Records show Gujral and others urged early Army deployment during 1984 riots

Official records indicate that a view expressed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, namely that lives might have been saved had the Army been deployed as soon as rioting broke out after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, was shared at the time by political leaders, war veterans and serving officers, but the Congress government did not act until it was too late.

Singh’s remarks

Singh had referred to a meeting between former Prime Minister I. K. Gujral and P. V. Narasimha Rao, then Home Minister, saying that if Gujral’s advice to bring in the Army had been followed, “perhaps the massacre that took place in 1984 could have been avoided”.

What the records show

According to the records, Gujral and veterans such as Lt Gen J. S. Aurora, a hero of the 1971 war, appealed at the end of October 1984 for the Army to be deployed at once, yet the government took more than 24 hours to respond, and anti-Sikh violence spread across Delhi.

In his evidence to the Nanavati Commission, Gujral said Rao did not seem to know how events in the city were unfolding. The commission’s report recorded that the witness considered the Home Minister’s attitude casual and unconcerned, that Rao had made no plan and had not discussed controlling the violence with the Army chief, and that the Army was not made effective until 3 November 1984. Gujral also testified that the then Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, P. G. Gavai, gave an unusual reason for not calling in the armed forces. “If the Army is called, there would be panic,” the report quoted Gavai as saying.

Lt Gen Aurora, who commanded the Indian victory in East Pakistan in 1971, urged Gujral that immediate action was needed. Writer Patwant Singh testified that Aurora, along with Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh and former ambassador S. Gurbachan Singh, met President Giani Zail Singh to press for action; Arjan Singh was later made Marshal of the Air Force.

Testimony on the Army call

While most inquiries have cleared Rajiv Gandhi, the Nanavati report includes testimony from S. C. Tandon, then Delhi Police Commissioner, that the Prime Minister’s decision to call in the Army was taken at 1.30 pm on November 1, more than 24 hours after the assassination. Rao, in his own testimony, said that as Home Minister he was not competent to summon troops.

See also: Congress

Originally published on 6 December 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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