WI Indira Gandhi's assassination takes place in the evening when she meets with Princess Anne, resulting in Anne being shot but not killed

[Declan]

On the day of Indira Gandhi's assassination, the Princess Royal(Anne) was in India for an official visit. That same day, she was actually supposed to have dinner with Indira.

In this ATL, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh aren't on shift together in the morning but in the evening. The time does not affect their plans in their slightest. When evening arrives, Princess Anne greets meets Indira at her residence for dinner. Before they dine, Indira decides to show Princess around the gardens of her house. Princess Anne, Indira Gandhi and the latter's entourage are touring the Prime Minister's residence.
Satwant and Beant take this opportunity to strike. They open fire on Indira Gandhi. For some reason, the two are far more indiscriminate in their firing than they were in the OTL. This results in some of Indira's entourage getting shot as well. Also shot is Princess Anne, fortunately a non-lifethreatening wound.

How does this affect things?
One idea I have is that this results in Margaret Thatcher deciding to start an overt program of the British Army training and advising the Indian army in counterinsurgency to combat the Khalistan movement.

 

[Brahman]

Anti Indian violence rocks UK and Anglo world in general. Higher degree of animosity towards Sikhs and Indians in general.

Politically, any form of Khalistani activities ate shut down

 

[Declan]

Anti Indian violence rocks UK and Anglo world in general. Higher degree of animosity towards Sikhs and Indians in general.

Politically, any form of Khalistani activities ate shut down

I don't think it would go that far, or be so general to include all Indians.

Maybe a large increase in attacks against the Sikh diaspora?

 

[bobbins]

Anti Indian violence rocks UK and Anglo world in general. Higher degree of animosity towards Sikhs and Indians in general.

Politically, any form of Khalistani activities ate shut down

Honestly no. Some far right nutters would - the NF and BNP were still a thing then . But Anne isn’t the Queen, wasn’t killed and it wouldn’t have been that big a thing. There could have been more cooperation between the UK and India as a result in a number of areas, and it may well have helped relations but otherwise can’t see it having much impact.

 

[Lalli]

Anti Indian violence rocks UK and Anglo world in general. Higher degree of animosity towards Sikhs and Indians in general.

It is not anymore 1930's. There perhaps might be some gang attacks against storages owned by Sikhs here and there and perhaps some Sikhs are beaten and killed. We didn't see massive world-wide anti-Muslim violence after 9/11. There was some but not in massive degree.

Britain and India would take strong cooperation crush Sikh militias.

 

[Brahman]

I don't think it would go that far, or be so general to include all Indians.

Maybe a large increase in attacks against the Sikh diaspora?

Honestly no. Some far right nutters would - the NF and BNP were still a thing then . But Anne isn’t the Queen, wasn’t killed and it wouldn’t have been that big a thing. There could have been more cooperation between the UK and India as a result in a number of areas, and it may well have helped relations but otherwise can’t see it having much impact.

It is not anymore 1930's. There perhaps might be some gang attacks against storages owned by Sikhs here and there and perhaps some Sikhs are beaten and killed. We didn't see massive world-wide anti-Muslim violence after 9/11. There was some but not in massive degree.

Britain and India would take strong cooperation crush Sikh militias.

Well, there would some attacks if any, and Anti Indian and Sikh sentiments would be much more prominent. Sikh insurgency both in India and Abroad is crushed, might actually prevent Air India flight 182 terrorist attack as well

 

[ahmedali]

I'd like to see if Princess Anne died and Indira lived

In either case the Sikhs are in a bad position and the British may become more hostile to the Sikhs and an even worse situation for the Sikhs

Thatcher might help the Indian army suppress the Sikhs

 

[Declan]

Honestly no. Some far right nutters would - the NF and BNP were still a thing then . But Anne isn’t the Queen, wasn’t killed and it wouldn’t have been that big a thing. There could have been more cooperation between the UK and India as a result in a number of areas, and it may well have helped relations but otherwise can’t see it having much impact.

The thing is that this would make Margaret and by extension, the UK a Khalistani target.

The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was undertaken by the Tamil Tigers, but it's planning was heavily aided by Khalistani groups.

