All language subtitles for infamous_assassinations_s01e13_indira_and_rajiv_gandhi

October 31st, 1984, New Delhi.

India's Prime Minister walks to her
office.

The path passes through a gate guarded
by two of her hand -picked bodyguard.

Suddenly, as she approaches, the two men
open fire. She is cut down in a hail of

bullets.

Seven years later, her son and successor
as Prime Minister is also assassinated.

blown up by a suicide bomber.

Who had wanted to kill two of India's
most influential political family, the

daughter and grandson of one of the
country's founding fathers?

August 15, 1947, New Delhi.

India is born in blood.

More than a million people die in the
ethnic and religious disturbances which

accompany the creation of the separate
states of India and Pakistan.

Among them, the founding father of the
independence movement, Mahatma Gandhi,

assassinated on January 30, 1948.

Despite this tragedy, India remains the
world's largest democracy, but killings

continue to be an unfortunate political
tradition.

When Indira Gandhi is born on November
19, 1917, India has been ruled by the

British for more than a century.

Indira is the daughter of Jawaharlal
Nehru, a rising young politician in the

Congress Party, the main organization
campaigning for independence.

and the right -hand man of Mahatma
Gandhi, the spiritual leader of the

In 1942, Indira marries a Congress Party
activist, Feroz Gandhi.

Although he is no relative of the
Mahatma, she acquires a powerfully

surname.

In 1947, British India is divided into
two independent states.

Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India, of
which Indira's father becomes the first

prime minister.

Throughout his 17 years in office,
Indira acts as his chief of staff,

manager, and the unofficial first lady.

May 24, 1964, New Delhi.

Nehru Das.

His successor as Prime Minister, Lal
Bahadur Shastri, urges Indira to get

Parliament.

She's elected in her father's
constituency, and Shastri immediately

Minister for Information and
Broadcasting.

Indira becomes a nationally respected
politician, and when Shastri dies 18

months later, she defeats her right
-wing rival, the Raji Desai, to become

minister.

She begins a green revolution to
introduce new wheat crops and end

chronic food shortages.

And becomes seen abroad as a strong and
decisive leader who makes India one of

the leaders of the third world.

But at home, India antagonizes many
people by building up the power of

government. and cutting across the
rights of individual states.

By 1969, her arrogance has offended so
many in the Congress Party that it

splits. But this does not persuade
Indira to be less autocratic.

June 1975, Allahabad.

After a narrow election victory, the
state Supreme Court finds Indira guilty

election fraud.

and orders that she should be removed
from office.

This decision provokes widespread
strikes and riots, both for and against

Prime Minister.

Then her long -term ally, President
Fahruddin Ali Ahmed, declares a state of

emergency, and Indira rules by decree
for the next 19 months.

This brush with autocracy damages her
reputation, and in 1977 she calls

general election to return India to
democracy.

In this, the Congress Party is soundly
beaten by a coalition led by the Janata

Party, now under Maraji Desai.

Indira loses her seat.

The new government has her arrested and
put on trial for fraud and corruption.

This apparent victimization leads to
resurgence in support for her.

And this is swelled by widespread
sympathy when, on June 23, 1980, Sanjay,

youngest son and political heir
apparent, is killed while stunt -flying

aircraft.

Shortly after this tragedy, the Janata
coalition collapses.

And in the ensuing election, Indira
leads her wing of the Congress Party

power in a landslide.

She moves back into the Prime Minister's
official residence at No.

1 Saptarjung Road.

It's a heavily guarded bungalow with a
substantial garden in one of the most

exclusive tree -lined streets of Delhi.

Next door is another bungalow, No. 1
Ackbar Road, which is the Prime

office. Between the two is a low wall
and a barrier with a guard post.

Indira also brings back into her service
many of her previous security

personnel.

Among these are several Sikhs, including
Sub -Inspector Dayant Singh, who has

worked for her for nine years.

and been on several trips abroad as part
of her protection team.

Following her triumphant return to
office, Indira continues with the

centralised and personal style of
government which had contributed to her

earlier downfall.

Few within her party or government dare
question her decisions, and this leads

her to make one which is to prove fatal.

January 1981, the Punjab, India.

As India restarts her second period of
government, she's faced with a

particularly troublesome and unexpected
demand for independence from one of

India's many minorities.

Sikh extremists, part of the main
religious group in the Punjab, begin

campaigning for a separate theocratic
state.

This movement for independence is led by
the Sikh fundamentalist Janayal Singh

Bindranwali.

The idea is strongly resisted by
Indira's government.

September 1983, Amritsar.

Bindranwali is arrested for terrorism,
but has to be released shortly

for lack of evidence.

In response, he moves from his
headquarters in the city into the Golden

one of the holiest shrines of Sikhism.

And from here, he steps up his campaign
for a separate Sikh state.

Vindranwale's more militant supporters
intensify their attacks on the

forces.

And on June the 3rd, 1984,

Acting on Indira's direct instructions,
the Indian army mounts Operation Blue

Star to remove Bindranwale and his
followers from the Golden Temple.

They resist, and over 700 innocent
pilgrims are killed in the fighting,

with Bindranwale and many extremists.

