Remembering Rajiv on his Fifteenth Death Anniversary

by D. B. S. Jeyaraj

Fifteen years ago on May 21st Rajiv Gandhi was killed at a place called Sriperumbhudoor in Tamil Nadu. He was not prime minister then.

An election campaign was going on then to elect a new Lok Sabha or Parliament. The Congress led by Rajiv was the front runner. After Rajiv's death it was a Congress government that assumed office under Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao.

Death came in the form of Dhanu a young Tamil woman from Sri Lanka. Dressed in a churidar she came up to the smiling Rajiv and garlanded him. The chubby, dark - skinned, be - spectacled girl then bent low to touch his feet as a mark of respect. Then came the explosion. A bomb strapped to her body was triggered off. Rajiv Gandhi was no more. Eighteen died and many others injured in the suicide bomber attack.

The date of Rajiv Ganhi's death has poignant significance for me. May 21st was my birth day. Thereafter his memory looms large on each birthday. My birth and his death which happened thirty - seven years later are inter - twined in my conscious. It is hard to believe that fifteen years have passed since his death.

I recall discussing Rajiv's death with "Frontline" editor Narasimhan Ram on the telephone. Both of us did not believe then that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was responsible.

It was a time when influential journalists in Chennai were trying hard to bring about rapprochement between Rajiv and the LTTE. The well - known Tamil poet Kasi Anandan (Kathamuthu Sivanandan) had met Rajiv Gandhi in March that year. The London based financial consultant Arjuna Sittambalam had met Rajiv some weeks later.Bothwere regarded as pro - tiger emissaries.

It appeared that the stage was being set for some kind of political reconciliation. The Indian establishment at that time was more angry with Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa for booting out the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) than the LTTE which fought the Indian army. Earlier Rajiv had told "Murasoli" Maran that he was prepared to discuss even a "de - facto" Eelam with the LTTE if necessary.

It was against this backdrop that we felt the LTTE would not have committed this murder. I wrote an article then for "Frontline" in which I argued the pros and cons. It was overwhelmingly against the chances of the tigers being responsible.

Yet I ended the piece with the line that if the LTTE was indeed responsible the ultimate losers will be the losers. Sathasivampillai Krishnakumar alias "Col" Kittu then in London argued passionately with me that the tigers were not responsible.

He sincerely believed then that his movement was not responsible. It was Kittu acting at the behest of his leader who was instrumental in sending emissaries to meet Rajiv Gandhi. He was doing so because Velupillai Prabakharan had ordered him to do so.

I was quite close to Kittu then and played a minor role in these efforts. Though I had been critical of Rajiv Gandhi and the IPKF earlier the wisdom of hindsight had made me realise that the Tamils could not afford to be alienated from India in the long term..

Alas! All those hopes and the efforts of those Indian Journalists who in association with Kittu arranged for the meetings with Rajiv were all dashed- when it became clearly established that the tigers were responsible for the killing. What has happened thereafter is a progressive estrangement between "Mother" India and her "Eelam" Tamil children. The people of Tamil Nadu in particular were hurt and angry.

Jayalalitha Jayaram swept the polls in Tamil Nadu. The DMK regarded as being partisan towards the LTTE was vanquished. Only its leader Karunanidhy managed to scrape through with 800 vote lead. Jayalalitha followed a hard, strict policy towards Tamil refugees in the state. Even educational opportunities were restricted. Harassment became the order of the day.

Thousands of Tamils who preferred to live in Tamil Nadu because of the Tamil ethos reluctantly relocated to the west.

More importantly the Indian public mood changed. India had welcomed Tamil refugees in 1983 and looked after them. Now they were made unwelcome. Sri Lankan Tamils were regarded as having abused Indian hospitality.The LTTE was officially banned.

Indian policy towards Sri Lanka changed. No longer was the welfare of Sri Lankan Tamils in Indian calculations.Having banned the LTTE India found itself unable to interact with the Tamils as it had done before. That situation prevails still, though some improvement is there.

Golden opportunity

The LTTE had a golden opportunity to salvage the situation a little in April 2002 when Prabakharan held his famous press conference in Kilinochchi. When Indian journalists raised the issue of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination the LTTE leader could have been apologetic. Some remorse could have been displayed.

This could have demonstrated that the killing was regretted and the tigers were sorry. Instead Anton Balasingham called it a "thunbiyal sambhavam" (tragic incident) and asked journalists not to dig into it. This made the situation worse.

The killing of Rajiv Gandhi was perhaps the single most harmful act inflicted upon themselves by the tigers. Not only the tigers but all Sri Lankan Tamils by extension were affected. Fifteen years later it remains as the biggest stumbling block to better relations between India and the Tamils.

