Rajiv Gandhi’s trip to Sri Lanka 23 years back on this date was his last trip ever. Among the most important political leaders who were struck down in their prime, his death stunned the world and caused an outpouring of public grief throughout the country. Perhaps the pages in history would have taken a different course if these leaders were still alive. Today, on his 23rd death anniversary, we scour the history for assassination attempts that didn’t go off like clockwork. Sometimes the bombs went off in the wrong place or the bullets missed the mark to the head. So here is a list of the world’s biggest botched assassinations…
1. Queen Beatrix & Prince Willem-Alexander (The Dutch Royal family)
On 30th April 2009, the national holiday Queen’s Day (or Koninginnedag) was not such a happy day after all for the royal family. Queen Beatrix and her son and then heir (now King) Prince Willem-Alexander(and family on an open bus) were almost run over during their own parade. A 38 year old Karst Roeland Tates was the one who decided to mark the Queen’s day not with celebrations, but mourning. But Tates of course missed the the bus and instead hit the monument De Naald, an obelisk-shaped oyal monument. Instead of the Royal family, Tates lost his life succumbing to brain injuries the next day along with eight onlookers.
2. George W. Bush (The former President of USA)
Almost a decade back on 10th May, 2005, Vladimir Arutyunian hoped to make Bush’s speech (along with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili) in Georgia his last. Arutyunian threw a hand grenade on the stage, which to his ill luck, landed almost 6ft. away and did not explode. Both the Presidents were not told about this till the end of the rally. Arutynian, who fled the scene of crime initially was later arrested and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
3. Sheikh Hasina (Prime Minister of Bangladesh)
Once upon a time the first daughter of Bangladesh and today, the Prime Minister of the country, Sheikh Hasina has had her share of ups and downs. Being the daughter of the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh, she has witnessed the country become an independent nation. This independent nation though, also bought threat to her own life. On 21August 2004, a failed attempt to assassinate her during an Awami League gathering in Dhaka resulted in death of 21 party supporters. It is said that the assassination was ordered by Islamic Jihad leader, Mufti Abdus Salam. But no arrests have been made so far.
4. Hamid Karzai (President of Afghanistan)
Nearly one year after the 9/11 attacks on 5 September 2002, Osama Bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network is supposed to have made an assassination attempt at the Afghan prime minister, Hamid Karzai. An Afghan security guard opened fire at his car as it was leaving the governor’s mansion. The attack came in just after a huge car explosion in the capital, Kabul, which left 15 people dead and many wounded. The Afghan president’s American body guards opened fire in response killing three people including an armed man in Afghan body guard’s vest. Gul Agha Sherzai, then governor of Kandahar was left wounded but the Afghan President left the location safely. Though there was no immediate response on the assailants but the blame of the attacks were directed towards.
5. Bill Clinton (President of the United States of America)
The former President of The United States of America survived a foiled assassination attack back in 1996 during the APEC summit in Philippines. US investigators found a bomb under the bridge when the President was about to take that route in his motorcade to meet the local governor. The thwarted assassination attack was never made public and it remained top secret until it unfolded, years later. The foiled assassination was discovered to be masterminded by Osama Bin Laden, which suggests that the al-Qaida had engaged in more sophisticated attacks even before the September 9/11 attacks.
