Aftermath of Operation Blue Star

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh on October 31, 1984, in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star.

Operation Blue Star was an Indian military operation carried out between June 1 and 8 in 1984, ordered by Gandhi to remove militant religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the Harmandir Sahib complex in Amritsar, Punjab.

The 1984 anti-Sikh riots erupted a day after Gandhi’s assassination and continued in some areas for several days, killing more than 3,000 Sikhs in New Delhi and about 8,000 in 40 cities across the country. The most-affected regions were the Sikh neighbourhoods of Delhi.