The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon Part 33 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part33.

htm

The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon

Part 33

Sachi Sri Kantha

[02 February 2002]

Rajiv Gandhi Assassination: The Sinhalese

Angle

Front Note
A retraction on the puzzling arrest record of Nalini, the 1st accused
Factual accuracy is important in a critical analysis of any worthy document. This is
particularly so, when it comes to a document of the caliber of lengthy Supreme Court
verdict of Justice D.P.Wadhwa on the Rajiv Gandhi assassination trial. In part 31 of
this series, I had commented about the puzzling arrest record of Nalini, the first
accused, as contradiction 2 in Justice Wadhwa’s verdict. Now, after re-reading the
relevant passages carefully, I realize that my observation was in error and thus I retract
the sentences presented in that section, which includes the first paragraph written,
under the subsequent section, My opinion on Nalini’s arrest record. I tender my
sincere apologies to Justice D.P.Wadhwa and to the readers for my carelessness and
oversight. I located my error, while trying to tabulate the number of times the
‘purported’ wireless messages transmitted by Sivarasan was mentioned in the Supreme
Court verdict. [Note: But, I’m still puzzled about the correct arrest date of Nalini and
Murugan. Kindly read below the observations of ex-CBI director Vijay Karan, in this
chapter, regarding the arrest date of Nalini and Murugan, which differs from what is
recorded in Justice Wadhwa’s verdict.]

I reiterate that the comment on consequential contradictions of Justice Wadhwa’s

verdict relating to the arrest records of Ravi, the 16th accused (Contradiction 1) still
stands.

Now, to Chapter 33.

Introduction
The Sinhalese angle in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination is conspicuously
linked with the conspiracy angle. Quite a few observers in India and
elsewhere have commented that for peculiar reasons it has been
intentionally ignored by the SIT team led by Mr.Kartikeyan. The facts for
questions such as, (1) When was the serious, previous assassination attempt
made on Rajiv Gandhi’s life in full glare of public eye? (2) Who was the

1 of 7 12/15/2008 11:30 AM
The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon Part 33 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part33.htm

immediate beneficiary of Rajiv’s death in 1991? (3) Did Rajiv have cordial
relationship with the then Sri Lankan political leadership of Premadasa?,
pointedly show that the suspicion of critical observers on the manner in
which the SIT officials plodded through their Procrustean data-torturing
mode have some validity.
Thus, in this chapter I provide observations made by Messers Vijay Karan
(the chief of India’s Central Bureau of Intelligence at the time of Rajiv’s
assassination), journalist Rajeev Sharma and anti-LTTE analyst Rohan
Gunaratna related to the above three questions.

Observations of Rohan Gunaratna

Rohan Gunaratna, in his book Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, has
provided some pointed details on the (1) JVP-linked conspiracy behind the
assassination attempt on Rajiv Gandhi, made in Colombo in 1987 and (2)
RAW-JVP links.

Failed assassination attempt of July 30, 1987 on Rajiv Gandhi

“As Rajiv Gandhi was about to depart for India, he was invited by the
commander of the Navy Ananda Silva to inspect a guard of honour.
Gandhi obliged. As he was moving past the men, something totally
unexpected happened. Vijithamuni Rohana de Silva, a naval rating
from the south, suddenly lifted his rifle and brought it on to the visiting
Prime Minister of India. Neither Ananda Silva nor Gandhi’s security
men responded fast enough either to push Gandhi away from the sailor,
or to immobilize the attacker. [Footnote provided by Gunaratna: Film
clip and photographs taken by the media covering the entire Gandhi
visit clearly show no reaction to save Gandhi or to counter-attack the
sailor.] Fortunately, Rajiv Gandhi’s quick reflexes – something which
he had probably sharpened in his days as a pilot – came to his rescue:
he ducked almost instantaneously, averting head injury which, in the
worst case, could have killed him; he was instead hit and badly bruised
around the neck and the shoulders.
The plan within a Navy cell was to kill Rajiv Gandhi. The nineteen
year old naval rating was to hit Gandhi on the head and make him fall,
and then the two men either side of the first attacker were to strike him
with their ceremonial bayonets [Footnote provided by Gunaratna:
Based on a confession the naval rating made at the CID headquarters to
another detainee.] But for some unknown reason, the other two men
refrained from going into action during the assault – if they did, Gandhi
could have suffered serious injuries, and could have died. This sinister
plan has hitherto been kept a secret. During the court martial that
followed, Vijithamuni stated that he thought that the (Rajiv Gandhi-
Jayewardene) Peace Accord would make Prabhakaran the leader of the
northeast, and he would have to honour Prabhakaran in the same way

