MDMK Chief Vaiko writes to Stalin, demands release of Rajiv Gandhi assassination convicts

Chennai: The release of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case convicts has once again come to the fore in Tamil Nadu shortly after regime change that brought the DMK to power.

MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, whose party is in an alliance with the ruling DMK, has written to Chief Minister MK Stalin demanding the release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who have been in jail for nearly three decades.

“Despite not having committed the crime, Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan are languishing as death-row convicts. Similarly, Nalini, Ravichandran, Robert Payas, Jeyakumar have lost their youth years languishing in jail and suffering mental agony,” said Vaiko.

Vaiko has written to Stalin saying that the Supreme Court Chief Justice had left the decision regarding their release to the state government, over two and a half years ago.

“Despite the apex court having urged the Governor to facilitate their release, the Governor has treated it like consigning the matter to the dustbin. There is no need to ask the central government regarding this issue, but people are being misled saying that the central government has denied permission for their release,” read the letter.

Vaiko referred to how the DMK has been vocal about releasing the seven convicts for a long time and urged MK Stalin to “fulfill the wishes of the people of Tamil Nadu”.

The release of the convicts in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case has been an issue that Tamil Nadu’s political parties have been dilly-dallying over the years. Every now and then, leaders from various parties have expressed hope for the release of the convicts, but nothing has materialized yet.

In 2020, when Home Minister Amit Shah was visiting Chennai, Tamil celebrities on Twitter trended hashtags pertaining to the release of the Rajiv Case convict Perarivalan.

In late 2020, it was widely speculated that Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit’s visit to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister, Home Minister, MoS Prime Minister’s Office and the Vice President of India was regarding the ramifications and possibilities of the convicts’ release. The Governor’s office had then mentioned that the discussions were about “important issues related to Tamil Nadu”.

On November 3, 2020, a Supreme Court bench expressed unhappiness over the fact that the recommendation for the release of Rajiv Gandhi convicts sent to the Governor by the state government was pending for over two years.

Earlier, it was informed that the reason behind the delay from the Governor’s end was owing to the probe of the Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) which is looking into the larger conspiracy behind the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination case. However, the Court had held that the MDMA probe should not have any impact on the Governor’s decision to pardon the convicts.

Seven people including Perarivalan were convicted by the special TADA court for their role in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi on May 21,1991 by an LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) suicide bomber during an election rally in Sriperumbudur, in the outskirts of Chennai.

https://zeenews.india.com/tamil-nadu/mdmk-chief-vaiko-releases-manifesto-for-tamil-nadu-assembly-election-2021-2348438.html