So I'm thinking is that Khalistani terror groups via the Sikh diaspora in the UK start to coordinate with the IRA.

 

[bobbins]

The thing is that this would make Margaret and by extension, the UK a Khalistani target.

The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was undertaken by the Tamil Tigers, but it's planning was heavily aided by Khalistani groups.

So I'm thinking is that Khalistani terror groups via the Sikh diaspora in the UK start to coordinate with the IRA.

Given the IRA at this point was completely penetrated by the security forces can’t see that as a major worry, and that given the Sikh community in the UK has never been a particularly political one so active terrorists are likely to be a very small group I just can’t see this becoming an issue in the UK. The UK population as a a whole wouldn’t be particularly roused by it, so no escalation there, and thus it’s hard to see any spiral of retribution that would polarise the Sikh community. Also why would Anne bring injured make the UK more of a target for Sikhs. If anything I’d see the Sikh community in the UK rallying to support the royals given the strong and extremely honourable history of service in the UK military and the UK government emphasising this to keep tempers calm.

 

[Declan]

Given the IRA at this point was completely penetrated by the security forces can’t see that as a major worry

Well the troubles were still ongoing so it couldn't have been completely penetrated

and that given the Sikh community in the UK has never been a particularly political one so active terrorists are likely to be a very small group

Au contraire actually. While they may not be active in the UK political scene, a lot of them are very passionate about issues related to Sikhism itself. Since Operation Bluestar star occured at their holiest site, it and subsequent Khalistani activities were the concern of many Sikhs in the UK.

IAlso why would Anne bring injured make the UK more of a target for Sikhs.

Because it wouldn't just be her being injured. I'm operating under the assumption that "more cooperation between the UK and India as a result in a number of areas" includes the UK explicitly taking India's side and overtly training the Indian army to fight these groups.
Sikhs already have issues Britain's miniscule part in Operation Bluestar.

If the above happened, it would make anti-British sentiment both among Sikhs in India and in tbe diaspora that much greater.

the strong and extremely honourable history of service in the UK military and the UK government emphasising this

That's the thing. The entire assassination of Indira Gandhi shows that, Sikhs(the religious ones) while serving in various armies, are not afraid to put their religion first over their duty.

What I was hinting at is that maybe Thatcher gets another assassination attempt.

 

[bobbins]

Well tbe troubles were still ongoing so it couldn't have been completely penetrated

Au contraire actually. While they may not be active in the UK political scene, a lot of them are very passionate about issues related to Sikhism itself. Since Operation Bluestar star occured at their holiest site, it and subsequent Khalistani activities were the concern of many Sikhs in the UK.

Because it wouldn't just be her being injured. I'm operating under the assumption that "more cooperation between the UK and India as a result in a number of areas" includes the UK explicitly taking India's side and overtly training the Indian army to fight these groups.
Sikhs already have issues Britain's miniscule part in Operation Bluestar.

If the above happened, it would make anti-British sentiment both among Sikhs in India and in tbe diaspora that much greater.

That's the thing. The entire assassination of Indira Gandhi shows that, Sikhs(the religious ones) while serving in various armies, are not afraid to put their religion first over their duty.

What I was hinting at is that maybe Thatcher gets another assassination attempt.

Sorry just not seeing this but we’ll have to agree to disagree.

 

[David Flin]

Well tbe troubles were still ongoing so it couldn't have been completely penetrated

The IRA was penetrated pretty thoroughly by this stage. This was the period when IRA activities switched from leading SF to being led by SF; the actions that took place were much more cell-like, and the high-profile manpower intensive operations were a thing of the past. Steak knife was coming to prominence, and the active threat was increasingly switching to the many IRA splinter groups.

The prospect of Sikhs operating in conjunction with the IRA is mildly amusing, if doing so in Northern Ireland - where the vast bulk of the IRA activities were. Let's just say that Sikhs would have difficulty taking a low profile.

 

[Declan]

Sorry just not seeing this but we’ll have to agree to disagree.

Fine

But I've done quite a bit of research on this and in my view, Sikhs worldwide are rather passionate about what Indira did and the aftermath.

