Timeline: India - targeted attacks

Key acts of political violence since India gained independence in 1947:

1948 - Mahatma Gandhi, revered independence leader, assassinated by Hindu extremist.

Mahatma Gandhi: Revered as father of the nation

1984 June - Prominent Sikh extremist leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and supporters killed in military assault on Golden Temple in Amritsar - Sikhs' most holy shrine.

1984 October- Prime Minister Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikh bodyguards, following which her son, Rajiv, takes over.

1985 August - Leader of Punjab's Shiromani Akali Dal, Sant Harchand Singh Longowal shot dead at Gurdwara Akal Prakash at Sherpur in Punjab. Militant Sikh Gian Singh was tried and convicted of the assassination and sentenced to death.

1990 - Muslim separatist groups launch campaign of violence in Kashmir.

1991 - Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by suicide bomber sympathetic to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers.

The funeral of Rajiv Gandhi

1995 August - Punjab's Chief Minister Beant Singh killed in a bomb explosion in state capital Chandigarh suspected to have been set off by Sikh separatists.

2000 December - Kashmiri militants attack the Red Fort in Delhi. Two soldiers and a civilian are killed while the militants escape.

2001 October - Kashmiri militants attack the state Legislative Assembly in Srinagar. More than 30 people are killed as security forces launch counter-attack.

2001 November - Unidentified gunmen storm the Indian parliament building in Delhi. 12 people are killed including the five attackers.