P-1: Chidambaram betrays ex-PM Rajiv Gandhi posthumously?

“T S V Hari attained the abode of Shiva on June 1, 2017. This was the last piece he did for PGurus. Our pranams to his atma.

Is P Chidambaram posthumously betraying former and late PM Rajiv Gandhi and shaking the very foundations of the Indian National Congress to which he belongs?

A chronology of events casts dark and dubious shadows on Chidambaram.

NDTV – a channel now defending itself in various cases aided Chidambaram in this perfidy. Some 20 days before the announcement of Prabhakaran being declared killed in action, through NDTV, Chidambaram gave the Tamil Tiger terrorist a virtual clean chit.

“We do not wish Prabhakaran ill. Instead of extraditing him to India to try him for so-called crimes, we should negotiate with him to solve the Tamil issue,” Chidambaram told NDTV news anchor Barkha Dutt on April 28 2009.

The Government of Sri Lanka announced its army had killed Prabhakaran on May 18, 2009. It added it had DNA reports to prove that the body in its possession, as displayed on televisions across the world was that of the terrorist Prabhakaran. One of the news outlets to put out the story was NDTV.

Rather strangely, the DNA fingerprint report proving the identity of the body that was purported to be Prabhakaran was never handed over to the Government of India.

Excerpts from a report put out by IANS on February 1 2010 quoting Chidambaram:

“The CBI has told me that they have received documentation from the government of Sri Lanka confirming the death of Prabhakaran,” Chidambaram said while presenting the monthly report of his [home] ministry. He did not elaborate.

Some 4 months before announcing Prabhakaran was dead, the general leading the Sri Lankan army said Prabhakaran may have escaped from the island.

On January 19 2009, then Lanka’s Lt General Sarath Fonseka ^[1] indicated that Prabhakaran may have escaped through India, a report in the Sydney Morning Herald said.

Operative excerpts:

 Sri Lankan government troops have almost completely cornered the Tamil Tigers in their north-eastern jungle base and the rebels’ leader Velupillai Prabhakaran may already have fled the island and could have escaped by sea. “He may have already fled in a boat,” Fonseka said.

Operative excerpts from international news weekly Time published under the by-line of Jyoti Thottam on May 19, 2009:

“When the troops opened fire, the van [carrying Prabhakaran] tried to get away, but it was also hit,” said another high-level source from the military. “The vehicle caught fire. He was killed with two others inside the vehicle. Prabhakaran is said to have come under attack as he tried to drive out of the battle zone in a small convoy of a van and an ambulance along with several close aides.”

 A report in Britain’s right-wing Telegraph indicated a lacuna:

Prabhakaran was one of 18 top LTTE leaders killed in the early-morning ambush, the government [of Sri Lanka] said.

In a nutshell, the tale of Prabhakaran having been killed in action has more holes than Swiss cheese.

[1] Fonseka retired from the army with the rank of General in 2009. He opposed Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2010 Presidential election as the common opposition candidate. He was defeated. He was declared a political prisoner soon afterwards and remained so till 2014. He supported Maithripala Sirisena in the 2015 Presidential election.

Sirisena granted Fonseka a full pardon, reinstated military rank and decorations, later promoted to the newly created rank of Field Marshal on 22 March 2015.

Since February 9, 2016, Fonseka has been made a Member of Parliament. On 25 February 2016, he was elevated to hold the rank of a cabinet minister and placed in charge of regional development.

To be continued

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.