By R Hariharan –
Col. (retd) R.Hariharan
When I heard LTTE forces order Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination: I checked with my Sri Lankan sources who said the then PM would be killed in keeping with Prabhakaran’s style.
Saturday, August 20th was the late Rajiv Gandhi‘s birthday. Rajiv Gandhi’s political career was barely seven years; it started with the assassination of his mother Ms Indira Gandhi in 1984 and ended with his own assassination. But within those years, he made a mark by doing things differently from the traditional political class. Had the charismatic leader not become the victim of a LTTE suicide bomber on 21 May 1991, the Congress party’s fortunes might have been scripted differently.
Neena Gopal’s latest book “The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi” has once again brought the focus on the sordid episode of the nation’s failure to protect its former prime minister. I have always found Sri Lanka fascinating particularly after serving as the head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 1990.
Rajiv Gandhi
The author, during the course of writing the book, had long conversations with me on the situation leading up to Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. I have not read the book yet; but I find from the published extracts the book contains some of my recollections.
Rajiv Gandhi served as prime minister from 1984 to 1989; he had no political experience but his exuberance to get things done and impulsiveness and impatience to get results endeared him to the masses. He attempted to end longstanding conflicts facing the country during his term. While some of them like river water sharing in Punjab and ending Bodo insurgency in Assam were partly successful, many other such attempts did not live up to the expectations.
When Rajiv came to power India- Sri Lanka relations were in a mess. Mrs Gandhi had given sanctuary to a motley collection of Tamil separatist insurgent groups who had fled the island nation along with thousands of Tamils in the wake of Sri Lanka’s infamous July 1983 pogrom against Tamils. The Tamil insurgent groups became a potential threat to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. So Sri Lanka had little option but to accept Indian counsel, particularly after talks with Tamil groups failed to yield results.
Rajiv Gandhi signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord 1987 with President JR Jayewardene to ensure Sri Lankan Tamils got a degree of autonomy within a united Sri Lanka, while India underwrote the disarming of Tamil militants. The Accord was hastily conceived and hurriedly executed in typical Rajiv Gandhi style of trying to resolve problems in double time, often defying political wisdom. Though the implementation of the Accord cost Rajiv Gandhi his life, it is an anachronism that both the countries never allowed it to reach its logical conclusion.
Rajiv Gandhi’s leadership had done quite well till opposition parties managed to rally together and focus on his alleged involvement in the Bofors gun purchase scandal; the misconceived Indian army intervention in Sri Lanka only added masala to the allegations of Rajiv’s ineptness. Young Gandhi scion’s popularity drastically came down, resulting in the Congress party’s defeat in the national elections held in 1989.
It was a depressing time for men in uniform like me in Sri Lanka from 1988 onwards when opposition parties at home ridiculed the Indian forces while the Congress was put on the defensive. The DMK government had come to power in Tamil Nadu was openly hostile to the IPKF.
It extended hospitality to wounded LTTE cadres in the state, while our soldiers fighting them died un-mourned in foreign soil.
The VP Singh government in New Delhi and President Premadasa were on the same page on the recall of IPKF. It was on 24 March 1990 the last landing craft carrying Indian Peace Keeping Force commander and his operations group left Trincomalee harbour to Chennai.
Thus both the governments saved the LTTE from annihilation as IPKF had already cut it down to size, reducing the overblown self image of Prabhakaran to the realistic proportion of an insurgent leader in hiding in the jungle. He knew he was fighting with his back to the wall; eight batches of LTTE leadership were dead.
Even as IPKF observed a ceasefire, Prabhakaran had secretly made common cause with his sworn enemy Sri Lanka President Ranasinghe Premadasa to do what he couldn’t – to evict the IPKF from Sri Lanka. It must have been a humiliating experience for Prabhakaran to break bread with Premadasa. Prabhakaran’s plot to assassinate Rajv Gandhi was probably conceived at that time. Premadasa readily obliged the LTTE leader; he not only issued an ultimatum to India to withdraw the forces from the island but also supplied arms to the LTTE.
During the next couple of months, the IPKF was being disbanded in Chennai and our headquarters was being wound up. The component units and formations moved out. Last of our radio interception units that had regularly shared its output of LTTE transmissions brought me one such intercept.
