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The stone mosaic that stands at the location where Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Sriperumbudur
Assassination
Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning for the upcoming elections. On 21 May, after successfully campaigning in Visakhapatnam, his next stop was SriperumbudurTamil Nadu. About two hours after arriving in Madras (now Chennai), Rajiv Gandhi was driven by motorcade in a white Ambassador car to Sriperumbudur, stopping along the way at a few other election campaigning venues.[1] When he reached a campaign rally in Sriperumbudur, he got out of his car and began to walk towards the dais where he would deliver a speech. Along the way, he was garlanded by many well-wishers, Congress party workers and school children. At 22:21 the assassin, Dhanu, approached and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet and detonated an RDX explosive-laden belt tucked below her dress. Gandhi, his assassin and 14 others were killed in the explosion that followed. The assassination was caught on film by a local photographer, whose camera and film was found at the site though the photographer himself died in the blast.
Known as the "Path of Light", this was the path that Gandhi took before being assassinated
Security lapses
The Supreme Court held that LTTE's decision of eliminating Rajiv was prompted by his interview to Sunday magazine (August 2128, 1990), where he said he would send the IPKF to disarm LTTE if he came back to power again. Rajiv also defended the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka accord in the same interview. The LTTE decision to kill him was perhaps aimed at preventing him from coming to power again. Thereafter, the Justice J S Verma Commission was formed to look into the security lapses that led to the killing.
Seven pillars, each featuring a human value surrounds the site of the blast, at the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial in Sriperumbudur.
The final report, submitted in June 1992, concluded that the security arrangements for the former PM were adequate but that the local Congress party leaders disrupted and broke these arrangements. The Narasimha Rao government initially rejected Vermas findings but later accepted it under pressure. However, no action was taken on the recommendations of the Commission. Despite no action, the findings throw up vital questions that have been consistently raised by political analysts. Sources have indicated that Rajiv was time and again informed that there was a threat to his life and that he should not travel to Tamil Nadu. In fact, then governor of Tamil Nadu Bhism Narayan Singh, broke his official protocol and twice warned Rajiv about the threat to his life if he visited the state.
Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi Details revealed by Dr Subramanian Swamy in his book, Sri Lanka in Crisis: India's Options (2007), revealed that an LTTE delegation had met Rajiv Gandhi on March 5, 1991. Another delegation met him around March 14, 1991 at New Delhi. Journalist Ram Bahadur Rai wrote that: The message conveyed to Rajiv Gandhi by both these delegations was that there was no threat to his life and that he can travel to Tamil Nadu without fearing for his life. I did a series of articles after his assassination that pointed out how, after these meetings, Rajiv became complacent about his security and broke security rules in more than 40 rallies.
Funeral
Following his assassination, Rajiv Gandhi's mutilated body was airlifted to New Delhi. From the Palam airport, his body was sent to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi for post-mortem, reconstruction and embalming. A state funeral was held for Rajiv Gandhi on 24 May 1991. His funeral was telecast live nationally and internationally, and was attended by dignitaries from over 60 countries. He was cremated on the banks of the river Yamuna, near the cremation spot of his mother, brother, grandfather and Mahatma Gandhi. Today, the site where he was cremated is known as Vir Bhumi.
Investigation
Immediately after the assassination, the Chandrasekhar government handed the investigation to CBI on May 24, 1991. The agency created a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under D R Karthikeyan to find who killed Rajiv. The SIT probe confirmed the role of LTTE in the assassination, which was upheld by the Supreme Court of India. The interim report of Justice Milap Chand Jain, looking into the conspiracy angle to the assassination, indicted the DMK for colluding with the LTTE. The report concluded that DMK provided sanctuary to the LTTE, which made it easy for the rebels to assassinate Rajiv. The Commission report stated that the year 1989 signified "the perpetuation of the general political trend of indulging the Tamil militants on Indian soil and tolerance of their wide-ranging criminal and anti-national activities."The report also alleged that LTTE leaders in Jaffna were in possession of sensitive coded messages exchanged between the Union government and the state government of DMK."There is evidence to show that, during this period, some of the most vital wireless messages were passed between the LTTE operatives based in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna. These messages, which were decoded later, are directly related to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi," the report stated.The Congress subsequently brought down the United Front (UF) government of I K Gujral after the report was leaked in November 1998. The party also demanded the removal of DMK from the UF government, arguing that it had a hand in Rajiv's killing. After examining the SIT investigation report, Justice Verma Commission report and the Jain Commission report, one can conclude that the Rajiv assassination was not a hit-and-run affair but was a meticulously planned operation that involved actors beyond the LTTE.
Perpetrator
The assassination was carried out by the LTTE suicide bomber Thenmozhi Rajaratnam also known as Dhanu. Later, the real name of the suicide bomber came to be known as Gayatri.
