Rajiv Gandhi assassination accomplice gets parole

An Indian court Friday granted a 30-day parole to a woman convicted three decades ago over her role in the 1991 assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by militants.

 Gandhi and 14 others were killed in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu by a female suicide bomber belonging to Sri Lanka’s Tamil separatist group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

 Nalini Sriharan, an Indian national, was arrested soon after the bombing and found guilty -- together with her husband and 25 others -- of conspiracy and helping the teenage bomber, Thenmozhi Rajaratnam.

 Her death sentence was commuted on a clemency plea by Gandhi’s widow in 2000. Three others are still awaiting execution.

 A court in Chennai on Friday suspended Sriharan’s life imprisonment sentence for a month after she filed a plea for a six-month parole to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding.

 Sriharan was pregnant when she was arrested, and delivered the child in prison. Her daughter is a UK national and a doctor.

 Gandhi — prime minister between 1984 and 1989 -- was campaigning for mid-term national elections in 1991 when militants targeted him over his decision to send the Indian army to Sri Lanka.

 Sri Lanka was in the grip of a decades-long armed conflict between the majority Sinhalese government and minority Tamils demanding an independent country for the ethnic group.

 The civil war -- which ended in 2009 -- killed at least 100,000 people, and the Tamil rebels enjoyed widespread support from their ethnic kin in Tamil Nadu.

 Rajiv Gandhi was the son of former PM Indira Gandhi -- assassinated in Delhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984 -- and the father of Rahul Gandhi, who stepped down this week as head of the opposition Congress party.

Recently, Congress leader Ahmed Patel hit out at the BJP for its attack on the late Rajiv Gandhi, saying the former Prime Minister lost his life due to hatred as the then BJP-backed government refused to provide him additional security.

Patel tweeted that abusing a “martyred” Prime Minster was a sign of ultimate cowardice. He alleged that the then V.P. Singh government had left Rajiv Gandhi with only one PSO (personal security officer) despite credible intelligence inputs and repeated requests.

“Rajivji lost his life due to their hatred and is no longer here amongst us to answer the baseless allegations and abuses which are being unleashed on him,” he tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Rajiv Gandhi had used aircraft carrier INS Viraat and its personnel for vacations with his in-laws.

In an obvious attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for targeting his late father-in-law Rajiv Gandhi, Robert Vadra said disparaging an assassinated prime minister to mislead people is “terrible”.

“Politics is at an all time low. Hitting out at our assassinated PM Sh Rajiv Gandhi to mislead the people of India is terrible. We, the family, will strive for his vision and the people of India will fight for his dignity and respect. It’s time for a respectful change in our country,” Vadra tweeted.

Vadra’s remarks came after Modi accused Rajiv Gandhi of using aircraft carrier INS Viraat for a vacation for his family and foreigner in-laws when he was Prime Minister.

Modi’s charge was refuted by Admiral L. Ramdas, the Navy Chief at the time, who said Gandhi had gone on an official trip to the Lakshadweep islands to chair a meeting of the Islands Development Authority (IDA).

Modi, at a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh on May 4, also attacked Gandhi calling him “Bhrashtachari No. 1” (Corrupt No. 1).

During election rallies, Congress leaders described Modi as a “sick man” and “psychopath” for attacking the former Prime Minister for electoral gains.

Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said Modi’s comments were provoked by fear of losing the elections, and he should be ashamed of himself for attacking Rajiv Gandhi, who “sacrificed his life for the country”.

“You are behaving like a serial abuser, you are behaving like a sick man and you are behaving like a psychopath,” he said.

Khera said the use of such abuses was against the cultural values of this country and people would not pardon Modi.

Agencies