It was a recording of one of the LTTE networks operating from somewhere in Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. The contents of the conversation in the peculiar Jaffna Tamil dialect were startling. It ordered the “dumping” of Rajiv Gandhi. While I don’t remember the exact wording, the scene is still embedded in my mind.
Dumping is the term LTTE used for killing. I was familiar with the LTTE dialect used in their communication. In 1987, I had collected the documentation of LTTE kangaroo courts done with Nazi precision ordering “dumping” of 102 people who were shot and dumped in garbage pit for committing crimes like selling drugs, soliciting etc. I called the radio operator who knew Jaffna Tamil very well to confirm the content of the intercept; he was emphatic it was an order to kill Rajiv Gandhi. I was shocked and immediately informed the IPKF force commander.
He asked me not to “touch it.” He had good reasons because we have no functional headquarters for follow up action. He asked me to hand over the audio cassette to the Intelligence Bureau in Chennai for taking further action. Immediately, I went over to the IB headquarters and met the joint director.
He was a good friend known to me for over a decade. He listened to the audio and laughed at me. “Colonel, it is all bravado. They are not specifically saying when and where Rajiv should be killed. In any case, I don’t believe they would kill Rajiv. Why would they?” I still remember the conversation because it left me uneasy though I had no answer to his logical reasoning. With a troubled mind, I returned to my office.
I checked with my Sri Lankan Tamil sources who said Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination would be in keeping with Prabhakaran’s style.
Later, when I was in New Delhi in early 1991, I dropped into the North Block office of the same IB officer I had met in Chennai. He was holding a top security appointment. He asked me about my future plans after retirement in March 1991 and offered to assist me in case I needed any help. I again asked him about the Rajiv Gandhi assassination cassette; he simply laughed it off.
The rest is history; Rajiv Gandhi’s killing came as a shock to me. I was left with a lingering feeling of guilt for not vigorously pursuing the information I had in hand which could have prevented the assassination. When the Special Investigation Team was formed to investigate Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, its chief DR Karthikeyan called me to help out in the investigations. As I had retired, I suggested the names of officers and NCOs who could help him to progress the investigation.
I also informed him about the audio cassette containing assassination threat to Rajiv Gandhi I had handed over to the IB. He told me the Navy also had a similar intercept.
This is one instance where Indian intelligence community as a whole had failed. Now I understand why Americans had failed to read the 9/11 attack although they had bits and pieces of information about it well in advance. Collecting information is one thing; but assessing what it implied is a different ball game.
Napoleon said if you expect the enemy to attack from four directions, he may well do it from the fifth one!
So true!
*Col R Hariharan, a retired MI officer, served as the head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force from 1987 to 90. E-mail: haridirect@gmail.com Blog: http://col.hariharan.info
Sellam / August 24, 2016
There cannot be any arguments in support of the assasination of Rajiv Gandhi. It was a grave mistake for the LTTE to have assassinated Rajiv Gandhi. The Tamils regret it. Another point is that Rajiv Gandhi was asssinated in the name of the Tamil people. For that purpose Prabaharan cannot be excused.
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sekara / August 24, 2016
The LTTE never admitted to it and only during the peace talks in 2002 expressed regret for the killing without accepting responsibility.
There are too many unanswered questions about the inquiry and conviction of the ‘killers’ as well as the intention of the LTTE, especially making a video of the event.
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jim softy / August 24, 2016
Tamil Controbution to Hindia. No – Hindi, English mixed dravidean dialect called Tamil. Worship the colonial masters.
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jim softy / August 24, 2016
We call it ditta dhamma Vedaneeya kamma. All Indira, Rajiv and Pabakran had to go through that.
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Tamil from the north / August 27, 2016
Jim Shit, your comment shows you never went to school. Tamil is not a dialect dummy, it is a language by itself. Only if you had gone to school or at least cycled by a decent educational institution you would have learnt this fact. Too bad, you had to work as a coolie for a Tamil businessman.
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Ajith / August 24, 2016
There cannot be argument in support of Rajiv Gandhi’s assasination. Yes it was a great mistake for LTTE to assasinate Rajiv Gandhi. It is also grave mistake of Rajiv Gandhi to gave orders to assasinate Pirabharan. The Neena Gopal’s latest book also revealed that LTE’s second in command “Mattaya” become as a RAW agent and the RAW was plannig to assasinate Pirabhaharan using “Mattaya”. It is also a fact that Pirabharan was under house arrest by Rajiv and forced to agree on the Indo-Lanka accord. There are lot of unanswered questions in the assasination of Rajiv. I am sure there must be some forces within INdia involved in this assasination as well.
