Learn about the history of National Anti-Terrorism Day and why it is commemorated on May 21.

Every year on May 21 in India, National Anti-Terrorism Day is observed to remember the late Rajiv Gandhi. When he assumed office at age 40, he was India’s youngest prime minister. Gandhi, the sixth Prime Minister of India, was killed on May 21, 1991, in Sriperumbudur, a hamlet close to Madras, by a woman who was a member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. On May 21, the VP Singh administration declared the day to be Anti-Terrorism Day. The necessity of combating terrorism and advancing peace and harmony is highlighted by the day. Rajiv Gandhi was India’s youngest prime minister at the age of 40. Rajiv Gandhi became president after his mother Indira Gandhi’s terrible death on October 31, 1984, and no one could have achieved this under more sad and agonizing circumstances.

The former prime minister was killed by an LTTE terrorist on May 21, 1991, nevertheless. The Tamils in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern regions were being fought for an independent homeland by a violent separatist force.

Gandhi was assassinated at Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, during a rally. Rajiv Gandhi died as a result of an explosion that happened when a bomber brushed his feet.

Global Terrorism Index: According to the 10th edition of the Global Terrorism Index, no respondents chose war and terrorism as the main danger to their everyday safety, leaving India among the 25 worst-hit nations by terrorism. However, the country was also listed among 56 of the 120 countries polled.

According to a research by a think organization with its headquarters in Sydney, India has a number of low-intensity conflicts in several of its border regions, but the great bulk of the nation’s population resides elsewhere. The analysis said that there would be 6,701 fewer terrorist fatalities worldwide in 2022, a 9% decrease. The decline in events, which dropped from 5,463 in 2021 to 3,955 in 2022, was paralleled by the decline in fatalities.

With 643, a 120% rise from 292 fatalities in 2021, Pakistan remained one of the top 10 nations most hit by terrorism in 2022.