'mummy, mummy'. They all took Indira Gandhi to AIIMS, which was not yet informed about the incident and thus, there was no arrangement to manage the 'emergency'.
Indira Gandhi arrived at AIIMS at 9.32 am. It required some time prior to everything could be set up but doctors started their treatment. Indira Gandhi had been shot over multiple times yet her heart was intact.
For close to five hours, the doctors were operating on Indira who needed 80 bottles of blood before her body finally gave up at around 2.23 pm. The information on Indira Gandhi's demise was kept for hours before BBC Radio finally broke it.