It is also a fact that Sonia Gandhi was behind the scenes of Mullivaygal massacre of Tamils to take revenge against LTTE. Indra Gandhi encouraged and armed Tamil youths. Sonia Gandhi encouraged and armed Sinhala army to massacre Tamils. India is the power that decides the fate of Srilanka.
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KA Sumanasekera / August 24, 2016
Wonder whether that dude who laughed it off is living with the Diaspora?..
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Native Vedda / August 24, 2016
KASmaalam KA Sumanasekera
“Wonder whether that dude who laughed it off is living with the Diaspora?..”
No need for that, however you might find him enjoying his post retirement job, like the writer above.
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Rajash / August 24, 2016
“I checked with my Sri Lankan sources who said the then PM would be killed in keeping with Prabhakaran’s style.”
“The rest is history; Rajiv Gandhi’s killing came as a shock to me”
ha ha ha
say no more
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sekara / August 24, 2016
Rajeev Gandhi and the Congress were very unpopular just prior to the elections during which RG was killed. An examination of the results for states where polls were held before and after the killing, one can see how the sympathy wave swung the votes in favour of the Congress.
The LTTE unwittingly did the Congress a favour; and the Nehru dynasty a favour as well.
As for Rajeev’s record he certainly did things differently, besides the Bofors scandal he had the mass slaughter of Sikhs to avenge his mother’s killing.
RG did no favour to the people of Sri Lanka by sending in troops. Both Sinhalese and Tamils resented it eventually.
India should put its house in order rather than mess around in the affairs of its neighbours.
BTW did nobody even alert RG about the threat? Not even the writer? How does one explain the low security level at Sriprumbuthur?
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Native Vedda / August 24, 2016
sekara/SJ
“BTW did nobody even alert RG about the threat? Not even the writer? “
Yasser Arafat (PLO) just after the assassination said he warned the Hindians there was a plot being hatched to kill Rajiv.
Whoever did it was it the right way to deal with Rajiv? How did the assassination help Tamils?
Assuming LTTE did the killing, do you agree with how the psychopath (VP) dealt with Rajiv?
Did the psycho believe that by getting rid of Rajiv he was doing a favour to India’s enemies, who were so powerful that in the fullness of time they would recognise an independent Tamil Eelam?
Maybe the psychopath should have sought support from China for his unceasing dream of creating a independent state.
China would have had no qualm supporting another petty Polpot in the Indian ocean.
Have you ever regretted that Thamby (Thalaivaru) didn’t work for China (which also has a seat at the security council)?
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Above the Rest / August 24, 2016
“RG did no favour to the people of Sri Lanka by sending in troops. Both Sinhalese and Tamils resented it eventually”
Idiots on both sides resented it. Unfortunately the idiots were the majority on both sides.
No wonder the fighting went on and on!
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DeepCut / August 24, 2016
Dear PM Raji received the wrong information to send in an Peacekeeping force. Mum Indra rescued Bangala not with a peace keeping (one hand tied behind)
The day Rajiv was murdered L.HC Neville at New Delhi was a frightened man.
He kept on telling anyone who visited the embassy that Rajiv bodyguard (SP Chanakyapuri)has accused Premadasa and Premadasa was going down with the same style. They got the black cats Premadasa in style at Chinese built BMICH.
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DeepCut / August 24, 2016
at Chinese built BMICH. – No but at (dutch-british significance )Wolfendhal High street Armour Street- Junction,-Kulaveerasingam Veerakumar (23) alias Babu, from Jaffna
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DeepCut / August 24, 2016
BLAMING PREMADASA RAW NEW DELHI PROMISED TOOTH FOR TOOTH. DOES IT NOT SOUND A BELL? ASK HIS PERSONAL BODYGUARD AND SCHOOL MATE.
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Kailainathan / August 24, 2016
Colonel don’t remember the “Honor Guardsman Strikes Indian Leader “
Of all the places in this globe, such an act could only have been enacted in Colombo. Before July 30, 1987, nothing of this sort had been recorded in 20th century history.