I was in Jaffna when the IPKF - LTTE fighting began. I saw the atrocities and civilian killings first hand. When I returned to Colombo and exposed these in "The Island" I was arrested and detained. It was this and consequent harassment that made me leave Sri Lanka then.

There was a time when my relationship with the Indian High Commission people in Colombo was excellent. I was "Hindu" correspondent then. Other Indian journalists used to call me the "blue - eyed boy" of the IHC. Yet my relationship soured because I criticised the IPKF , some aspects of the Indo - Lanka accord and Rajiv Gandhi.

I was even fired by "The Hindu" for trying to expose IPKF rapes. I was for some time very bitter about Rajiv Gandhi and the Indian role in Sri Lanka. But time changes things. Rajiv's assassination was a shock.

However much one may be critical of a person no decent human being would want that person, to die or worse still, be killed in this gruesome fashion.

As time went on my thoughts about the Indian role and Rajiv Gandhi too began to change. Looking at the predicament of the Tamils now I feel that the Indo - Lanka accord with all its short-comings would have been much better for Tamils in particular, and Sri Lanka in general, if it had been allowed to be implemented.

The Indo-Lanka Accord

The Indo - Lanka accord has provisions that changed Sri Lanka for the better. The accord recognized the reality of Sri Lanka being a multi - ethnic , multi - religious nation and not a mono - ethnic, mono - religious entity as proclaimed by majoritarian chauvinists. It also acknowledged the North - East to be the historic habitat of the Tamils and Muslims.

The accord also brought about the North - East meger. It afforded Official language status to Tamils. More importantly, it brought about a scheme of devolution. The Provincial Councils were introduced because of the Indo - Lanka pact.

The powers had to be reduced due to the tricky situation of getting it past the Supreme Court. The SC decision was five to four with three of those Judges voting in favour coming from the minority communities.

The Indians had plans of enhancing devolution on a staggered basis. They had obtained an assurance in writing from JR Jayewardene to that effect. One of the changes envisaged was doing away with the concurrent list of powers. But then, the Provincial Council was never allowed to function properly in the North - East. Today PC's are active in the Sinhala areas but not in the North - East, for whose people it was mainly intended for.

I recall High Commissioner Dixit, Political secretary Hardeep Singh Puri and information secretary Lakshmi Puri trying to convince me in discussions that the Indo - Lanka accord was the best possible deal that the Tamils could have obtained at that time.

Historically it was the highest quantum of Tamil rights recognized by the Sinhala dominated state."lets work it out and improve it further" they would say. But I would have none of it.

Appapillai Amirthalingam and I were engaged in a heated argument once about the Indo - Lanka accord. I remember him repeating again and again " I am telling you from experience. The Sinhala state will never accept our rights without outside intervention.

We need India to help us. If the Indian army goes off before our rights are ensured our people particularly those in the East and Vavuniya will be finished".

Belatedly I realise the wisdom in those views. I too wanted the Indians out then. I was happy when the N - E provincial council was dissolved. But what has happened now? After years of strife and sacrifice, the Tamil people have not achieved anything tangible.

Multitudes have died or been maimed, economy is shattered, people dispersed, values brutalised, culture eroded and dwellings destroyed. Yet the Tamils have nothing.

The LTTE may have built a military machine. But practically it is of no use other than to perpetuate misery and loss.Even the LTTE had lost only 611 cadres at the time of the Indo - Lanka accord. Today they have lost nearly 19,000. Compared to this situation the Indo - Lanka accord would have been better.

It is with this mindset therefore that I think of Rajiv Gandhi. Though critical of him then I realise now that he was trying to do the right thing by the Tamils and Sri Lanka. N. Ram the editor - in - chief of "The Hindu" was to tell me once that Rajiv Gandhi despite his blunders was genuine in trying to resolve the ethnic problem in Lanka.

Other Indian joyrnalists have told me that Rajiv really felt sorry for the Tamils and wanted to usher in a fair deal for them. I also subscribe to these sentiments now.

Rajiv was the great grandson of Mothilal Nehru. The grandson of Jawarhalal. Son of Indira and Feroze Gandhi, he belonged to what was modern India's greatest political dynasty. Yet, he was reluctant to enter politics. It was the plane accident that killed his brother Sanjay which made Rajiv enter politics. Otherwise he would have been quite content to be flying planes.

His mother's assassination catapulted him into the Prime Minister's seat. I was in India covering the momentous election of Dec 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi won with a landslide. It was the biggest margin of victory enjoyed by the Congress till then.

With his handsome features and attractive smile Rajiv was India's darling. He brought modern methods into politics. Initially, Rajiv with Arun Nehru and Arun Singh formed a trio at the helm. The three "P"s they were called (Pilotwalla, Polishwalla and paintwalla).

