On November 12, six convicts of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case, including Nalini Sriharan, were released from four different jails after Supreme Courts ordered their premature release. Nalini Sriharan was released from Women’s Prison in Vellore, while her husband Murugan Sriharan, a Sri Lankan national, was released from Vellore Central jail. Another Sri Lankan Santhan was also released from the central jail. Two other Lankan convicts, Robert Payas and Jayakumar, were released from the Puzhal prison. The sixth convict Ravichandran was formally released from Madurai Central Prison. As he was already out on parole, he went to jail for formalities and came out a free man.
Several videos of Sriharan surfaced on social media while she was coming out of prison. In one of the videos, she was seen surrounded by media personnel and smiling at the camera. The release of the convicts has sparked controversy. Questions are being raised not only by the Bharatiya Janata Party but also by the leaders and members of the Congress party. Not to forget, in 2018, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s wife and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi told the apex court she did not have a problem with the release of the convicts.
#RajivKillersFreed
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 12, 2022
Tamil Nadu: Nalini, one of the convicts in the assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi released from Vellore Jail.
“Congress & DMK are using murderers for political purposes”, says BJP.@sreeprapanch with more inputs on the story.#RajivGandhi #Congress pic.twitter.com/Lce4rXCshS
The four Sri Lankan convicts have been shifted to a special refugee camp for foreign nationals at Kottapattu, near the central prison in Tiruchi.
Sriharan said she was ‘sorry for those who were killed with Gandhi’
In an exclusive statement to NDTV, Sriharan said she was not “very happy” that her husband was not with her and had been sent to a separate camp. When Sriharan was arrested, she was two months pregnant. She has a daughter. When asked about her plans for the future, she said, “My family wants me to join my husband and my daughter. So I am planning that way only. My daughter also wants us to be with her forever.” When asked about what she wanted to say to the family members of those who had died along with Gandhi in the bomb blast, she said, “I am very sorry for them. That’s what I can tell just now. We have spent so many years thinking about it, and we are sorry.”
#NDTVExclusive | “Very sorry for those who lost their lives”: Nalini Sriharan, Rajiv Gandhi case convict pic.twitter.com/WJPrpOs8Mo
— NDTV (@ndtv) November 12, 2022
BJP condemned political parties fetching brownie points over the release
BJP’s IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya in a statement to Times Now said, “Well, it is debatable whether the Supreme Court’s decision to exercise its power and set free assassins of former Prime Minister and fourteen others is right or wrong. But what is more disconcerting is the entire orchestrated drama by the Gandhis around forgiveness. And the spineless surrender of the Congress party to the DMK, which is embracing the release of these assassins. That should really tell us how certain parties, including the Congress and the DMK, are using murderers for their political purposes.”
DMK rooted for the release
It is pertinent to note that in May 2022, when one of the convicts, AG Perarivalan, was released from Jail on bail, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin met him and hugged him. His party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has been rooting for Perarivalan’s release for a long time.
In the tweet, he mentioned Perarivalan as a ‘brother’ and wished for a better future along with his mother, Arputhammal, who had been fighting for his release. Earlier, CM Stalin had shared a four-page long press release in Tamil where he patted his Government’s back and called the judgment of the Supreme Court worthy of ‘history, law, politics and administrative history.
Congress leaders spoke against the release
Several Congress leaders and sympathisers released a statement against the release of the convicts. In a statement, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “The decision of the Supreme Court to free the remaining killers of former PM Shri Rajiv Gandhi is totally unacceptable and completely erroneous. The Congress Party criticises it clearly and finds it wholly untenable. It is most unfortunate that the Supreme Court has not acted in consonance with the spirit of India on this issue.” However, he did not say anything about Sonia Gandhi forgiving the assassins.
My statement on the decision of the Supreme Court to free the remaining killers of former PM Shri. Rajiv Gandhi pic.twitter.com/ErwqnDGZLc
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 11, 2022
Congress sympathiser Tehseen Poonahwala said, “These people killed an Ex PM of India. Why are these people being released? This is horrible! What does it say about our great country? What is the Union Government doing? The Hon’ble PM must immediately pass an ordinance and overturn this judgement! This is DANGEROUS!”
These people killed an Ex PM of India . Why are these people being released? This is horrible! What does it say about our great country? What is the Union Government doing? The Hon’ble PM must immediately pass an ordinance and overturn this judgement! This is DANGEROUS! https://t.co/sPV6tfTVRR
— Tehseen Poonawalla Official 🇮🇳 (@tehseenp) November 11, 2022
When he was countered with the fact that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were not against the release, he supported Rahul Gandhi for his “not hatred towards the killers” but condemned the release. He added, “Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji & PGV Ji like wonderful human beings harbour no hatred towards their father’s killers & that is admirable and I respect that! Also, personally I [am] against the death penalty. But we cannot release the terrorists who killed an ex-PM! That is plain wrong!”
Shri Rahul Gandhi ji & PGV ji like wonderful human beings harbor no hatred towards their fathers killers & that is admirable and I respect that! Also personally I I against the death penalty.
— Tehseen Poonawalla Official 🇮🇳 (@tehseenp) November 11, 2022
But we cannot release the terrorists who killed an ex PM! That is plain wrong !
Assaissination of Rajiv Gandhi
Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a suicide bomb attack on May 21 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. On that fateful day, along with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, 13 others lost their lives.
Kin of 13 others killed in blast condemned Gandhis
When Rajiv Gandhi’s family, including Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi, chose to ‘forgive’ the convicts and said they had no objection if the killers were released, the kin of those who had died along with Rajiv Gandhi was not too happy with the move. How could Sonia Gandhi or her children decide on behalf of family members of 13 others who lost their lives along with Rajiv Gandhi, they said.
