1980s
Indira Gandhi and her Congress party splinter group, Congress (Indira) party were swept back into power with a large majority in January, 1980.
But the rise of an insurgency in Punjab would jeopardize India's security. In Assam, there were many incidents of communal violence between native villagers and refugees from Bangladesh, as well as settlers from other parts of India. When Indian forces, undertaking Operation Bluestar, raided the hideout of self-rule pressing. Khalistan militants in the Golden Temple- Sikhs' most holy shrine - in Amritsar, the inadvertent deaths of civilians and damage to the temple building inflamed tensions in the Sikh community across India. The Government used intensive police operations to crush militant operations, but it resulted in many incidents of abuse of civil liberties. Northeast India was paralyzed owing to the ULFA's clash with Government forces.
On 31 October 1984, the Prime Minister's own Sikh bodyguards assassinated her, and 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots erupted in Delhi and parts of Punjab, causing the deaths of thousands of Sikhs along with terrible pillage, arson and rape. Senior Members of the Congress Party have been implicated in stirring the violence against Sikhs. Government investigation has failed to date to discover the causes and punish the perpetrators, but public opinion blamed Congress leaders for directing attacks on Sikhs in Delhi.
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