A bright flame extinguished suddenly

‘Don't worry. Relax’  were the last words spoken by Rajiv Gandhi before Dhanu triggered the bomb that killed the 46-year-old Prime Minister of India

On April 28, 1991, when a group of nine LTTE operatives disguised as civilians left the shores of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and set sail to the Vedarnyam coast in Tamil Nadu, nobody had a clue they were on a mission to kill the Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. 

LTTE supremo V. Prabhakaran gave orders to Shivarasan to execute the plot. He, along with Murugan, Baby Subramanyam and Muthuraja reached Tamil Nadu on May 1, 1991.

Soon, a wireless communication centre was established there. The ploy was to use Dhanu as a suicide bomber to kill Rajiv. 

A Congress rally was scheduled for May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur where Rajiv was to address the gathering after 10 pm. 

The local support for the LTTE was provided by  Bhagyanathan, his sister Nalini and their mother, Padma. 

On May 7, former Prime Minister VP Singh’s rally was scheduled at Nandanam in Chennai. The group took the rally as an opportunity to conduct a dry run. Though the initial plan was for Dhanu to step on the dais with the garland, the team realised that leaders usually received garlands if they stood near the steps that led to the stage. Photographer Haribabu rehearsed his role at the rally as well., 

On May 21, the group met at Nalini’s home by 3.15 PM. Dhanu got the suicide vest strapped to her body. She wore a loose-fitting salwar and green dupatta. 

Dhanu, Shivarasan, Nalini and Shubha met Haribabu at Parry's Corner near Chennai’s main bus terminal. The five boarded a bus for Sriperumbudur and reached the venue just after dusk. Shubha and Nalini sat in the women’s section to oversee the plot. Sivarasan was dressed in a white kurta-pyjama holding a notepad to give the impression that he was a journalist. 

 

Photographer Haribabu and Dhanu waited near the steps that led to the stage. The dusk turned into night and a large number of people began to gather at the venue. Post 10 PM Haribabu moved away from Dhanu. 

 

She waited along with young Kokila, the daughter of a Congress worker Latha Kanan. Kokila was going to sing a Hindi poem in praise of Rajiv. As the motorcade of Rajiv arrived, people swarmed around his car. Rajiv got down in the middle of the sea of supporters and garlanded a statue of his mother Indira Gandhi. 

 

As Rajiv began to walk towards the stage, shaking hands, sometimes waving, with a smile, his security, handled by District Police Commissioner Mohammed Iqbal and his team kept a close cordon around the Prime Minister.

 

The walk towards the dais was getting slower as more and more people leaned in to catch a glimpse of Rajiv. Soon, he inched closer to the place where Dhanu was standing and acknowledged the presence of all the women supporters. Dhanu stood behind Kokila, Latha and policewomen Anusuya. Shivarasan stood eight feet away from Dhanu and Haribabu stood towards the right of Dhanu. 

Soon, Kokila was reciting her poem. When she finished, Dhanu moved towards him only to be stopped by police constable Anusuya. Dhanu’s eyes were fixed on Rajiv, who turned to  Anusuya and said, "Let everyone have a turn. Don't worry, relax" and gestured Dhanu to come through.

 

Anusuya let Dhanu pass. She garlanded Rajiv while Haribabu clicked the picture. Dhanu bent down and pressed the trigger near her waist. 

A loud explosion took place. The flame rose 20 feet high The time was 10.20 pm.   

Rajiv took the blow on his face and chest. Along with Rajiv, 15 police personnel, Latha Kanan, Kokila, Iqbal as well as Haribabu died on the spot. Dhanu’s severed head fell several feet away.

People began running about frantically, not knowing what to do. Many fled the spot. Congress supporters were devastated. Congress leader G K Moopanar ran towards the spot where the explosion took place. From the stage, Ramamurti also came running along with Jayanti Natarajan, who had been sitting in a car. They ensured that the epicentre was not contaminated further for gathering evidence. 

They recognised Rajiv’s body from the white Lotto shoes that he wore. He was lying face down. When they turned him over, the flesh disintegrated. So, they covered his face with a shawl. Police IG RK Raghavan spotted the camera on the body of Haribabu. This camera became the biggest evidence for the investigation team to apprehend the people behind the killing.

Dhanu became the first female suicide bomber on Indian soil, killing the most loved, the youngest and popular prime minister of the time.  

BACKGROUND

The Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J R Jayawardene signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement on July 29, 1987, which recognised the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the island nation. 

The agreement ratified that only a provincial state for the Tamils within Sri Lanka was acceptable. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was against this, as they wanted a separate Tamil Eelam state. 

Then on July 30, 1987, Rajiv Gandhi sent the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) to Sri Lanka. They began arriving in the Tamil-majority areas to ensure that the accord was implemented. 

The LTTE now resorted to bickering over its share of representation in the interim administrative council for the North-Eastern province and its chairmanship. 

Senior LTTE leader Thileepan who went on a hunger strike to push his organisation's demands died suddenly. Just one week after Thileepan's death, on September 26, 1987, the Sri Lankan Navy detained 17 LTTE leaders who were travelling by boat. The LTTE requested the Indian Government to secure their release but failed. Twelve of the group committed suicide by swallowing cyanide after being handed over to the Sri Lankan security forces to be taken to Colombo for interrogation. 

This chain of events led to hostilities between the IPKF and the LTTE. Then Rajiv lost the 1989 election. The next government headed by  V P Singh completed the withdrawal of the IPKF in March, 1990. Soon, the VP Singh government collapsed and the Chandrashekhar Government that succeeded it called for fresh elections for May 1991. 

Rajiv was projected by the Indian media as the Prime Minister-to-be; the perception was shared by the LTTE. The LTTE was not ready to forget the past. They believed that the Indian Government's new policy of non-intervention in Sri Lanka would be reversed if Rajiv came to power. So, order to prevent that, the LTTE conspired to eliminate him and create instability in India.

(Published in The Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India & New Delhi along with The Morning Standard, January 30, 2019 

The title was changed the last minute. But I like the title which was originally written. ;) 

link: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/2002986/The-New-Indian-Express-Kochi/30012019#page/26/1