Beant Singh
Beant Singh was a Sikh police officer from the village of Maloya, who gained notoriety for his role in the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Born in a Sikh community and educated at the University of Punjab, he began his police career in 1972 and later became a member of Gandhi's security detail. His life took a pivotal turn following Operation Blue Star in June 1984, when the Indian military attacked the Golden Temple to remove militants, an event that led to widespread resentment within the Sikh community and radicalized Singh. Influenced by his uncle, he conspired to assassinate Gandhi, believing it was a response to her government's actions.
On the day of the assassination, Singh shot Gandhi multiple times as she walked to a meeting, an act that was carried out in the presence of his fellow officer, Satwant Singh, who joined in the shooting. Following the assassination, both men were killed shortly after being detained. The aftermath of the assassination sparked severe anti-Sikh riots, resulting in the deaths of over 2,500 Sikhs in Delhi alone, reflecting the intense communal tensions in India at the time. The event marked a significant and tragic moment in Indian history, deeply affecting the Sikh community and the broader socio-political landscape of the country.
Beant Singh
- Born: January 6, 1959
- Birthplace: Patiala, India
- Died: October 31, 1984
- Place of death: New Delhi, India
Sikh assassin
Cause of notoriety: Singh and an accomplice assassinated Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India.
Active: October 31, 1984
Locale: Garden of the prime minister’s house, New Delhi, India
Early Life
Beant Singh (BEE-ahnt sihng) was born and raised in the Sikh village of Maloya and attended the University of Punjab. Little else is known about his early life. He became a police officer in 1972, and after 1980 he served as part of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s inner security cordon; his loyalty was never questioned. He was not known for ethnic extremism and had married a Hindu woman, Bimla Devi.
Militant Career
In June, 1984, Operation Blue Star was carried out by the Indian military under the orders of Prime Minister Gandhi. The operation was an attack designed to oust separatist and militant Sikhs from the Golden Temple complex, the most sacred site of the Sikh religion. The complex was left badly damaged, and many people were killed. The event led to estrangement between the Indian government and large portions of the Sikh community; it also radicalized Singh, and he came under the influence of one of the main conspirators, his uncle Kehar Singh. In turn, Beant brought police constable Satwant Singh to his house on October 16, 1984, in order to recruit him into a conspiracy against the government.
On the morning of October 31, 1984, Gandhi, her staff, and her security aides left her house at No. 1 Safdarjung Road to walk along the path of her garden to her office next door at No. 1 Akbar Road; Gandhi was heading for an interview with documentary filmmakers with the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). She stopped at the gate dividing the two properties to greet Beant and Satwant, who were on security duty. Beant pulled out his .38-bore service revolver and fired five bullets into Gandhi. Like the other security officers who became paralyzed into inaction, Satwant was initially stunned, but Beant ordered him to shoot; he too opened fire, emptying twenty-five bullets into Gandhi. The two men then dropped their weapons as other security men ran to the scene. Beant told them, “I have done what I had to do. Now you do what you have to do.” Both men were taken to the guardhouse, where they were shot ten minutes later as they tried to wrest weapons from the guards. At 2:23 p.m., Gandhi was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Legal Action and Outcome
Justice M. P. Thakkar was appointed to hold an inquiry into the assassination in order to examine whether there was a security lapse and if foreign powers were involved. He submitted his report on February 27, 1986, but it did not become public until March 27, 1989. The report found that the conspiracy involved several people, but the only foreign involvement was training and shelter given by Pakistan to Sikh terrorists.
Impact
News that Sikhs had killed Indira Gandhi reached the streets almost immediately following her death. Hindus went on a rampage against Sikhs wherever they could find them, in homes and shops, on buses and trains, and in Sikh-owned buildings and businesses. The carnage lasted three days before the rioting spent itself and police and the army could restore order. More than twenty-five hundred Sikhs died in Delhi, and thousands more were killed in other cities. The total death toll is unknown. Within hours of her death, Gandhi’s son, Rajiv Gandhi, was sworn in as prime minister of India.
Bibliography
Anandaram, S. Assassination of a Prime Minister: As It Happened. New Delhi: Vision Books, 1994. Offers good details of the assassination by the person who was in charge of the investigation.
Frank, Kathleen. Indira: The Life of Indira Gandhi. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. In this easy-to-read biography, Frank offers a summary of Operation Blue Star and the assassination in chapter 20, “Another Amritsar,” and chapter 21, “31 October 1984.”
Singh, Anurag, ed. Giani Kirpal Singh’s Eye-Witness Account of Operation Blue Star: Mighty Murderous Army Attack on the Golden Temple Complex. Amritsar, India: B. Chattar Singh Jiwan Singh, 1999. Useful for an understanding of the outrage felt by many Sikhs at Operation Blue Star and the damage caused to the Golden Temple. The attack was interpreted as an assault on Sikhism itself in a holy war waged by Hindus.