Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP from Wayanadu , Kerala, during his recent visit to Puducherry told the press tha he has “pardoned “the seven killers of Rajiv Gandhi, his father. The seven are serving life terms in Tamilnadu prisons. Earlier, during 2004/2014 UPA regime his sister had stealthily met one of the seven, Nalini, in Vellore prison flouting all the prison norms — with the connaivance of the then state Govt. Dravidar Kazhagam, other fringe Tamil groups and all the political parties demand the release of the seven citing the reason that they are Tamils. That should not be the reason to release them. Theirs was a heinous crime. Along with Rajiv Gandhi, the lives of 17 others including security personnel were put out in the human bomb blast on May 21, 1991. Many families lost their breadwinners. Their voices are not heard. It was not simple murder, result personal/group enmity or property dispute. But a well planned plot to assassinate the former PM of the nation by a banned international terrorist organization with four of the convicts being Sri Lankan nationals. Releasing them will give a wrong signal and embolden the fringe groups operating in TN who aspire for “Tamil Elam”.
Calling the convicts who are assassins as Tamils is totally wrong. They can not be equated to the 63 Nayanmaars, the great Shivaite saints or the 12 Azhwars, the great Vaishnavite saints. Rahul’s statement is totally unwarranted aimed at garnering a few votes in the ensuing Assembly elections. It has raised several questions. Will Rahul clarify: Why their UPA govt has failed, deliberately, to act on the clemency petitions for over 12 years? When the SC had given them clemency already by commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment, will not releasing them amount to double clemency? How can belonging to a particular ethnic / caste group be the reason for remission of conviction? As the PM – aspirant, is he not setting a wrong precedent?
