Assassins, A South Asia Story
Mohandas Gandhi, shot dead at prayer meeting by Nathuram Godse a year after partition of India. 1948.
Liaqat Ali Khan, PM of Pakistan, assassinated at public meeting in Rawalpindi. 1951.
Solomon Bandaranaike, President of Sri Lanka, shot dead by Buddhist monk. 1959.
Sheikh Mujib, first PM of independent Bangladesh after 1971 breakup of Pakistan, killed in military coup. Also killed are his entire family of twenty two, including heir apparents Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni. 1975.
Mujib’s four closest advisors Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Mansur Ali and Kamruzzaman killed in their jail cell by coup leaders. 1975.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, architect of breakdown leading to 1971 Bangladesh genocide and first PM of divided Pakistan, hanged by military court convened by General Zia-ul Haque. 1979.
Sanjay Gandhi, son of Indira and Rasputin-like Emergency period Advisor, killed in plane crash. 1980.
General Zia ur Rahman, President of Bangladesh since 1977 counter-coups, killed in military coup. 1981.
Indira Gandhi, PM of India, assassinated by Sikh bodyguards avenging her brutal attack on Amritsar Golden Temple. 1984.
Shahnawaz Bhutto, leader of anti-Zia-ul Haque groups in exile with links to Soviet-funded militant group al-Zulfiqar (formed to avenge hanging of Zulfiqar Bhutto), found dead in France. 1985.
General Zia-ul Haque, iron-fist military ruler of Pakistan, killed in mysterious plane crash that also kills top Generals & US Ambassador. 1988
Rajiv Gandhi, PM of India, killed by LTTE suicide bomber protesting Indian intervention in Sri Lanka. 1991.
Ranasinghe Premadasa, President of Sri Lanka, killed by Tamil Tiger suicide bomber at May Day rally. 1993.
Lionel Gamini Dissanayake, Sri Lankan presidential candidate and opposition leader, killed in suicide attack. 1994.
Murtaza Bhutto, leader of breakaway faction of PPP that campaigned against then PM Benazir, shot dead by Karachi police. 1996.
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President of Sri Lanka, survives LTTE suicide attack but loses one eye. 1999.
King Birendra, Nepalese king, wife and family members shot dead during a rampage by Crown Prince Dipendra. 2001.
Sheikh Hasina, leader of Bangladesh opposition AL, survives bomb attack that kills Ivy Rahman. 2004.
Benazir Bhutto, returns from a decade long exile and immediately survives bomb blast that kills hundreds of supporters. 2007.
Benazir Bhutto, shot dead at rally. 2007.