Rajiv Gandhi, Indo-Lanka Accord, and Sriperumbhudur assassination

Let us then remember Rajiv Gandhi on his 34th death anniversary as the man who wanted to usher in a fair deal for Sri Lankans in general and Tamils in particular

Looking at the predicament of the Tamils, I now feel that the Indo-Lanka Accord with all its shortcomings would have been much better for the Tamils in particular and Sri Lanka in general if it had been allowed full implementation at the time it was signed. The 13th Amendment and its creation, the Provincial Council scheme have many flaws but it is the only political arrangement that addresses Tamil concerns reasonably in 77 years of post-independence politics in Sri Lanka

Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated 34 years ago by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 21 May 1991. The date of Rajiv Gandhi’s death has poignant significance for me personally. 21 May is the date of my birth. Rajiv’s death occurred 37 years after I was born. My birth and his death are intertwined in my consciousness. Rajiv’s memory looms large as each birthday approaches. It is against this backdrop that I re-visit Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination with the aid of my earlier writings.

Rajiv Ratna Gandhi who was India’s Prime Minister from 31 October 1984 to 2 December 1989 was not serving as premier at the time of his demise. An election campaign was underway then to elect a new Lok Sabha or Parliament. The Congress led by Rajiv was the front runner in that race then.

Rajiv as he was generally known was at a place called Sriperumbudur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu to address a propaganda meeting in support of Congress party candidate Maragatham Chandrasekhar. The 47-year-old Indian ex-premier was then immersed in a hectic political campaign to win the Indian Parliamentary elections.

It was then that a Sri Lankan Tamil girl known by the name of “Dhanu” got close to Rajiv Gandhi and gave him a sandalwood garland. The be-spectacled girl in an orange and green churidar then bent down respectfully to touch Rajiv’s feet. She set off a concealed explosive device that was strapped to her body. Rajiv Gandhi, the assailant Dhanu and at least 18 others were killed in the blast instantly. 42 were seriously injured.

A few of the injured also succumbed to their wounds in hospital later on. The “human bomb” assassination that was soon to become a hallmark of the Tiger organisation rocked India and shocked the world.

The politico-military chutzpah of the LTTE in deploying an assassination squad across the seas to eliminate a former and potential future prime minister of the regional super power on his home turf, raised many an eyebrow after Rajiv Gandhi was murdered. The Rajiv Gandhi assassination committed on Indian soil was an act of international terrorism that placed the LTTE on the index of global terrorists. 

Many security affairs analysts have in the past evinced great interest in how this assassination was executed. The decision to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi was taken by LTTE leader Veluppillai Prabhakaran and Tiger intelligence chief Shanmugalingam Sivashankar alias “Pottu Ammaan”.

One-eyed Sivarasan

The key LTTE operative who devised the assassination plot and directly oversaw its execution at field level was an intelligence wing member of the LTTE who used two nom de guerres. One name was Raghuvaran. The other was Sivarasan. Since Sivarasan had lost an eye, he was frequently called by his comrades at arms and colleagues as “Ottraikkannan” (One-eyed person). 

Sections of the Indian English media referred to him as “one-eyed Jack”, evoking memories of the classic Western movie directed by Marlon Brando who also starred in the lead role. Sivarasan had been specifically selected and assigned the task of killing Rajiv Gandhi by Prabhakaran and Pottu Ammaan.

After an intense 90-day manhunt, Indian law-enforcement officials surrounded the house in which Sivarasan along with some other LTTE cadres was staying. It was a house in the Bangalore (now Bengaluru) suburb of Konanakunte in Karnataka state. Sivarasan and the others consumed cyanide and killed themselves before they could be captured alive. Ironically Sivarasan who was responsible for Rajiv’s murder committed suicide on 20 August which was the date of Rajiv Gandhi’s birth.

Chandrasekharampillai Packiachandran

The one-eyed man known as Sivarasan who masterminded the Rajiv Gandhi assassination hailed from Udupiddy, a town about 32 km from Jaffna city. His real name however was Chandrasekharampillai Packiachandran. He was born in 1958.

“Capt” Sivarasan of the LTTE intelligence division was instructed to execute specific assignments to be undertaken clandestinely in India by the LTTE hierarchy. One of these was an assassination assignment. The target was Kandasamy Pathmanabha alias Naabhaa a.k.a. Ranjan who was the Secretary-General of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). A blueprint to assassinate Padmanabha on Indian soil was devised by Sivarasan in consultation with Pottu Amman. 