2 of 7 12/15/2008 11:30 AM
The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon Part 33 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part33.htm

he was ordered to honour Rajiv Gandhi. However, Vijithamuni did not

serve his full sentence – he was released under a general amnesty after
Premadasa became the President.” [Book: Indian Intervention in Sri
Lanka, 1993, p.193]

Justice Wadhwa in his lengthy Supreme Court verdict had summarized the
events relating to Rajiv Gandhi and LTTE, from the year 1987. For instance,
he had mentioned about “The Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement to establish peace
and normalcy in Sri Lanka” [was] signed on 29.7.1987 by Rajiv Gandhi and
J.R.Jayewardene in Colombo. [p.37 of Justice Wadhwa’s verdict.] But he
failed to make any mention about what happened to Rajiv Gandhi on the
following day in Colombo! I cannot think that this omission was an
oversight on Justice Wadhwa’s diligence. This is because, Justice Wadhwa
also specifically mentions the incidents relating to LTTE, which followed in
September-October 1987:
“On 15.9.1987 one Dileepan of LTTE went on hunger strike…He died
fasting on 26.9.1987” [p.38 of Justice Wadhwa’s verdict]
“17 important functionaries of LTTE were captured by Sri Lankan
Navy in the first week of October 1987”. [ibid]
“In the night of ¾.10.1987 when IPKF convoy was carrying ration it
was attacked by LTTE and 11 Indian soldiers were killed.” [ibid].

Therefore, the selective regurgitation of past events and failure to mention

and analyze a serious assassination attempt made on Rajiv Gandhi, by the
Sinhalese elements in the Sri Lankan armed forces, in the Supreme Court
verdict creates a credibility gap on the erudition of Indian judicial
authorities.

RAW-JVP link
“Even though the JVP of the 1980s and the early 1990s is perceived as
an anti-India force, RAW kept in close touch with the JVP leadership
after Wijeweera’s death [Note by Sri Kantha: which occurred on
Nov.13, 1989, during Premadasa’s presidency.] RAW sources… stated
that it was a tactical necessity. RAW acknowledged that they had
established significant links with the JVP. An Indian diplomat Gurjit
Singh who had established close connections with the JVP, told the
author [i.e., Gunaratna] that the JVP slogan was ‘We are not against
Indians but against India.’ Subsequently over 400 JVP activists, who
were being hunted down in Sri Lanka, were given accommodation in
state run/assisted camps in South India. Subsequently Somawansa
Amarasinghe, the new leader of the JVP received sanctuary in India.
These developments also reflected RAW’s dual policy vis-à-vis Sri
Lanka.” [Book: Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka, 1993, pp.339-340]

3 of 7 12/15/2008 11:30 AM
The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon Part 33 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part33.htm

If one believes this ménage a trois [Premadasa, JVP and India’s RAW],
which prevailed from 1987 to 1993, one can comprehend the assassinations
of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Premadasa in 1993 as the first one precipitated
by Premadasa and the second one as a revenge act masterminded by the
RAW team. It cannot be denied that the LTTE also had links with RAW and
Premadasa. But one should also note that Pirabhakaran retuned to Eelam in
January 1987 to free himself from the tentacles of the RAW. The links
between Premadasa and LTTE were of short-term duration [mainly lasting a
little more than an year during1989-90 and tactical in nature].

Observations of Rajeev Sharma

On Premadasa’s plausible connections to Rajiv Gandhi assassination, I will
present excerpts from the book, Beyond the Tigers (1998), authored by
Rajeev Sharma, an Indian journalist. Chapter 10 of this book, entitled ‘The
Foreign Hand’, focuses on Premadasa’s role and the Israel’s foreign
intelligence agency Mossad’s involvement in South Asian politics. Rajeev
Sharma also highlights the path taken by the SIT officials with a statement,
“Several important leads were obtained by the SIT, but for some
inexplicable reason, these were not pursued to their logical conclusion.”
[p.171] Now to two lengthy excerpts from this chapter.
“There are two ways of looking at the Premadasa imbroglio. One,
Premadasa took his political hatred towards Rajiv to the macabre
conclusion of plotting the Indian leader’s assassination. And once the
objective of eliminating Rajiv was achieved, Premadasa himself was
bumped off in a typical LTTE style of eliminating the man who knew
too much. This theory seems probable with the assertion of
J.Ranganath, sentenced to death by the trial court for sheltering Rajiv’s
assassins, Sivarasan and Subha. [Note by Sri Kantha: Sharma’s book
was released in 1998, when Ranganath’s status was pending before the
Supreme Court appeal. In May 1999, the Supreme Court acquitted
Ranganath.]
Ranganath, who filed an affidavit before the Jain commission accusing
the CBI of holding key facts and shielding several culprits, said in an
interview to Outlook (December 8, 1997) that Sivarasan ‘wanted to go
abroad directly from Bangalore’. Sivarasan feared that he might be
killed if he were to go back to Jaffna, Ranganath told the magazine. He
also said Sivarasan,who regarded controversial Tantrik Chandraswami
as his ‘godfather’, would arrange safe passage for the one-eyed Jack.
Unfortunately, the Jain Commission did not launch any investigation of
its own into these allegations. The Commission did not even take
cognizance of Ranganath’s affidavit.
The second possible theory about Premadasa’s role could be that he

