Public outcry over Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's death led to the killing of Sikhs in the ensuing riots that lasted almost five days. It was alleged that the criminal mobs had the support of the ruling Congress party.
While Indian government estimates projected that about 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and 3,350 nationwide, independent sources estimated the number of deaths at about 8,000–17,000. There was also loss of property.
Hotel Marina, in Connaught Place, New Delhi, set on fire during anti-Sikh riots after Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by two Sikh bodyguards at her residence on November 1, 1984. The hotel, one of the earliest in Delhi, belonged to a Sikh family.
Sikh shops in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, burn during 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
A riot-affected street in Govindpuri in south Delhi, New Delhi, during the anti-Sikh riots after Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's killing by two Sikh bodyguards.
A widow weeps with other victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in a makeshift camp in New Delhi.
Injured Sikhs who survived riots in an east Delhi at a makeshift camp. Large-scale anti-Sikh riots broke out in most Indian cities after Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was killed by her two Sikh bodyguards at her official residence on October 31, 1984.
Victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots who were widowed and left homeless weep at a makeshift camp in New Delhi.
A Sikh resident of Nand Nagri in east Delhi burnt to death in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Akali Dal President Harchand Singh Longowal looking at the photograph of a Sikh couple killed during anti-Sikh riots in Mangolpuri, in east Delhi, when he visited a camp in New Delhi.