Rajivs mission was to take India into the 21st century. That was not to be, but, today India has entered that century and is doing gloriously well. The dynasty too flourishes.

His widow Sonia is the power that rules India. His dashing son Rahul is an MP. His vivacious daughter Priyanka reminding many of grand ma Indira, will be a political force to be reckoned with, in the future.

Even his sister- -in-law Maneka and nephew Varun are in politics, though at the other end of the political spectrum.

Praiseworthy political settlements

After Rajiv Gandhi became premier he brought about two praiseworthy political settlements in the domestic sphere. One was the pact with Punjab sikhs and the other the accord with Assamese student activists. It was in the wake of these agreements that he accelerated efforts to resolve the Sri Lankan crisis. He was a man in a hurry, and people in a hurry often make mistakes.

He removed veteran G. Parthasarathy and sent the high flying Romesh Bhandari as his special envoy to Colombo.

Rajiv made a significant departure from his mother's strategy when he brought in the militants for talks. Indira and GP kept the militants out and relied on the TULF alone for negotiations. Five militant groups were kept on par with the TULF at the Thimhu talks.

Being in haste, the originally envisaged extended time-frame of the staggered ceasefire was telescoped into short duration. The talks failed, but due to this reason alone.

Later Rajiv got into a "huff" with foreign secretary AP Venkateshwaran which led to the latter's resignation. This was a great loss as APV was fully cognizant with the Lankan issues. Then came Natwar Singh, P. Chidamparam and even Dinesh Singh as emissaries.. In Colombo, it was Dixit who did the spade work ably assisted by the Puris.

It was a matter of touch and go. Had Sri Lanka resisted the air drop of supplies by India, history may have been different. Even if a de jure Eelam had not come into being, a de facto Eelam like that of Turkish Cypris may have been there. But the crafty Junius knew when to bow his head. This, Jayewardene did, and New Delhi was happy.

Negotiations were on and soon came the Indo - Lanka accord. It had its short comings but could have been improved if allowed to work. This was not to be.

Rajiv won the world's admiration and respect when he went to Colombo to sign the accord. The Tamils on the whole were happy then. I remember writing a piece "Why Tamil eyes are smiling" for the "Island" then. Rajiv had a nasty experience when a naval rating took a swipe at him with his rifle during the guard of honour.

Rajiv saw it from the corner of his eye and deftly sidestepped taking the blow on his shoulder instead of head.

When Rajiv returned President Venkatraman defied convention and came to the airport to receive him. "The hazards of waging peace" said Venkatraman, aptly describing the situation. If that blow was fatal, history, Indo - Lanka history may have been different. Then came the war with the LTTE. A confident Rajiv said "It will be a short. swift strike. Our boys will be back home soon".

How wrong he was. The IPKF - LTTE war dragged on. Tamil civilians suffered and many harboured deep antipathy towards India. Finally India was outsmarted when the LTTE aligned with Premadasa to drive the third party out.

Then Rajiv himself lost elections. The Bofors scandal had raised its head. Had Rajiv lived longer this issue itself may have been detrimental to his image. But that was not to be. The explosion at Sriperumbhudoor changed all that and the course of history.

Fifteen years have passed since Rajiv Gandhi's death. Is not the time opportune now for the "Eelam" Tamils to express their regrets publicly. I am informed by knowledgeable Indian circles that one thing troubling Sonia and the children is the fact that there has been no apology made so far publicly. Private expressions yes, but no public or collective _expression.

What hurts the family is the fact that Rajiv really wanted to do good for the Tamils. When the 1983 July violence happened the Anglican Bishop of Kurunegala Rt.Rev Lakshman Wickremasinghe wrote a letter publicly apologising to the Tamils.

The ailing Bishop was not in the country at the time and certainly had no hand in the violence. Yet, he spoke of collective guilt and stated his views openly. I speak from experience in saying that Bishop Lakshman's act helped soothe to a great extent the pain and sorrow felt by many Tamils then.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa is another example where years of animosity are overwhelmed when frank admissions of guilt and genuine expressions of remorse are stated.

Rajiv Gandhi may have been killed by the LTTE, and except for a few, the Tamil people have had no hand in that, but a collective _expression of genuine regret could certainly help change the current status quo. Let us remember Rajiv on the fifteenth anniversary of his death for the good intentions and actions taken in pursuance of those.

Let us remember him as the man who wanted to usher in a fair deal for Sri Lankans in general, and Tamils in particular.

Let us commemorate his anniversary with the admission that the accord he signed in 1987 remains still the best possible settlement to the Tamil national question ever made so far.

Courtesy TamilWeek