1984 was the year Rakesh Sharma became India’s first astronaut in space, and Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman
to scale the heights of Mount Everest. India’s first sponsored TV serial was broadcast on air; and Bhindrenwale – a small time terrorist given to bombastic speech – met his comeuppance. It was also the year of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, as thousands died due to the release of toxic chemicals in the air.
But for Indians throughout the world, 1984 was the year that Indira Gandhi (or mother Indira, as she was also known) was assassinated by her own bodyguards in cold blood. Though it is true that the crime of an individual (or individuals) cannot be visited upon an entire community; news – broadcast on BBC by Mark Tully – that the Sikhs were celebrating Indira Gandhi’s murder by distributing sweets shocked the entire nation. The Sikhs, who had hitherto been regarded as a trustworthy and courageous people, stood beyond the pale by this most shameful act.
Images (broadcast live on TV) of Rajiv Gandhi – with his family members by his side – lighting the funeral pyre of his mother deeply moved the nation. Not surprisingly, Rajiv Gandhi was anointed as the political heir of his mother. In the elections that followed, the Congress secured an overwhelming victory, and the opposition was wiped out.