Ethnicity

Abstract

7 a.m. Melbourne, Australia. Friday, 2 November 1984. In much of the world it’s still Thursday — early evening in western Europe, late afternoon on the east coast of North America. Already, however, the international communications satellites are transmitting pictures from India where Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on the morning of 31 October. Via the USA, Australians see a report from New Delhi showing the effects of rioting against Sikhs, two of whom are said to have shot the prime minister. Palls of smoke. Burned-out buildings. Passive khaki-clad policemen. The American voice-over refers to India’s poverty and the tragedy of ‘communal violence’ — conflict between different communities, in this case Hindus and Sikhs. Only economic development and education, it says, can eliminate this scourge.