 

[Declan]

The prospect of Sikhs operating in conjunction with the IRA is mildly amusing, if doing so in Northern Ireland - where the vast bulk of the IRA activities were. Let's just say that Sikhs would have difficulty taking a low profile.

Like I said before, I invision a team up to go after Thatcher again.

 

[David Flin]

Like I said before, I invision a team up to go after Thatcher again.

That would involve high-level IRA involvement. That brings the penetrations into play.

 

[Declan]

I'd like to see if Princess Anne died and Indira lived

In either case the Sikhs are in a bad position and the British may become more hostile to the Sikhs and an even worse situation for the Sikhs

Thatcher might help the Indian army suppress the Sikhs

If Princess Anne dies, there would be more sporadic attacks on UK Sikhs. The UK would have explicitly supported India, diplomatically at least, in their conflict and tried to rope in other Commonwealth countries too.

However, if Indira lived. There would be no pogroms against Sikhs. Mostly small amounts of random violence against Sikhs.

The Khalistani insurgency is said to have officially began in 1984. While Operation Bluestar was the genesis of the insurgency, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots lit the fires of insurgency.

So if Indira, lives the insurgency, doesn't have as much as it did in the OTL and fizzles out within a few years, by the late 80s for the latest.

An unitended consequence is that the British royals pretty much withdraws from foreign engagements outside of the commonwealth and countries where there is complete stability for some time. Essentially avoiding countries where this civil strife. Anne's death would be seen as collateral damage in a conflict the Brits weren't even part of.
So Charles' and Diana's infamous trips to India and South Korea never happen. India, obviously still a danger, and South Korea being seen as dangerous due to North Korea.
Obviously this means Diana's anti-landmine campaign suffers setbacks.

 

[ahmedali]

If Princess Anne dies, there would be more sporadic attacks on UK Sikhs. The UK would have explicitly supported India, diplomatically at least, in their conflict and tried to rope in other Commonwealth countries too.

However, if Indira lived. There would be no pogroms against Sikhs. Mostly small amounts of random violence against Sikhs.

The Khalistani insurgency is said to have officially began in 1984. While Operation Bluestar was the genesis of the insurgency, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots lit the fires of insurgency.

So if Indira, lives the insurgency, doesn't have as much as it did in the OTL and fizzles out within a few years, by the late 80s for the latest.

An unitended consequence is that the British royals pretty much withdraws from foreign engagements outside of the commonwealth and countries where there is complete stability for some time. Essentially avoiding countries where this civil strife. Anne's death would be seen as collateral damage in a conflict the Brits weren't even part of.
So Charles' and Diana's infamous trips to India and South Korea never happen. India, obviously still a danger, and South Korea being seen as dangerous due to North Korea.
Obviously this means Diana's anti-landmine campaign suffers setbacks.

In fact, I see Indira as harsher

The violence against Sikhs after her assassination was less organized

Here, more organized actions may occur, and this is much worse

 

[Declan]

In fact, I see Indira as harsher

The violence against Sikhs after her assassination was less organized

Here, more organized actions may occur, and this is much worse

The inverse is true, actually.

While it looks on the surface to be simple mob violence, the 1984 riots had a high degree of organization to them. No doubt, there was a communal, kneejerk reaction to attacks Sikhs, that part, but the scale & ruthlessness was a resulting the organized nature.

Members of the ruling party, the Congress party, were holding rallies within hours of Indira's deaths. They held their rallies in front of gathering mobs, from those pulpits, they preached hate and downright genocidal rhetoric. The members, ranging from low level activists to sitting MPs, followed their speeches by providing the crowds with weapons and kerosene to help mobs once violence started occuring. They gave orders to kill Sikhs. These Congress politicians, using their status, obtained and handed out voter rolls to identify Sikhs in order to direct the mobs. To continue to stir violence, Congress members gave out prizes to those who killed Sikhs.

The politicians also facilitated the mobs. The police was essentially ordered to stand down. Many jails were opened during this and the arrested were let out on condition they attack Sikhs.

If Indira lived, such actions won't occur. And I don't she would perform a systematuc attack either.