Hyderabad: Though the Tiananmen Square massacre in China turned 30 year on Monday, the inhuman incident that took place there is still fresh in the minds of many.
Hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed during the protests after Chinese authorities sent soldiers and tanks to clear the protesters assembled at the heart of the capital.
Tiananmen Square protests by peaceful non-violent youths was seen by the Chinese government as nothing sort of a potential uprising against the authoritarian rule of the Communist party, more so as protests were held in many Chinese cities around the same time though the one at Tiananmen Square was the largest. So it was imperative for the Chinese government that it clamped down on the protesters and end the protests as quickly as possible. And that was what it did - sending troops, sending tanks and by opening fire on the protestors and slaying hundreds in the process. To this day nobody knows for sure how many people actually died on that fateful day of June 4, 1989. No official data has ever been released.
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How it all started
After Hu Yaobang, ousted general secretary of the Communist Party died on April 15, 1989, thousands of students gathered at Tiananmen Square on April 16 to mourn his death. Yaobang was considered a supporter of youth movement and free expressions.
The gathering turned out as the largest political protest in the history of China which witnessed killing of several hundreds to thousand protesters and police.
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Timeline of the massacre
April 15, 1989 - Hu Yaobang, general secretary of the Communist Party, died.
April 18, 1989 - Thousands of students took out march through the capital to Tiananmen Square to mourn Yaobang's death.
May 13, 1989 - Over 100 students sit on a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square. The number later mounted to several thousands in next few days.
May 19, 1989 - Around 1.2 million people gathered at a rally at Tiananmen Square.
May 19, 1989 - Premier Li Peng imposes martial law.
June 2, 1989 - Around 1 lakh people attend a concert in Tiananmen Square by singer Hou Dejian, in support of the demonstrators.
June 4, 1989 - At about 1 am Chinese troops reach Tiananmen Square and opened fire at civilians and students, ending the demonstrations. An official death toll has never been released.