And many massacres done by the peace keeping forces of yours !! The Jaffna Hospitel massacre!! Valvetithurai massacre !! And many more !!
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Japawatch / August 24, 2016
Excuses, excuses…
Please feel sorry for me….
This gentlemen should find an audience elsewhere … Maybe some upcoming Indian intelligence trainees, can listen to his laments and say “oh”, “ah”, ” really?”.
As for me, I can remind him about his IPKF troops atrocities, boorish behavior, rape of young innocent women, plundering and stealing the wealth of the people of Sri Lanka. When does India get the message that Sri Lanka is giving India any regard because they are immediate neighbors, the rest , just stay out of it. Sri Lanka has other neighbors who they are comfortable with.
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Vanguard / August 24, 2016
Don’t worry Colonel, It was all a mistake, they admitted it.
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PROUDMAN / August 24, 2016
IPKF is well known People Killing Force. Ltte was able to pack the bandits home. IPKF raped and killed innocent Tamil women and children If not for LTTE they would have annihilated the Tamil population in Srilanka, Luckily
president Premadasa saw what an evil force IPKF was and made sure they are packed back to where they belong. They were were lucky to escape with only a relatively low lose compared to what they suffered in the hands of Pakistan.
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Native Vedda / August 24, 2016
PROUDMAN
“president Premadasa saw what an evil force IPKF was”
For Premadasa his hold on the state was beginning to shake underneath from within his own party (the Radalas believe they are the natural rulers of the island) as well as JVP terrorism, state counter terrorism and UNP’s own murderous activities.
He saw that it was profitable to ask IPKF to leave (backed by LTTE’s military misadventure) in order to appeal to the Sinhala/Buddhist masses.
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Julampitiye Amaraya / August 24, 2016
What Hariharan did not understand is that Newton’s theorem is applying to lives also.
What they did to Sri Lankan people back fired on them, specially to Gandhi family.
before J R J, the Fox getting Rajiv in to the Trap, How many train boggy loads of arms and ammunitions unloaded at Madras railway station and later transported to north sri lanka by Indian RAW operatives and rebels to destroy Sri Lanka’s awakening economy.
At last entangled Rajive Got the same fate like his mother.
And what about FROM CHINA WITH LOVE, to pirabaaharan outfit, in exchange of Arms ammunition and Logistics.
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shankar / August 24, 2016
col hari should have immediately sent a letter to rajiv with the copy of the cassette.then duty done.Col hari is responsible for rajiv’s death.
” Collecting information is one thing; but assessing what it implied is a different ball game.”
maybe he heard dumping as pumping.Or maybe to find what it implied he had no dictionary.Excuses,excuses,excuses.Anyway good that hari was inept and that bull in a china shop moron got killed.When indira died and 2000 sikhs were killed rajiv said that when a great banyan tree falls there would surely be some impact.cold blooded people are not needed on this earth.
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Amarasiri / August 24, 2016
Col. (retd) R.Hariharan
RE: When I Heard LTTE Forces Order Rajiv Gandhi’s Assassination
//”I checked with my Sri Lankan sources who said the then PM would be killed in keeping with Prabhakaran’s style.”//
//”It extended hospitality to wounded LTTE cadres in the state, while our soldiers fighting them died un-mourned in foreign soil.”//
Yes, un-mourned in “foreign soil”. Thanks for the writ up. Thanks for writing Lanka, the Land of Native Veddah Aethho, is “foreign soil”. The Para-Sinhala and Para-Tamils and other Para, are foreigners as well in this land.
Yes, all the Paras are foreigners in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho.
First it was the Native Veddah Aethho Fighting the Para-Sinhala. Then it was the Para-Sinhala fighting the Para-Tamils. Then, the Para-Tamils and Para-Sinhala Fighting the Para-Indians.
//”Even as IPKF observed a ceasefire, Prabhakaran had secretly made common cause with his sworn enemy Sri Lanka President Ranasinghe Premadasa to do what he couldn’t – to evict the IPKF from Sri Lanka. It must have been a humiliating experience for Prabhakaran to break bread with Premadasa. Prabhakaran’s plot to assassinate Rajv Gandhi was probably conceived at that time. Premadasa readily obliged the LTTE leader; he not only issued an ultimatum to India to withdraw the forces from the island but also supplied arms to the LTTE.”//
The Para-Sinhala were fighting the Para-Tamils, and the Para-Indians, got into the mix. It became a three-way Para Fight in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho.
