Rajiv Gandhi’s Daughter goes to visit one of her father’s assassins in prison.
April 21st 2008 00:39
Rajiv Gandhi’s Daughter goes to visit one of her father’s assassins in prison.
It was perhaps the worst kept secret in India. The private meeting between Ms
, Rajiv Gandhi’s daughter and Nalini, a co-conspirator in her father’s assassination and a member of the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) terrorists.
17 years ago Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning for re-election as Prime Minister of India when a woman in the crowd came close and blew herself up in a suicide attack. For weeks the speculation over who committed the crime raged between accusations and denials. Yet after a long investigation and many raid it was finally discovered that the LTTE (Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam) had specifically targeted Rajiv after the Indian Peace Keeping Force was deployed (and removed) from Sri Lanka. For years the LTTE have denied all responsibly for the action despite the over whelming evidence.
Arrest followed and the team who had sent the female suicide bomber were eventually caught or found dead. An infamous LTTE operative call One-Eye Jack was found dead in Bangalore surrounded by many of his team that had swallowed cyanide to escape capture. Nalini was present at the time of the suicide attack on Rajiv walked away from the blast site but was arrested later. The orders for the assassination were said to have come directly from the leader of the LTTE and despite being at large a trial was held and he was found guilty in abstention. The conviction remains in force today. Only recently has there been any official acknowledgment of this crime from the LTTE.
In an interview to a TV network on Tuesday, Anton Balasingham, LTTE ideologue and one of Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's confidants, executed a major shift of policy, describing the May 21, 1991, killing of Rajiv Gandhi as "a monumental historical tragedy"
Nalini was also convicted and sentenced to dead by the courts. Clemency from the death sentence was granted by Rajiv’s widow Sonia Gandhi after she became Prime Minister of India.
After 17 years Priyanka says that this is her way of coming to terms with her father’s death. She was reported as saying to Nalini: "My father was a good person... Had you known about my father's good nature, you would not have done this?"
This gesture may be intensely personal as Priyanka has claimed but it does stimulate debate on wider issues. Forgiveness, anger, healing and punishment are all issues that a society must face when hit by terrorism. Nalini was a dedicated terrorist who had a direct role in the killing of not just Rajiv but also the unsuspecting people in the crowd. Yet Sonia who had lost her own husband saw fit to spare her life and Priyanka who lost her father saw fit to speak with the person that had caused them both their greatest loss.
It was perhaps the worst kept secret in India. The private meeting between Ms
Priyanka Vadra has many of the physical features of her father Rajiv
17 years ago Rajiv Gandhi was campaigning for re-election as Prime Minister of India when a woman in the crowd came close and blew herself up in a suicide attack. For weeks the speculation over who committed the crime raged between accusations and denials. Yet after a long investigation and many raid it was finally discovered that the LTTE (Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam) had specifically targeted Rajiv after the Indian Peace Keeping Force was deployed (and removed) from Sri Lanka. For years the LTTE have denied all responsibly for the action despite the over whelming evidence.
Arrest followed and the team who had sent the female suicide bomber were eventually caught or found dead. An infamous LTTE operative call One-Eye Jack was found dead in Bangalore surrounded by many of his team that had swallowed cyanide to escape capture. Nalini was present at the time of the suicide attack on Rajiv walked away from the blast site but was arrested later. The orders for the assassination were said to have come directly from the leader of the LTTE and despite being at large a trial was held and he was found guilty in abstention. The conviction remains in force today. Only recently has there been any official acknowledgment of this crime from the LTTE.
In an interview to a TV network on Tuesday, Anton Balasingham, LTTE ideologue and one of Tiger chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's confidants, executed a major shift of policy, describing the May 21, 1991, killing of Rajiv Gandhi as "a monumental historical tragedy"
Nalini was also convicted and sentenced to dead by the courts. Clemency from the death sentence was granted by Rajiv’s widow Sonia Gandhi after she became Prime Minister of India.
Prime Minister Sonia Gandhi stopped the execution of her own husbands assassins.
After 17 years Priyanka says that this is her way of coming to terms with her father’s death. She was reported as saying to Nalini: "My father was a good person... Had you known about my father's good nature, you would not have done this?"
This gesture may be intensely personal as Priyanka has claimed but it does stimulate debate on wider issues. Forgiveness, anger, healing and punishment are all issues that a society must face when hit by terrorism. Nalini was a dedicated terrorist who had a direct role in the killing of not just Rajiv but also the unsuspecting people in the crowd. Yet Sonia who had lost her own husband saw fit to spare her life and Priyanka who lost her father saw fit to speak with the person that had caused them both their greatest loss.
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Comment by Krystal
feelings
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Thanks for your comments.
History rarely reads like a fairy story. It is bloody, cold and often cruel.
Yet if on occasion we see someone reaching out to make the world a less cruel place (even for their own peace of mind) then I thought that it was worth taking note of.
The research was not that hard because I remembered the story of One-Eye Jack at the time. The rest was easy to find.
Comment by tlcorbin
Coffee Quip
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
I keep forgetting. Is laudable good or bad? Kidding.
Thanks for your comments.
I think that it would have been a very hard meeting to have. So much the greater her character.
Comment by tlcorbin
Coffee Quip
A Global Citizen
Paranormal Paranormal
Is Why
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Comment by D. Armenta
The Florida Keys and Everglades
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What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Mine too.
Perhaps why I admire it so much.
DA
One-Eye Jack took cyanide, which is expected of every LTTE soldier if captured. They hang a vile around their necks all the time. I think the numbers of dead found at his house was over 14 people (I'll have to check that)
Nalini was arrested after a her picture was shown on the front of every newspaper. She shaved her head to disguise herself but was picked up in the manhunt. (Womanhunt?)
She is in prison I think for life.
Prabakran (leader of the LTTE) is still in control of his army in Sri Lanka (est 7500 troops) and never faced the court over this. His kids go to school in London.