At a meeting of the Tamil Nadu Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Sunday evening, it was decided that the proposition to release all seven life convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case under Article 161 of the Constitution will be put forth to Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Arputhammal, mother of one of the convicts AG Perarivalan, was elated and that 28 years of struggle is finally bearing fruit. In a rare occasion, DMK supports its political rivals AIADMK's decision to release the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
"We are in favour of the release of all seven people. Our leader late Kalaignar had passed the resolution to commute the death sentence of Nalini back in 2000. It was accepted by the then Governor too," said Saravanan, a DMK spokesperson in conversation with MyNation.
But the DMK's political ally in Tamil Nadu, Congress, is not happy with the development. “Right from the time late Jayalalithaa had decided to let the people go to cater to the Tamil enthusiasts, I was very vocal about Perarivalan's death sentence. This was not for Rajiv Gandhi alone, but also for the 14 others who were killed in the attack. Several people, unfortunately, and wrongfully, believed that standing up for the killers of Rajiv Gandhi as standing up for Tamil," said Americai Narayanan, a Congress spokesperson.
Article 161 gives the Governor the power to grant pardons and to suspend or commute sentences of any person convicted of an offence against any law extending to the executive power of the State.
The seven convicts who are considered members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been jailed for over 25 years. Many have asked mercy for the convicts based on humanitarian grounds.
"It is very easy to say he has killed someone. If we look at the role played by him, it is minuscule. He is supposed to have brought batteries that were used in the detonator. The question here is whether he knew whether the batteries would ultimately kill Rajiv Gandhi. Especially after Thyagarajan, the investigating officer, had openly confessed before TV channels and the public, that he deliberately recorded the wrong confession statements of Perarivalan. He has been in prison for 27 years and was to face the gallows, without knowing if there will be a tomorrow," said Saravanan.
"For 15 years he lived with an uncertainty of his life. That is very cruel. He has already faced punishment. He need not suffer anymore. Humanity demands he be released," Saravanan further said.Congress has, however, made their stand very clear. Narayanan said, "Congress will abide by the law of the land. Yes, Rahul Gandhi himself said in an interview that he was able to empathise with Prabhakaran, who was shot dead. Rahul and Sonia Gandhi are magnanimous. But magnanimity is taken as weakness in India. Rahul can speak for himself. But the party is bigger than its president. So the party has made its stand clear through its official spokesperson. Also, the sad part is that the Supreme Court decided the case as per the criminal procedure and not the Terrorist Act."
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had made it clear that the attack was a well thought out terrorist plot and hence releasing the convicts will send out a wrong message. However, will the differences in opinion on the release of the convicts cause a rift between political partners DMK and Congress?
"Politics is not a one-point agenda. Even in the past if you really look at it, we have not seen eye-to-eye on several issues. But times change, people change and we change policies. If I see something that's wrong ten years back, I may not see it as wrong today. It is the circumstances that change things. In the Hindi imposition cause, our stand and the DMK's stand are the same today. And if we look eye-to-eye on all the issues, there wouldn't be different parties," clarified Congress's Narayanan.