News Tamil Nadu

“Not right to call Rajiv Gandhi killers as Tamils”: TNCC President

November 7, 2020
The Commune

In a series of tweets, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K.S. Alagiri opposed the political parties’ demand to release the murderers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and said that it is wrong to call perpetrators of a murder as Tamils.

The statement from the TNCC President comes just days after DMK chief MK Stalin urged the Governor to expedite the remission of life sentences of the seven convicts.

Alagiri said that the decision whether to release the seven convicts – AG Perarivalan, Nalini Sriharan, Robert Payas, Sriharan (Murugan), Santhan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran – must be taken by the court, and added that it is appropriate for political parties to demand their release.

“If they are released, there will be a demand for the release of all murderers who are Tamils and who have been in prison for more than 25 years.” Alagiri said in his statement.

He said that those who have committed murders must be seen as murderers and not as Tamils.

The TNCC chief said that it is a matter of pride to call the esteemed Abdul Kalam, Kamaraj, Anna, Kalaignar Karunanidhi, Comrade Jeevanandam, Mathematician Ramanujam as Tamils and not murderers.

“Therefore, it would not be Tamil culture to speak on behalf of the perpetrators of the assassination of the former Prime Minister and the damage done to India.”, the TNCC chief said.

On November 5, DMK chief MK Stalin had written to the Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit to release the convicts as they had already spent 7 decades in jail.

In a show of bipartisanship, BJP leader H. Raja came in support of Alagiri’s statements citing Tamil poet Subramania Bharathiyar.