Trial
The trial was conducted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA). The designated TADA court in Chennai gave death sentences to all the 26 accused. This created a storm in India. Legal experts were stunned. Human rights groups protested as the trial did not meet standards of a free trial.[3][4] The trial was held behind closed doors, in camera courts, and the non-disclosure of identity of witnesses was maintained. Ms A. Athirai, an accused, was only 17 years old when she was arrested. Under TADA an accused can appeal only to the Supreme Court. Appeal to the High Court is not allowed as in normal law.[5] Confessions given by the accused to the Superintendent of Police are taken as evidence against the accused under TADA. Under TADA the accused could be convicted on the basis of evidence that would have been insufficient for conviction by an ordinary court under normal Indian law. In the Rajiv Gandhi case confessions by accused formed a major part of the evidence in the judgement against them which they later claimed was taken under duress. On appeal to the Supreme Court, only four of the accused were sentenced to death and the others to various jail terms.Arrested on June 14, 1991, she was sentenced to death, along with 25 others, by a special court here on January 28, 1998. However, the SC confirmed death only on four of the convicts, including Nalini, on May 11, 1999. S Nalini Sriharan is the lone surviving member of the five-member squad behind the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and is serving life impriosonment.Nalini, who was a close friend of an LTTE operative known as V Sriharan alias Murugan, another convict in the case who has been sentenced to death, later gave birth to a girl,Harithra Murugan in prison.Nalini was earlier given the death sentence. On the intervention of Rajiv Gandhi's widow and Congress president Sonia Gandhi petition for clemency for the sake of Nalini's daughter in 2000, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.Nalini was being treated as 'A' class convict from September 10, 1999 till the privilege was withdrawn in May 2010 after a mobile phone was allegedly recovered from her cell during a surprise check.She "regrets" the killing of the former Prime Minister and claims that the real conspirators have not been booked yet. President of India had rejected the clemency pleas of Murugan and two others on death row, T Suthendraraja alias Santhan and A G Perarivalan alias Arivu in August 2011. The execution of the three convicts was scheduled on September 9, 2011. However, the Madras High Court intervened and stayed their execution for eight weeks based on their petitions. Nalini was shifted back to Vellore prison from Puzhal prison amidst tight security on September 7, 2011.In 2010,Nalini had moved the Madras High Court seeking release as she served more than 20 years in prison. She argued that even life convicts were released after 14 years of prison term. However, the state government rejected her request. Interestingly, Murugan,
Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi Santhanand, and Perarivalan, the three convicts condemned to death sentence, claim that they are not ordinary criminals but political prisoners.
Controversies
In a report published in 30 October 2012 DNA [6], K Ragothaman, former chief investigator of the CBI, talks about his new book Conspiracy to Kill Rajiv Gandhi: From the CBI Files [7] and tells the reporter that while the CBI had started a preliminary inquiry in which MK Narayanan, West Bengal Governor and former Intelligence Bureau director, was named a suspect in hiding evidence, the case was buried by the then CBI chief.
References
[1] "Assassination in India; Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated in bombing at campaign stop" (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 1991/ 05/ 22/ world/ assassination-india-rajiv-gandhi-assassinated-bombing-campaign-stop-india-puts. html?scp=2& sq=rajiv gandhi crossette& st=cse), by Barbara Crossette, The New York Times, May 22, 1991. Neena Gopal of the Gulf News of Dubai was also in the car, in the back seat with Chandrashekhar and a local party official. "A Chance To Be Near The People New Campaigning Style Put Gandhi In Crowds" (http:/ / articles. orlandosentinel. com/ 1991-05-22/ news/ 9105220915_1_gandhi-rajiv-chandrashekhar/ 2) by Barbara Crossette, New York Times, May 22, 1991, via Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2010-07-19. [2] Death Reference Case No. (@ D.NO.1151 OF 1998) (http:/ / cbi. nic. in/ judgements/ thomas. pdf) [3] Despite the lack of a fair trial Indian governor gives green light for executions over Rajiv Gandhi assassination (https:/ / www. wsws. org/ articles/ 2000/ may2000/ rjv-m01. shtml) [4] India: The Prevention of Terrorism Bill. Past abuses revisited | Amnesty International (http:/ / web. amnesty. org/ library/ Index/ ENGASA200222000?open& of=ENG-IND) [5] Human Rights Bulletin on Srfati Lanka (http:/ / www. derechos. org/ saran/ lanka/ 3298. html) [6] http:/ / www. dnaindia. com/ india/ report_ib-hid-crucial-video-on-rajiv-gandhi-murder-book_1757684 [7] http:/ / www. milligazette. com/ news/ 4494-buy-a-copy-of-conspiracy-to-kill-rajiv-gandhi-from-the-cbi-files [8] outlookindia.com (http:/ / www. outlookindia. com/ pti_print. asp?id=266715) [9] Probe Chandraswami's role in Rajiv case - Jain report (http:/ / www. expressindia. com/ ie/ daily/ 19980711/ 19250694. html) [10] "Chandraswami had a hand in the plot" (http:/ / www. expressindia. com/ ie/ daily/ 19990514/ ige14006. html)
External links
Rajiv Gandhi Assassination - the Verdict (http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/india/rajiv/index.htm) Harithra Murugan, daughter of Nalini Sriharan and Murugan interview (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=7DTKpBiThq0) Coordinates: 12.9602N 79.9452E (http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Assassination_of_Rajiv_Gandhi¶ms=12.9602_N_79.9452_E_region:IN-TN_type:landmark)
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