//”It was a recording of one of the LTTE networks operating from somewhere in Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. The contents of the conversation in the peculiar Jaffna Tamil dialect were startling. It ordered the “dumping” of Rajiv Gandhi. While I don’t remember the exact wording, the scene is still embedded in my mind.”//
//”I called the radio operator who knew Jaffna Tamil very well to confirm the content of the intercept; he was emphatic it was an order to kill Rajiv Gandhi. I was shocked and immediately informed the IPKF force commander.”//
//”I checked with my Sri Lankan Tamil sources who said Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination would be in keeping with Prabhakaran’s style.”//
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pacs / August 24, 2016
There was some interception. You can not say it is from Ltte. There were so many groups masquerading as Ltte. many of these groups may be the agents of SL. OR those who wanted to split the bond between The Tamils and India. So the atom split. The reason to Kill Rajive had been a lot more for S..l and .SA. What reason was there for ltte to kill Ragiv
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Real Siva Sankaran Sarma / August 24, 2016
Peculiar Jaffna Tamil dialect! Jaffna Tamil is far more closer to classical Tamil and much purer than most Indian Tamil dialects, that sound rude and awful to Jaffna Tamils. We find Indian Tamil peculiar and very debased
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☀Asterix☀ / August 24, 2016
you have moved close to vaiko class like the sinhalese.
the reason being lankans looked a bit westernised and carried western names so the north let you get away with gibberish too. better you stay mad because after all it was hindustan that was ruled by the west and we ruled you for them from presidency.the partition was not a british affair but american so all paperbacks at any station were american not british.I f you had entered new delhi connaught place book sellers (india’s number one) it was more american material- Indians were doing well before WW1 for over 100 years in the USA.
when you work your way up you meet the wealth of a nation with all the bells and whistles of their native languages and mannerisms tuned to western thought.
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sekara / August 24, 2016
“Jaffna Tamil is far more closer to classical Tamil and much purer than …”
Injaarungo, injaarungo that is yet another myth maintained by the Jaffna Tamil elite.
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Unreal / August 25, 2016
Injaarungo, injaarungo, is not at all colloquial. It may not be formal or literary, but is rampant in familiar conversation.
Injaarungo is a perfectly acceptable combination of two Tamil words, இங்கே & பாருங்கள்.
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Real Siva Sankara Sarma / August 26, 2016
Sekeran now calling himself Sekera is a another Tamil assimilated as a Sinhalese and badly wants to prove his Sinhalese Buddhist credentials. He fully well knows that the Jaffna Tamil dialects are far more closer to old/classical Tamil than Indian Tamil dialects. This is not a myth
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Agnos / August 27, 2016
Sekara,
Whenever I talk to Tamils from India in the US, they often tell me that we, SL Tamils, speak Madurai Tamil and it is better than the Tamil in other parts of Tamil Nadu. So there is probably some truth to Paul’s claim, though some people exaggerate it to sound like a great achievement. On the other hand, my Indian friends often complain that SL Tamils pronounce the ‘la’ and ‘zha’ the same way, depriving the Tamil language of its ‘beauty’ and ‘uniqueness.’
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siva / August 24, 2016
the good old colonel should stay where he is best, doing voluntary services to help indian army,or like Mr. Singh become a politician, but please do not be a journalist if you cant state facts.For what ever reasons he did not address issues of murder,rape,violence and other barbarian crimes caused by the so called Indian Army and how a political genius like Rajiv who send troops to protect the Jaffna Tamil Community later turned out to fight the war for the SriLankan government and caused such atrocity which was no where close to the loss suffered during the 30 years of civil war.The people who suffered at the hand of Indian army are still alive as witnesses.
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choan / August 24, 2016
Indira Feroz Khan was killed because of her arrogance
Rajiv Feroz Khan was killed because of his stupidity
Full stop
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Dim _Sum / August 24, 2016
Priyanka is both and married to a Goonda pakistani+scottish parents.
you are going to suffer as long as the dynasty rules.