On 19 June 1990 an LTTE hit squad including Kiruban and one-eyed Sivarasan stormed into an apartment in Zacharaiyah colony, Choolaimedhu and killed Padmanabha and 12 others. The LTTE leadership was elated by the successful assassination. Sivarasan was personally congratulated and praised by Prabhakaran and Pottu Ammaan. 

The Padmanabha assassination whetted the LTTE appetite for another grand assassination on Indian soil. Without any thought about potential consequences, Prabhakaran and Pottu Ammaan decided to assign Sivarasan the task of assassinating Rajiv Gandhi.

Opportunities to gain access to Rajiv became available with the announcement of fresh elections to the Indian parliament in 1991.

Conspiracy hatched

 A broad conspiracy to murder Rajiv Gandhi was hatched in northern Sri Lanka by Tiger supremo Prabhakaran, Intelligence chief Pottu Ammaan, LTTE woman’s intelligence unit head Akhila and Sivarasan who was also given the responsibility of executing the assassination on Indian soil. He was given full authority by the LTTE hierarchy to devise the assassination scheme and deploy necessary personnel required. LTTE operatives and key supporters in India were instructed to obey all orders issued by Sivarasan. He was also given an ample amount of “gold biscuits” to be cashed in India to cover expenses incurred.

Sivarasan arrived in India with his team, planned out the details of the assassination and on that fateful 21 May, Rajiv Gandhi was killed. In a singular decisive act the LTTE had murdered on Tamil Nadu soil a former Indian prime minister hailing from India’s most famous political family.

Rajiv-LTTE rapprochement

The Rajiv assassination came at 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. Both were regarded as pro-Tiger emissaries.

It appeared that the stage was being set for some kind of political reconciliation. Earlier Rajiv had told DMK stalwart “Murasoli” Maran that he was prepared to discuss even a “de-facto” Eelam with the LTTE if necessary. Maran was the trusted confidante and nephew of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) chief “Kalainjer” M. Karunanidhi. Kalainjer (artiste) was chief minister of Tamil Nadu when Rajiv conveyed this to Maran.

Sathasivampillai Krishnakumar alias “Col” Kittu was then living in London. The former Jaffna commander of the Tigers was then head of the LTTE international secretariat. Initially Kittu argued passionately with me that the Tigers were not responsible for the killing. He seemed to sincerely believe 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 did it because Veluppillai Prabakharan had ordered him to do so. I was in close contact with Kittu in those days and played a very minor role in these efforts to reconcile with Rajiv Gandhi and by extension with India. Though I had been critical of Rajiv Gandhi and the IPKF earlier, the wisdom of hindsight had made me realise that the Sri Lankan Tamils could not afford to be alienated from India in the long-term.

Estrangement

Alas! All those hopes and the efforts were dashed when it became clearly established that the Tigers were responsible for the killing. What happened thereafter was a progressive estrangement between “Mother” India and her “Eelam” Tamil children.

The Indian public mood changed overnight. The people of Tamil Nadu in particular were hurt and angry then at the LTTE. India had welcomed Tamil refugees in 1983 and looked after them. Now, they were made to feel 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 paramount in Indian calculations.

“Lakshmana Rekha”

Whatever the protests and pressures by the pro-LTTE lobby in Tamil Nadu and whatever the extent of emotional sympathy for the Tamils of Sri Lanka in Tamil Nadu there is always a “Lakshmana Rekha” that India would not cross in the case of Sri Lanka. The killing of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE plays a big part in demarcating this rekha or line.

Rajiv was the great grandson of Mothilal Nehru, the grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru and the 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 which killed his brother Sanjay, that made Rajiv enter politics. Otherwise he would have been quite content to be flying aircraft.

His mother’s assassination catapulted him into the Prime Minister’s seat. It is a historic irony that Sanjay the man interested in politics got killed when flying a plane thus compelling the brother Rajiv who was a professional flyer to be reluctantly thrust into politics which ultimately killed him.

India’s darling

I was in India covering the momentous election of December 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi won with a landslide. It was the biggest margin of victory enjoyed by the Congress party till then. With his handsome features and attractive smile Rajiv was India’s darling then. He introduced modern methods into Indian politics.

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 Gopalswamy Parthasarathy (GP) 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 had kept the militants out and relied on the TULF alone for negotiations.

