Gulf News Report Published: December 20, 2007, 23:28
A daily pick of news events that happened on this day in history from the pages of Gulf News dated December 21, 1978.
Indian riots 15,000 held
Five people were killed and about 15,000 arrested when supporters of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi protested against her jailing and expulsion from Parliament.
Three people were killed in Bangalore, when police opened fire to disperse stone-throwing mobs. Two demonstrators were also killed in clashes in Kerala state. Incidents of arson were reported in a number of places including Bombay and Bangalore where buses and railway cars were destroyed by protesters.
Free Gandhi hijackers demand
Two men hijacked an Indian Airlines plane and demanded the unconditional release of imprisoned ex-Premier Indira Gandhi.
Airline officials said the information came from a passenger who escaped from the aircraft's rear door at Varanasi in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where the plane was grounded.
Butros quits as Lebanon gets tough with gunmen
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Fouad Butros resigned as Defence Minister and was replaced by army commander Brigadier Victor Khoury, official sources reported. They said the change was designed to speed up the reconstruction of Lebanon's post-civil war army in a get-tough attempt to restore law and order. The sources said Khoury retained his job as army commander in addition to his new post.
Five dead in train horror
One passenger train crashed into the rear of another, just outside the English resort town of Brighton killing five people and injuring 30.
"There are three carriages telescoped into the space of one right underneath a bridge," said a police spokesman describing the crash scene in a deep cutting at Patcham, a village five kilometers north of Brighton.