The Golden Temple is severely damaged by
gunfire.

Even moderate Sikhs are outraged by the
desecration of one of their religion's

holiest sites.

And there is widespread international
condemnation of this heavy -handed

Indian security forces now try to remove
all Sikhs from Indira's immediate

bodyguard. But several, including Bayan
Singh, appeal directly to the Prime

Minister to be allowed to continue.

Confident of their loyalty, She
overrules her security advisors.

But what Indira is not told is that the
security forces have observed Biant

meeting known Sikh extremists while off
duty in Delhi.

October 31, 1984, New Delhi.

At nine in the morning, Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi prepares for her first

appointment.

She does not put on her bulletproof vest
because she is to be interviewed by the

British playwright, actor and humorist
Peter Ustinov, who is making a

documentary.

At the barrier between the residence and
the Prime Minister's office, Dayan

Singh and another Sikh, Constable Satwan
Singh, are on duty.

The Prime Minister and her aide set out
for the 200 -yard walk through the

garden at 9 .18.

Moments later, as she passes him, Bayon
Singh fires three shots into her body.

As she collapses, Sapwan Singh empties
his Sten submachine gun into her.

Neither man attempts to escape.

Other guards arrest them and march them
off to a guardhouse.

There, Bayan Singh is shot while
apparently trying to escape, and Sakwan

is severely wounded.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is rushed
to hospital, but is dead on arrival.

For fear of riots, her death is not
announced until 2 .20 in the afternoon,

though reports have already been
broadcast by the BBC and circulated by

news agencies.

Concern about the possible reaction
turns out to be correct.

Anti -Sikh pogroms now engulf New Delhi
and other cities.

More than 5 ,000 people are slaughtered.

The result is that many Sikhs who had
rejected the violence of the extremists

now become radicalized, and the problem
continues to bedevil India.

India's eldest son, Rajiv, is
immediately selected as prime minister

party and the nation's president, Zaheer
Singh.

But he calls a general election for
December and wins this with 415 of the

seats in the Lok Sabha, India's
executive house of parliament.

It is the largest majority in India's
history.

Born in August 1944,

Rajiv never shows any interest in
politics.

He meets his Italian wife, Sonia, while
studying mechanical sciences at

Cambridge University in England and
becomes a pilot for Indian Airlines.

June 23, 1918, New Delhi.

Only when his brother dies is Rajiv
persuaded to stand for politics.

Rajiv presents himself as a much more
consensual leader than his formidable

mother.

At home, he cuts bureaucracy and
introduces economic reforms to free up

business community.

Abroad, he tries to rebuild relations
with the US after his mother's close

friendship with the Soviet Union.

He also has ambitions to turn India into
the regional superpower of the Indian

Ocean and begins to build up her armed
forces.

Like his mother, Rajiv suddenly finds
himself faced with a problem which may

threaten Indian unity.

But this time, it is a problem which has
its roots abroad.

In 1983, violence erupts on the island
of Sri Lanka, just 90 miles off India's

southeast coast.

A hitherto repressed minority, the
Tamils, launches a violent independence

movement.

The three million Hindu Tamils living in
the north and west of the island make

up 20 % of Sri Lanka's population.

The rest are Buddhist Sinhalese.

Sri Lanka had become independent from
Britain in 1948.

and the Sinhalese majority swiftly
increases discrimination against the

In 1983, years of simmering resentment
lead to an armed rebellion led by the

Tamil Tigers under Valupilai Prabhakara.

The Sinhalese -dominated Sri Lankan
government and army react with

and soon there is full -scale civil war.

The problem for India is that more than
50 million Tamils live in the coastal

state of Tamil Nadu, just across the
water from Sri Lanka, and there have

demands for a separate Tamil state
there.

The Indian government reacts by
condoning, if not encouraging, the

equipping of rebels in Tamil Nadu, while
at the same time...

Rajiv offers his help to the Sri Lankan
government to achieve a peace settlement

and urges it to offer the rebels some
sort of autonomy.

Reluctantly recognizing India as a great
regional power, Sri Lanka's president,

Jayawadana, agrees to talk.

But over the next two years, it becomes
increasingly obvious that the Sinhalese

-dominated government would prefer a
military solution.

It imposes a naval blockade on the Tamil
stronghold, the Jaffna Peninsula, which

leads to serious food shortages and
steps up its military assault.

June, 1987, Bangalore.

Rajiv's patience finally snaps.

Indian Air Force Antonov 32 transports
take off from a coastal airbase.

Escorted by fighters, they drop supplies
on the Jaffna Peninsula.

Hailed by many as a justifiable
humanitarian act, the sight of Indian

flying unhindered over Sri Lanka
emphasizes the fact that India can

will whenever it wants.

Jayawardena's government immediately
begins serious talks.

And on July 29, 1987, an Indo -Sri
Lankan pact is signed.

India will send a peacekeeping force and
mediate between the Tamil Tigers and

the Sri Lankan government.

July 30, 1987, Colombo.

The agreement is widely opposed by the
Sinhalese, and Rajiv is assaulted by a

naval rating while inspecting a guard of
honor in Sri Lanka's capital.

