Click to play videoNew Delhi: On October 31, 1984, former Prime Minister of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her two bodyguards Beant Singh and Satwant Singh in retaliation to Operation Blue Star ordered by Mrs Gandhi to flush out Khalistani terrorists from the Golden temple in Amritsar.
Twenty five years later, Beant’s family remembers how Blue Star changed Beant's loyalty.
“He saw the temple and was shaken. It was an independent step of Satwant Singh, Kehar Singh and our father. They had no support from any group or organization, “ recalls Bean’t son Sarabjeet Singh.
That they had no orders or support from anyone is confirmed by the family of the other assassin Satwant Singh. The decision to assassinate Indira Gandhi was spontaneous and theirs alone. And 25 years later the families are still proud of them.
Satwant Singh's mother Piyaar Kaur says, “My son rose to do the job. I am proud of him that he has made our head and my womb honorable.”
Her pride is shared by Satwant’s fiancé, who even married his photograph.
Satwant Singh's father Tarlok Singh says, “She (Satwant’s fiancé) stayed here with us for 13 years. Where we light a lamp in memory of my son we also light a lamp for her.”
Both families are still held in high regard by some in the Sikh community.
Building on his father's martyr, Beant’s son Sarabjeet has so far contested two elections.
In 1991, Beant’s widow Bimal even won elections and sat in Parliament opposite Indira’s son Rajiv Gandhi.
Beant Singh's daughter Amrit Kaur says, “Democracy is good. That's why my mother was elected by the votes and support of people and was sent to Parliament and she sat opposite where Rajiv used to sit.”
It’s been 25 years since the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her own bodyguards Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. Life instantly turned into a nightmarish roller coaster for the families. Even as they try and balance the rights and wrongs they dream of a life that would have been ordinary and happy had it not been shattered by the clash of ideologies.
(With inputs from Jasbir Singh in Maloya)
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