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love / August 24, 2016
I was taught that the US was behind this assassination. The USA did not want RG to be the PM and become charismatic and stronger with each passing day which would have eventually made India the most powerful in South Asia. Its ulterior motive was disguised as the one of the LTTE. The USA got his plan executed and the LTTE fell prey to this grave blunder.
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srinath.gunaratne / August 24, 2016
He calls himself a colonel, ignoring a vital piece of intelligence!
Good luck India!
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srinath.gunaratne / August 24, 2016
Not forgetting the fact the killing of Rajiv immensely helped Sri Lanka to annihilate LTTE the cancer that was devouring the country.
Cuddled the serpent in the sarong, Well you know what happens!
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Native Vedda / August 24, 2016
srinath.gunaratne
“Not forgetting the fact the killing of Rajiv immensely helped Sri Lanka to annihilate LTTE the cancer”
You are mistaken.
It was VP who helped Hindia to annihilate LTTE.
Hindians gave numerous opportunities for VP to refine himself and reform LTTE. Three months after signing the cease-fire agreement he continued his killing business as usual.
Hindians in early 2005 decided to put a full stop to VP’s madness and provided everything needed for the Armed forces to conclude the war which resulted in the 2009 bogus war victory for MR and Gota.
Hope MR and Gota are eternally grateful to VP and Hindians.
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jim softy / August 25, 2016
Three months after signing the cease-fire agreement he continued his killing business as usual.
That is typical Tamil mind.
They forget and only thing they know is violence and killings.
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ranjith / August 24, 2016
Terrorism and terrorists are just like Scorpions. their nature is to kill their mother and close aids as soon as they take first breath. As such writer must be the happiest man to be alive to write article like this on his own products. almost all the other contributors might be in hell or heaven or some where awaiting rebirth in human world or paratha or patalay as per their own belief and nature of sins and merits committed.ANYWAY I wish writer long life…
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Bensen Berner / August 24, 2016
With the unwanted and the wanton killing of Rajiv Gandhi the LTTE entered the threshold of international terrorism thus succumbing to the justification of international attack. Bensen
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justice / August 24, 2016
The local MLA Ms Maragatham brought the suicide bomber to the venue of the meeting at Sriperumbuthoor and went home.
The group of Supporters and politicians who welcomed Rajiv Ghandhi carefully kept about twenty yards behind him as he went forward to greet the group of members of the public, and when the bomber garlanded him, she exploded the bomb.
The casualties were members of the public – all the politicians escaped the blast.
The Chinon camera of the sole photographer at the venue escaped the blast and was found at the venue with all photos intact, and was the main source of identification of the bomber, and those present at the venue.
None of the politicians including Maragatham, gave evidence at the inquiry.
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Native Vedda / August 24, 2016
Bensen Berner
One cannot make friends with Hindians in New Delhi, however, one cannot afford to have them as enemies.
JR, Premadasa and VP paid dearly for their ignorance.
In the case of MR he was ready to carry out orders from New Delhi until the war was won by Hindia. He believed he was invincible and then paid the price of losing the 2015 elections all the benefits that gave him pride and profits for not honouring his own promises.
Ranil and Sirisena have to learn walking a tightrope as Ranil learnt a bitter lesson when he tried to organise a safety net from outside the region. Chandrika sacked him.
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Siva / August 25, 2016
I once spoke to a widow from Jaffna who said her husband was murdered by the IPKF. She also accused the Indian troops of committing all kinds of atrocities on the Tamil civilian population there. As a tactic to intimidate the LTTE.
Rajiv was no saint and murdered thousands of Sikh civilians as revenge for his mothers assassination
Something i am not surprised Hariharan failed to mention.
And are you aware that a former Israeli Mossad agent Viktor Ostrovsky, accuses Israel of being the mastermind behind both Indira and Rajivs murders?
Indira was openly hostile to Israel and Rajiv was said to have interfered with Israeli ship movements in the Indian ocean.
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Peter Pan / August 25, 2016
You say….
“And are you aware that a former Israeli Mossad agent Viktor Ostrovsky, accuses Israel of being the mastermind behind both Indira and Rajivs murders?”
Bloody Humbug, keep this interpretation to entertain remnants of LTTE.
