Thread by @sumanthraman

A few weeks after the assassination of #RajivGandhi I got a call from the News Unit of DD Chennai asking for me to give the voice over for a tape that was being put together compiling the evidence.Since the evidence was confidential at that time,the dubbing would be done at night

For days together I would go to the studio post 10 pm. A DSP from the CBI team would join me along with one editor and a sound engineer. Painstakingly each piece of evidence would be given an exhibit number and the details of what it was, where it was found etc.wd be recorded

There were hundreds of such pieces of evidence and as the process continued it gave me an idea of the meticulous planning and sheer ruthlessness of the operation that killed Rajiv. Some of the photos were too gory to be published. Human remains shredded to bits was evidence too

So many of those killed with Rajiv were police personnel and political workers,innocent people killed for no fault of theirs and many in the line of duty.There was a young child too,10 year old Kokilavani who was killed along with her mother.She had gone to recite a poem to Rajiv

There was also a 17 year old college student Saroja Devi and a Police SP Mohammed Iqbal.All except Rajiv and his PSO Pradeep Gupta were Tamils,14 of them,slain in cold blood.Yet hardly anyone today remembers their names or names of 45 others who sustained injuries, some grievous

Some are living with disabilities,shrapnel still embedded in their bodies.They live difficult lives while those who lost family members still grieve their loss 31 yrs later.Many of them hv not forgiven the killers.Their voices need to be heard too.Gandhi family may hv forgiven

Other families have not.I supported the release of Perarivalan. Little did I know that he would receive a hero's welcome being hugged by the Chief Minister who also presented him a shawl. What is the message this sends out to those 14 families? How is it that a duly elected CM

can hug the killer of a former PM of this country? Perarivalan was released not because he was proven innocent but perhaps because the scale of his role in the conspiracy did not justify further incarceration. He was released on grounds of mercy having served his time.

How come no one advised the CM not to go overboard with the reception?Did he really feel this was the right thing to do?A simple statement saying he welcomed the order of the Court and the release would have sufficed.Does the CM believe that the Sri Lankan Tamil issue gets votes?

If it did Vaiko wd hv become CM two decades ago. If the other 6 are released(4 of them are Sri Lankan citizens),will they also receive shawls and hugs?People of Tamil Nadu want peace. They feel for their brethren in Sri Lanka but want to have nothing to do with extremist groups

Releasing convicted killers on grounds of mercy is one thing. Treating them as heroes or martyrs is another thing altogether. Someone should tell @mkstalin the difference. #rajivgandhideathanniversary #RajivGandhiAssassination