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Thursday, May 22, 2025

Attitude matters, when facing impediments !!!

 

ஒரு சின்ன கல்லு குத்தினாலே - 'அய்யோ' - நான் ரொம்ப கஷ்டப்படறேங்கறது சாதாரண மனித இயல்பு.

ஆயிரம் கல்லு மத்தியிலேயும் சாதாரணமாக தூங்குறது கல்யாணமானவன் இயல்பு !!



[புரிஞ்சவன் பிஸ்தா ! ~ அனுபவியுங்க !! - தேவையில்லாம சண்டை போடாதீங்க !!]

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

the assassination that shook the Nation ! ~ this day 34 years ago !!

 

the assassination that shook the Nation ! ~ this day 34 years ago !!

Sad the Nation failed to even remember leave alone do justice to the deaths of : Dharman, Rajaguru, Edward Joseph, Mohammed Iqbal, Latha Kannan, Saroja devi, Ravichandran !!!  .. .. unlikely their names strike any chord !!

On 30 July 1987, a day after Indian PM  went to Sri Lanka and signed the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, an honour guard named Vijitha Rohana hit him on his shoulder with his rifle;   again, did the Nation force enough for any action against him.

Literally the heart of Uttar Pradesh, Amethi had been the citadel of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The constituency has voted for the Congress most times  since its formation in 1967,  Amethi’s first tryst with the Nehru-Gandhi family happened in 1980 when Sanjay Gandhi won the seat. In the next three decades, the constituency changed hands across three other members of the family, with Rahul Gandhi representing the seat since 2004.  Later he lost to  Smriti Irani of  BJP by a whopping  margin of 35,000 votes.  Though Sanjay Gandhi won in 1980, sadly he died in an accident and in the by-elections, (a reluctant) Rajiv Gandhi stood and won the elections.  In the 1981 by-election:  Rajiv Gandhi secured 258884 votes (84.18%) while his nearest rival Sharad Yadav got 21188 (6.89%) – margin was 237696 !  



Brutal killings have been part of History -    ever read about the Battle of Samugarh,  a decisive battle in the struggle for the throne during the Mughal war of succession (1658–1659) between the sons of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan after the emperor's serious illness in  1657.  It was fought between his sons Dara Shikoh (the eldest son and heir apparent) and his two younger brothers Aurangzeb and Murad Baksh (third and fourth sons of Shah Jahan).

There have been political assassinations too – and you may  have read about : - James Garfield and Charles J. Guiteau.  What we failed to read and what should have been part of History in schools was the killing by Madanlal Dhingra of Curzon Wylie in 1909 in London.  William Hutt Curzon Wyllie KCIE CVO,  was a British Indian army officer, and later an official of the British Indian Government. Over a career spanning three decades, Curzon Wyllie rose to be Lieutenant Colonel in the British Indian Army and occupied a number of administrative and diplomatic posts. 

Pratap Singh Kairon [1901 – 1965] was the 3rd Chief Minister of the Punjab province (then comprising Punjab, Haryana and part of Himachal Pradesh), and is widely acknowledged as the architect of post-Independence Punjab Province.  He had participated in Indian Independence movement too -  jailed twice by the British Empire, once for five years for organizing protests against British rule.  On 6 February 1965, he was on his way from Delhi to Chandigarh when he was waylaid near Rasoi village, Sonipat district, and shot dead along with his personal assistant — an IAS officer, and the driver.

— July 7, 2021: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by gunmen who also wounded  his wife Martine in an overnight raid on their Port-au-Prince home.  

— April 20, 2021: Chad President Idriss Deby Itno was killed while battling rebels in the north. Hours earlier he had been declared the winner of an election that would have given him another six years in power.

— March 2, 2009: Guinea-Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira was killed by renegade soldiers in his palace, hours after a bomb blast killed his rival in the West African nation.

— Dec. 27, 2007: Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister in a Muslim-majority country as well as Pakistan’s second nationally elected prime minister, was shot at &  then attacked by a suicide bomber at a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

21st May is remembered by Indians for different reasons though !  Any killing, murder is bad but assassination of top political leaders, especially President, Prime Minister, King or any such high official   can resonate throughout a country. Sometimes the assassination of a leader is so shocking and profound that it triggers what psychologists call flashbulb memory in a country’s citizens. Many will remember forever where they were and what they were doing at the moment they heard their leader was murdered. As a result of painful experiences in their histories, most Governments now surround their leaders with protection.  INDIA badly remembers assassination of Mrs Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi.  

One may not concur with his political views and ideologies, may not support dynasty, may not support his party, may not like Bofors !  but for sure would be outraged by the way he was eliminated.  

Rajiv statue at Andamans

He was born in  1944, sent to London, joined Engineering at Trinity College, Cambridge, but did not obtain a degree. He returned to India in 1966,  became a member of the Flying Club, where he was trained as a pilot. In 1970, he was employed as a pilot by Air India.   On 23 June 1980, Rajiv's younger brother Sanjay Gandhi died unexpectedly in an aeroplane crash. At that time, Rajiv Gandhi was in London as part of his foreign tour. Hearing the news, he returned to Delhi and cremated Sanjay's body.   Rajiv entered politics on 16 February 1981, when he addressed a national farmers' rally in Delhi.    70 members of the Congress party signed a proposal and went to Indira, urging Rajiv to enter politics and he plunged into politics inevitably after the sad assassination in 31.10.1984 of Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi.

His rule was marred by the politically sensitive Rs 64-crore Bofors pay-off case. The Bofors deal, signed in 1986, was believed to be one of primary reasons for the Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress' defeat in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections. 1991 too was an election year – held in 2 phases – each had a different impact.  Maragatham Chandrasekar was to win by a margin of 180572 and the man lost his life campaigning for her this day. 

