15.4.2008
Priyanka
Vadra, daughter of Rajiv Gandhi, whom the LTTE
suicide bomber Dhannu, killed in May 1991, has confirmed
media reports about her meeting Nalini, one of the conspirators,
now languishing in Vellore Central Jail.
"It
is true that I met Nalini Sriharan in Vellore central
jail on March 19, 2008. It was my way of coming to peace
with the violence and loss that I have experienced",
she said in a statement here on Tuesday.
Her
brother, Rahul Gandhi also confirmed the meeting. "We
don't carry hatred. We don't carry anger. It's not an
exercise...She (Priyanka) felt that she wanted to go and
see the person. She has been feeling it for sometime."
It
was not a casual, unscheduled meeting as Rahul and his
sister would like to describe it. Much effort and planning
preceded Priyanka's visit to Vellore on March 19 to pay
obeisance at the newly constructed Sri Lakshmi Narayani
Golden Temple. A couple of Delhi based sleuths met Nalini
in advance and secured her consent to meeting Priyanka.
But
she described the meeting as personal. "It was a
very personal visit and completely on my own individual
initiative. I would be deeply grateful if this could be
respected". When Nalini and Priyanka met at the jail
superintendent office, they were alone. The jail official
and Delhi sleuth left the room after Priyanka said they
would like to talk.
According
to the lawyer, Rajkumar, who represents Nalini, she kept
standing a few feet away from where Priyanka sat initially.
She went and sat by Priyanka side after the Gandhi daughter
insisted.
Nalini,
married to Murugan, sentenced to death in the assassination
case, was also awarded capital punishment for involvement
in the Rajiv Gandhi's assassination on May 21, 1991 at
Sriperambudur after an election rally..
On
Sonia Gandhi's intervention, Nalini's sentence was later
commuted to life imprisonment for the sake of the convict's
daughter.
In
her statement, Priyanka said, "I do not believe in
anger, hatred and violence and I refuse to allow these
things to overpower my life".
Rajkumar,
who had talked to Nalini told the media that Priyanka
wanted to know why her father was killed and on whose
orders,. My father was a good man; why was he killed,
she asked.
Nalini
was not privy to the inside track and she conveyed the
same to Priyanka, the lawyer stated.
Courtesy - Asian
Tribune