The Congress chief, Alagiri has urged political parties not to demand the same. In a statement by Alagiri he said if the convicts were released early, similar demands would come up to release other convicts who have spent 25 years in jail.
Rajiv gandhi (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Tamil Nadu Congress committee chief K S Alagiri on Saturday said that only courts can decide on the release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
The Congress chief, Alagiri has urged political parties not to demand the same. In a statement by Alagiri he said if the convicts were released early, similar demands would come up to release other convicts who have spent 25 years in jail.
The statement read, “If the court decides to release all the seven life convicts, we will accept it. However, it is not acceptable for the political parties to seek their release. Those who committed the murder should be seen as murderers and not as Tamilians,”
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“If we start a movement to release the murderers, then it will mean that there is no need for police stations and court or to speak about the law and order. Hence, it was not Tamil culture to support the murderers who killed the former prime minister,” the statement added.
His statement comes at a time when DMK Chief MK Stalin wrote to Banwarilal Purohit, the Governor of Tamil Nadu, pointing out that the seven persons had already served over three decades in prison. The seven convicts are Nalini, TVL Sriharan alias Murugan, Santhan, A G Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and P Ravichandran.
He referred to the most recent observation by the Supreme Court of India which expressed displeasure over the delay in signing off on the state government’s recommendation to remit the life sentences of the convicts. Stalin in his letter said, “This important recommendation has been kept pending without taking decision by your excellency for over two years which has been causing grave and irreparable hardship to the said convicts.”
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on 21 May 1991, in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu in a suicide bombing attack carried out by the members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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