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Ranbandu / August 25, 2016
My Dear Col. Hariharan;
You have stated;
“The contents of the conversation in the peculiar Jaffna Tamil dialect were startling. It ordered the “dumping” of Rajiv Gandhi. While I don’t remember the exact wording, the scene is still embedded in my mind.
Dumping is the term LTTE used for killing. I was familiar with the LTTE dialect used in their communication. In 1987, I had collected the documentation of LTTE kangaroo courts done with Nazi precision ordering..”
You have brought tears to my eyes again by reminding this most despicable act of LTTE. Twenty five years ago, when I heard and saw the news bulletin of CNN news, I cried like a baby yes; like a baby and I will never forget it. I will always remember Hon. Rajiv Gandhi for his unquestionable commitment to bring peace to my country; Sri Lanka. He always believed in fairness, justice and wanted to remedy the past mistakes; that was the reason why IPKF was sent to Sri Lanka.
Moreover, Hon. Rajiv Gandhi believed in sovereignty and Unitary status of Sri Lanka. I think the political leaders of Colombo at that time never knew sincerity of this marvelous son of INDIA.
Ranbandu C
August 2016
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Tassimo / August 26, 2016
Tamil gold stolen. Tamil girls raped by mostly north Indian Sikh troops. IPKF came to be known as innocent people killing force. Hundreds slaughtered and tortured. Rajiv Gandhi’s legacy. Then stupid singalam Premedasa didn’t let them finish off VP and his murderous facists. Too little too late. India allowed GOSL to wipe them out. Thank you Dr.Manmohan Singh for telling Sri lanka to wipe them out.
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Real Siva Sankaran Sarma / August 26, 2016
If VP and the LTTE were murderous fascists then what do you call the IPKF,the Sinhalese Sri Lankan armed forces, government and the government, who committed genocide war crimes on the Eelam Tamils or in the case of the DR. Manmohan Singh government that overtly and covertly supported and aided and abetted this genocide.
VP and the LTTE are responsible for around 5% of the killings and violence and most of them were members of the armed forces (Indian or Sri Lankan) or Sinhalese/Muslim hooligans and thugs who were killing raping looting and ethnically cleansing the Eelam Tamil population.
However the IPKF and the Sri Lankan government and armed forces are responsible for 95% or more of the violence/killing and 99% of their victims were innocent Tamils civilians, who were deliberately targeted on the guise of fighting with the LTTE. Even the UN has reluctantly admitted to this More than 300000 innocent Tamil civilians were killed around 70000 I’m May 2009 with Indian support. Around 1.2 million indigenous Eelam Tamils were deliberately chased out of their lands, many fleeing to the west. The unfortunates who fled to India are now languishing and leading a miserable life in refugee camps.
As per you VP and LTTE fascist then what do call the Sinhalese government and armed forces. War criminal Genocidal Demons.
The LTTE is a child of Sinhalese racism and Indian opportunism.
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Real Siva Sankran Sarma / August 26, 2016
The LTTE assassinating Rajiv Gandhi in the name of the still oppressed Eelam Tamils was a very foolish move and they never asked them to do it and it ultimately worked against them and the LTTE. However Rajiv Gandhi was not a saint, he was taken for a ride by the willy cunning JR Jayawardene and also incorrectly advised by a lot of powerful anti Tamils in Delhi and Colombo. mostly North Indians, Malayaless and Indian Tamil Brahmins who were seeking revenge for real and perceived discrimination against them by the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu. All these people could not do anything to the powerful Tamil population and the key state of Tamil Nadu, so settled on the hapless Eelam Tamil population vent their hate and revenge. His mother Indira Gandhi was far more experienced and shrewd and would not have been a victim of these anti Tamils
The IPKF were no saints, they were largely made up of North Indian and mostly Sikh troops who were also seeking revenge against a Hindu population for what happened to the Sikhs at the hands of the North Indian Hindus in 1984. They also were not able to take this out on the Hindus of North India, so the hapless largely Hindu Eelam Tamil population would do. The LTTE through some of their actions, that was a cunning reaction to JR carefully laid out plans played into this.