Five militant groups were kept on par with the TULF at the 1985 Thimphu talks. Being in a hurry, the originally envisaged extended time frame of the staggered ceasefire was telescoped into a short duration. The talks failed but not 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 cognisant with the Lankan issues. Then came Natwar Singh, P. Chidamparam and even Dinesh Singh as emissaries. In Colombo it was High Commissioner Jyotindra Nath Dixit who did the spade work ably assisted by First Secretaries Hardeep and Lakshmi Puri.

“Why Tamil eyes are smiling”

The Indo-Lanka accord has provisions that changed Sri Lanka for the better. 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 Sri Lankan 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 – aimed at his head – on his shoulder.

 Hazards of waging peace

When Rajiv returned the then Indian President R. Venkatraman defied convention and came to the airport to receive him. “The hazards of waging peace” said Venkatraman aptly describing the situation. Had that blow been fatal, 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 President Premadasa to send the third party out. 

Rajiv himself lost elections in 1989. The Bofors scandal had raised its head earlier. 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.

IPKF-LTTE war

In the aftermath of the IPKF-LTTE war, I had been for some time very bitter and critical about Rajiv Gandhi and the Indian role in Sri Lanka. I was in Jaffna when the IPKF-LTTE fighting began on 10 October 1987. 

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 on the fourth floor. I was also charged in court but ultimately cleared by courts of any alleged offence. It was this case and the consequent harassment that followed, which made me leave Sri Lanka in September 1988.

There was a time when my relationship with the Indian High Commission officials in Colombo was excellent. I was the Colombo correspondent of “The Hindu” 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 incidents of rape by the IPKF soldiers in Jaffna. 

Time changes things

But time changes things. With the passage of time, my thoughts about the Indian role and Rajiv Gandhi too began to change. 

Looking at the predicament of the Tamils, I now feel that the Indo-Lanka Accord with all its shortcomings would have been much better for the Tamils in particular and Sri Lanka in general if it had been allowed full implementation at the time it was signed. The 13th Amendment and its creation, the Provincial Council scheme have many flaws but it is the only political arrangement that addresses Tamil concerns reasonably in 77 years of post-independence politics in Sri Lanka.

Pragmatic politics decrees that the attainable in the hand is worth two desirables in the bush. In the post-war scenario that has diminished Tamil political power considerably, can grandiose political expectations exceeding 13A be fulfilled?

I remember the past vividly when former Indian High Commissioner J.N. Dixit, Political Secretary Hardeep Singh Puri and Information Secretary Lakshmi Puri were 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 recognised by the Sinhala dominated State. “Let us work it out and improve it further,” they would say. But I would disagree then.

Belated wisdom

Belatedly, I realise the wisdom in those views. After years of strife and sacrifice the Tamil people have not achieved anything tangible other than the India-facilitated Provincial Councils.

Former Opposition leader Appapillai Amirthalingam’s younger son Dr. Bhaheerathan once told me of a letter written by Sonia Gandhi to his mother Mangaiyarkkarasi Amirthalingam. In that letter, Sonia had said her husband (Rajiv) and Mangaiyarkkarasi’s husband (Amirthalingam) had both lost their lives because they wanted the Tamils of Sri Lanka to live with equal rights and justice.

N. Ram the former Editor-in-Chief of “The Hindu” was to tell me once that Rajiv Gandhi despite his mistakes was genuinely sincere in trying to resolve the ethnic problem in Lanka. Other Indian journalists have also told me that Rajiv felt sorry for the Tamils and wanted to usher in a fair deal for them. I also subscribe to these sentiments now.

It is with this mindset therefore that I think of Rajiv Gandhi nowadays. Though critical of Rajiv then, I realise now that he was trying to do the right thing by the Tamils and Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately many Sri Lankan Tamil politicians are unable to comprehend this. They continue to criticise the PC scheme and yearn for the elusive greater political settlement. Events however are overtaking. The JVP-led NPP Government is all out to abolish the PCs. The Modi government in New Delhi may let that happen as its focus is on extracting greater concessions from the pusillanimously pliable AKD regime. 

 Rajiv’s political legacy

Let us then remember Rajiv Gandhi on his 34th death anniversary as the man who wanted to usher in a fair deal for Sri Lankans in general and Tamils in particular. Let us commemorate him with the acknowledgement that the accord he signed on 29 July 1987 remains the best possible settlement to the Tamil national question ever made so far. Let us also hope and strive to ensure that Rajiv’s political legacy in Sri Lanka which is the 13th Amendment based Provincial Council scheme will endure the trials of time.

(This article is a modified version of an earlier article. The writer can be reached at [email protected].)