Rajiv Gandhi, the son of Indira and Firoz Gandhi and the grandson of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was sworn in as Prime Minister by President Gyani Zail Singh on 31 October 1984, the day Indira Gandhi was assassinated. The assassination had numbed the nation. The world was in

shock. As the country realized the impact of what had happened, the initial

numbness gave way to fury. There followed a blood bath on the streets of Delhi and other cities in India.

The fact that the Sikh guards guarding the

gate shot Indira Gandhi provided the target. Hundreds of innocent Sikh

men, women and children were killed in the mob violence. It was an extremely difficult situation for the law-and-order machinery of the State to deal with, and a challenge for it to function with any semblance of objectivity or fairness. The anger of the public at this most horrendous crime was taken advantage of by anti-social elements who went about

killing innocent people belonging to the Sikh community. The New York Times and other foreign newspapers described it as “appalling Hindu revenge”.

The choice of Rajiv Gandhi as the next Prime Minister was natural in the circumstances. The assassination of Indira Gandhi had the potential of creating anarchy and instability in the country. The sudden removal from the scene of a strong and popular leader like Indira Gandhi created a vacuum that could not have been filled by any other minister in her Cabinet for the simple reason that none of them would even remotely be regarded as a national leader. In the Indian democracy the centrality of a national leader is of crucial importance.

The people rally round the national leader in times of crisis. The demonstration of solidarity and unswerving support for the leader when the nation faces challenging situations is an interesting feature of our history. The assassination of Indira Gandhi created such a crisis situation.

To be continued.......