Contrary to what was stated the foreign IPKF never came to protect the Eelam Tamils, they only came to contain them and police them for the Sinhalese. They were a foreign peace keeping force and should have remained as such but instead took part in military activities with the local LLTE that largely had the support of the Tamils and as then seen as their saviour against Indian and Sinhalese aggression in their own soil. They also committed large scale atrocities of raping looting killing thousands of innocent Tamil civilians and harassing Hindu priests and Christian Tamil clergy . All these atrocities were committed by a so called foreign peace keeping force against a local population whom they supposedly came to protect(sic). These are all war crimes and so far no one has been charged and Rajiv as head of the Indian armed forces was fully aware of this and was also responsible for this. There is enough and more evidence of the North Indian Raping and Looting force committing all these atrocities against the local Eelam Tamils. Many Indian officers were caught with gold and other goods that they looted from the Eelam Tamils. As stated all these are war crimes and Rajiv and the Indian generals or people responsible for this should have charged. So far no one. Instead of crying about Rajiv who deserved what he got This Hariharan should investigate and cover up the Indian army atrocities. Please do not deny this as I was in jaffna
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Yoganathan / August 26, 2016
The following excerpt I copied says a lot. This guy will never admit to India’s role in creating the monsters. There were geo-political reasons for it, but the brunt of the suffering was by Tamil innocents and all Sri Lankans and not Indians. Same as in places the USA destabilized nations and started wars.(Libya for example). Hariharan is deaf dumb and mute about INDIA’s role in creating the LTTE.
Quote
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was widely believed to have received military training in India — long before the government of Rajiv Gandhi — transforming itself into a well-equipped guerrilla force, which was eventually responsible for the assassination of Gandhi.
In his book, Mr. Puri says “the military training (including but not limited to elementary use of firearms) and ideological grounding were given to new recruits in dozens of camps by seasoned guerrillas or retired Indian military officers (some of whom were paid more than what they had earned in the Indian army)”.
He also points out that the fact Sri Lankan Tamil rebels enjoyed support in Tamil Nadu was clear. “Militant rebels set up tactical headquarters in Madras (now Chennai) and operated freely from the city. “There were reports that the government was even happy to exempt them from visa and immigration regulations, allowing some of them to travel abroad on Indian passports.”
Hardeep Singh Puri: IPKF’s presence in Sri Lanka was not a military intervention
Ironically, says Mr. Puri, it was Rajiv Gandhi’s mother Indira, who as Prime Minister, had begun the support to Sri Lankan Tamil militants, including the LTTE, ostensibly fighting for Eelam, or a separate homeland, in the 1980s.
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Tamil from the north / August 27, 2016
Hariharan fellow does not understand that the buggers from the RAW gave their full approval with the suicide bombing, which was carried out by the LTTE buggers. Hariharan, you were and still are part of one of the most corrupt countries in the world. So go and tell your rubbish BS stories to someone else.
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Native Vedda / August 27, 2016
Tamil from the north
“So go and tell your rubbish BS stories to someone else.”
He has a job to do. As a retired analyst he churned out hundreds of articles on a daily basis.
Hindia needed a few of them like Dirty Hari to mislead the Tamils as well as the Sinhalese on the war and peace. The main purpose of his articles during the war was simply a ” disinformation” campaign. He did it well and he served Hindians very well.
I was told Tamils trusted his words, never bothered to verify the facts, though the ground reality should have informed the stupid Tamils LTTE was doomed to fail including, his analogy of Killinochi was being SLA’s Leningrad.
He is another Hindian who is duty bound to serve Hindian interest.
Until Hindia accepts its share of responsibility in the mess, including arming of Tamil militants, atrocities of IPKF, complete support for the war since 2005, diplomatic cover at UN, …… Sri Lanka will never face any serious war crime investigation.
Remember, 90,000 Pakistani war criminals who surrendered to Indian armed forces were allowed to go scot-free.
What does it show? An awful lot of good-will on the part of Hindia, or simply expediency which determined what was right and wrong. Hindia has not explained to Bengali people as to why the war criminals were not subjected to a serious war crime trial.
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Tamil from the north / August 27, 2016
Hariharan, you must be ashamed of the rowdies you mainly brought from the state of Punjab. Filthy buggers in turbans, raped and murdered innocent people in Jaffna. I heard stories from people that before the Punjabi regiment arrives, the locals could smell the stench from their body odour. I personally know many families were wiped out by these filthy pigs from India. These were not members of the LTTE but innocent civilians……old men, women and young girls.
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