Visitors to Chennai would not miss the landmark as they come out Central Railway station – the imposing  Government General Hospital, visited by more than 12000 outpatients everyday. This premier institution dates back to 1664, started  as a small Hospital to treat the sick soldiers of the East India Company. It was the untiring inspired efforts of Sir Edward Winter who was the agent of the company that materialised in the first British Hospital at Madras. In its early days the Hospital was housed at the Fort St. George and in the next 25 years grew into a formal medical facility. Governor Sir. Elihu Yale was instrumental in the development of the Hospital and gave it a new premises with in the Fort in 1690.  In 1842 the Hospital opened its doors to Indians.     In the 19th century, medical college got annexed to it and in 2011, the hospital was renamed after Rajiv Gandhi, sadly because his body was brought here after his assassination in May 1991.

This place (Sriperumpudur) is famous for being the birthplace of our greatest Acharyar – Sri Ramanujar ~ life has changed a lot in the past couple of decades after that fatefulday…..  one may not ardently believe in ‘fate or destiny’…….in the prelude to General elections, there were far too varied predictions …… the National Front was still nursing some hopes, there was a wave predicting return of Rajiv Gandhi.  In that melee, was this person, who had retired from active politics  – not any ordinary person for sure~ a man who had been the CM too…. in 1984 in the aftermath of assassination of Indira Gandhi saw routing of all political parties.  Bharatiya Janata Party could win only 2 seats. One in Mehsana and the other was in South ~ the Hanamkonda constituency where M. Chandupatla Janga Reddy of BJP defeated his nearest Congress rival by 54198 votes.  The man who lost so at a time when Congress swept to power was 70 by the 1991 elections, could not get a ticket and had chosen to retire to peace…….. destiny thought otherwise….. he became the PM in 1991 – Sri PV Narasimha Rao.

The night of 21st  May 1991 changed it all ~ on a campaign trail, he arrived from Vizag, garlanded Nehru at Kathipara, even the Press chose not to travel along for that meeting at Sriperumpudur – and rest is bloody history – the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.  About two hours after arriving in Madras), Rajiv Gandhi was driven by motorcade in a white Ambassador car to Sriperumbudur, stopping along the way at a few other election campaigning venues. When he reached a campaign rally in Sriperumbudur, he got out of his car and began to walk towards the dais where he would deliver a speech. Along the way, he was garlanded by many well-wishers, Congress party workers and school children. The assassin, Dhanu, approached and greeted him. She then bent down to touch his feet and detonated an RDX explosive-laden belt tucked below her dress at exactly 10:10 PM.  Rajiv, his assassin and 15 others were killed in the explosion that followed, along with 43 others who were grievously injured. .. .. a very sad day as the Nation lost its ex-Prime Minister assassinated in his own land and a host of innocent Tamilians who had gathered too died in that blast. 

If you still remember the names in the 1st para : they were among the ones who perished in that assassination plot.   The list reads:   Dharman, police constable;       Santhani Begum, Mahila Congress leader; Rajaguru, police inspector; Chandra, police constable; Edward Joseph, police inspector; K. S. Mohammed Iqbal, police superintendent; Latha Kannan, Mahila Congress worker, who was with her daughter Kokilavani; •          Kokilavani, ten-year-old daughter of Latha Kannan, who sang a poem to Gandhi immediately before the blast; Darryl Jude Peters, attendee and observer; Munuswamy, Seva dal worker; Saroja Devi, seventeen-year-old college student; Pradeep K. Gupta, personal security officer of Rajiv Gandhi; Ethiraju; Murugan, police constable; Ravichandran, Black Cat commando  and .. .. Haribabu, a conspirator. Around 43 bystanders, including police sub-inspector Anushiya Daisy, were injured in the explosion..

The guard who assaulted Rajiv at President's House, Colombo  on 30.7.1987 - Wijemuni Vijitha Rohana de Silva was   sailor and was standing as Rajiv took guard of honour.  It is a matter of shame that a Navy personnel violated norms and attacked the visiting dignitary.  He was charged with attempted murder and acting contrary to navy discipline and insulting a state leader.  However the defence was held that he had not intention to kill -   he was charged  guilty of attempted culpable homicide not amounting to murder !  and   sentenced to six years.  However President Premadasa gave him a presidential pardon after two and a half years.  He later became an astrologer and claimed that President Maithripala Sirisena would die by 26 January 2017. This was seen as a part of a conspiracy to assassinate the president and he was arrested again  !!

Nation sadly remembers and pays tribute to Rajiv Gandhi and to those innocents who too lost their lives in the same gruesome assassination this day !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
21st May 2025

Expressions !! flowerhorn fish !!

 

Expressions !! flowerhorn fish !!

May not look beautiful !  - yet it costs a few thousands !

Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Two Cuckoo birds ! ~ One head !!!

 

ஈருடல் ஓர் உயிர்

 

பழைய சினிமாக்களில் காதலன் சொல்வது : அன்பே நாம் இருவரும் வேறுவேறு அல்ல - நாம் ஒருவரே !  இது உண்மையெனில், இருவரில் ஒருவர் ஒரு சங்கடத்தை எதிர்கொண்டால், மற்றவர் அதன் வலியை முழுமையாக உணரக்கூடியவராக இருப்பார். ஒருவர் மகிழ்ச்சியை எதிர்கொண்டால் மற்றவர் அதன் சந்தோஷத்தை ரசிக்கக்கூடியவராக இருப்பார். இப்படியான நிலை  ‘ஈருடல் ஓருயிர்’ 

 


இங்கே குயில்கள் இரண்டு - தலை ஒன்றே !!