The new pact fails to stop the fighting,
and inevitably the Indian peacekeeping

force soon becomes involved in combating
the Tamil Tigers.

Unrest at India's apparent siding with
the Sinhalese begins to grow in Tamil

Nadu.

Meanwhile, Rajiv's image as Mr.

Clean is tainted by scandal.

In April 1987, Swedish radio reveals
that the Bofors Armament Group has paid

massive commissions to secure orders for
its 155mm gun.

Government ministers are implicated.

In a general election in December 1989,
Rajiv's Congress Party is defeated by a

coalition led by his former finance
minister, V .P. Singh, who now heads the

Janata Dal Party.

The Indian peacekeeping force in Sri
Lanka has suffered more than 1 ,500

casualties, and the new government
starts pulling it out.

This is completed within four months.

But the fighting goes on with the Sri
Lankan army stepping up its assault

against the Tamils.

Some Tamil groups are prepared to settle
for limited autonomy to achieve peace.

But the Tigers are even more determined
to gain full independence.

They've started using a fearsome new
weapon, suicide bombing.

The first comes in 1987, when a truck is
driven into a Sri Lankan army base and

explodes, killing 50.

As leader of the opposition, Rajiv makes
clear that he still supports a unified

Sri Lanka and still feels that Indian
forces should be used to stabilize the

situation. In May 1991, the Janata
coalition collapses

and a general election is called.

Prabhakaran is concerned that if Rajiv
gets back into power, as seems very

likely, he will again put India's
support behind the Sri Lankan

and Tamil groups prepared to accept
limited autonomy, the pressure on the

would be greatly increased.

He instructs Tamil Tigers in India to
begin planning to kill Rajiv.

The job is put in the hands of the
Tigers' head of intelligence in Tamil

Sivarasa.

Early May, Chennai, South India.

Sivarasan brings two young girls, Suha
and Danu, over from Jaffna, and lodges

them with an Indian sympathiser named
Nalini.

Suha and Danu are both dedicated Tamil
tigers, and one of them will be the

bomb that destroys Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv is due to be campaigning in the
Chennai area during the latter part of

May, and will speak at a rally in
Suripurumbudur.

on the evening of May the 21st.

Siva Rasan's plan is that one of the
girls, wearing a vest packed with

under her flowing robes, will approach
Rajiv to put a garland round his neck.

To add to the subterfuge, she will be
accompanied by a local photographer.

May the 20th, 1991, New Delhi.

At three in the afternoon, Rajiv Gandhi
leaves on the last leg of his election

campaign. He will be making a whistle
-stop tour of South India.

Meanwhile, in Chennai, Sivarathan is
finalising Operation Rajiv Gandhi.

Dhanu has been selected as a suicide
bomber.

She will wear a flowing green and orange
thawakami and about 20 pounds of

explosives.

May the 21st, 1991, Chennai.

At 3 .30 in the afternoon, Sivarasan and
his human bomb meet up with a local

photographer.

Together, they get on a bus to
Sripurambudur.

May the 21st, 1991, Vishakhapatnam,
South India.

6 .30 in the evening, Rajiv pilots his
aircraft on a short trip to Chennai.

At the rally, the local photographer
catches Dhanu with a group of women

to garland Rajiv as he arrives.

Sivarasan stands nearby, holding a
notebook and looking like a journalist.

At ten past ten in the evening, Rajiv
Gandhi arrives and is greeted by the

excited crowd.

He begins to push through it.

stopping several times to be given
shawls and other traditional tributes.

Then the women with the garlands
approach him.

One of them bows as if to kiss his feet.

And suddenly, an explosion rips the
crowd apart.

The explosion kills Rajiv and 14 other
people.

At first, we thought that the bomb had
been a remote control device.

but then wires and remnants of a belt
were found on remains of a female torso.

The head of a woman is found.

The gruesome photograph is broadcast on
television and issued to the press.

And then a camera is discovered.

The photographer was one of the dead.

On it is a shot of the woman in a group
of three with a man who appears to have

nothing to do with them.

When this is publicized, the man is
recognized by Tamil exiles as Sivarasan.

The woman is also identified as one of
the girls who had stayed in Chennai with

Nalini.

A one million rupee reward is put on
Sivarasan.

He is eventually tracked down to a house
in Bangalore, and on the morning of

August the 18th, police storm the
building.

They find that he has shot himself.

and six other Tamils have taken cyanide.

Having identified the perpetrators,
India asks for the extradition of

Prabhakaran. But as of 2007, he is still
at large in northwestern Sri Lanka, and

the Tamil Tigers are still fighting.

May the 24th, 1991, New Delhi.

After lying in state at the Nehru house
in Teen Murti Mag,

Rajiv Gandhi is cremated by the river
Jumla.

Less than seven years earlier, he had
lit his mother's funeral pyre.

Now his 20 -year -old son, Rahul, has to
do the same for him.

Two generations of the Gandhi family
have been assassinated by fanatics

desperate to achieve independence for
their people.

In neither case did the murders work.

Neither a Sikh...

nor a Tamil independent state resulted.

Only the deaths of many more innocent
people.