The earth-shattering news had to be announced on the prime time show -- hosted by Salma Sultan.
Much before the cacophonous primetime news hours existed the Doordarshan era -- where presenters like Salma Sultan, Neethi Ravindran and Usha Albuquerque ruled the small screen. These yesteryear newsreaders had then enchanted the viewers by their elegance and screen presence.
Salma Sultan had broken into the scene with her regular displays of brilliance on the screen, but there was this one news reportage that established her grace -- Indira Gandhi's assassination in 1984.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated on the morning of October 31, 1984. She was the then prime minister of India. The assassination was carried out by her 'Sikh Bodyguards' Satwant Singh and Beant Singh -- in an aftermath of 'Operation Blue Star' carried out by the Indian Army at her behest.
It was 1984, and news back then could not travel at the speed it does in 2019.
The earth-shattering news had to be announced on the prime time show -- hosted by Salma Sultan. And she did it without failing at what was required of her.
On Thursday -- the 35th death anniversary of Indira Gandhi -- the video wherein Salma Sultan makes the announcement went viral.
As can be seen Salma Sultan couldn't stop her tears even as she had to focus on delivering her duties as the news presenter.
Years later, when she described the incident, she said she did not know how she would do the job, but her work ethics demanded of her to accomplish the difficult task.