4 of 7 12/15/2008 11:30 AM
The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon Part 33 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part33.htm

got Rajiv assassinated through former LTTE cadres, and then blamed
the Tigers. With this masterly move, according to this theory,
Premadasa killed two birds with one stone: a political adversary in a
much bigger neighbouring country was removed from the scene, and
the all-important foreign support base (Tamil Nadu) of enemy at home
(the LTTE), smashed for years to come. This may be a good enough
reason for the LTTE to eliminate Premadasa. Ironically, Premadasa
died in a shockingly similar manner as Rajiv.” [Book: Beyond the
Tigers, 1998, pp. 181-182]

Ten pages later, in the same chapter, Rajeev Sharma reinforced the
shortcomings of SIT’s investigational strategy. To quote,

“All through, the SIT pursued a single lead – the LTTE involvement in
Rajiv’s assassination. But was it so? Was LTTE so short-sighted so as
to invite India’s wrath and lose its only safe haven outside Sri Lanka –
Tamil Nadu – as eventually happened?

The LTTE, on the other hand, would favour a strong leader in New
Delhi to provide it much needed international backing and funds. The
meeting of LTTE emissaries like Kasi Anandan and London-based
sympathizer, Sitambalam, with Rajiv Gandhi, viewed in this context,
are not at all surprising. These two men were reportedly negotiating
with Rajiv in order to solicit his support for the LTTE. There is no
report to suggest that Rajiv was showing the door to the LTTE.
And the investigators took the Rajiv–LTTE parleys as a smokescreen
on the part of the Tigers to hide their true intent and lull their target
into a false sense of complacency. Who gained, or could have gained,
from Rajiv’s murder? Obviously, Sri Lanka government was the direct
and the immediate beneficiary. Sri Lanka stood to gain if Rajiv, who
was tipped to return to power, were to be removed from the scene. It
helped to create chaos in India and kept a giant weak. It also prevented
the new prime minister from trusting the LTTE.
Colombo had its own vested interests in the whole affair. If it could be
definitely fixed that the LTTE was in some way involved, nobody
would stand to benefit more than Colombo as its main adversary, the
LTTE, would then lose the sanctuary in Tamil Nadu that kept it alive
during the most difficult periods. And precisely this happened.
The fortuitous finding of Hari Babu’s loaded camera from the
assassination site with tell-tale photographs would not look all that
chancy if one looks at the whole affair from this angle.” [Book: Beyond
the Tigers, 1998, pp.191-192]

Observations of Vijay Karan

5 of 7 12/15/2008 11:30 AM
The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon Part 33 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part33.htm

To Rajeev Sharma’s book, Beyond the Tigers, India’s ex-CBI director Vijay
Karan (during whose tenure the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi happened)
had written a 7-page Foreword. Some of Karan’s vital observations deserve
reproduction, since he was in charge of the immediate inquiry process which
followed the assassination. Though he do not confirm the inferences and
conjectures made by Rajeev Sharma outrightly, Vijay Karan also had
highlighted with under-statements quite a number of gray areas which riddle
the assassination. I reproduce two paragraphs from Vijay Karan’s
reminiscences.

“On May 30 [1991], I flew to Colombo with S.K.Datta and Kartikeyan,

looking for clues, but still not sure that the LTTE had done it or that
Sivarasan and Dhanu were LTTE operatives. All the Sri Lankan agencies
who could help us opened their doors to us, more than ready to help. But
none of the Sri Lankan intelligence or investigative agencies could throw
any light on whether the LTTE had actually committed the deed or on the
identity of the two persons in the Hari Babu pictures. We were loaded with
conjectures and presumptions, but nothing really of tantalizing use, except
one clue.

We had been five days in Colombo and everyone was getting restive in
Delhi. What’s new, I was repeatedly asked every day. Eventually, I was
told to return to Delhi and brief the government on the progress of the
investigation. On my last day in Colombo, we got the information,
provided by a leader of a Tamil outfit other than the LTTE [Note by
Sri Kantha: It would be interesting to guess, who would have been this
non-LTTE leader?] that the man in one of Hari Babu’s pictures was
one-eyed and that his name was Pakyaraj. It was in fact one of so many
leads and conjectures that we did not know what to make of it. Leaving
behind Datta and Kartikeyan in Colombo, I flew to Madras late in the
evening. The entire SIT was there at the airport to meet me… I was
told that the investigation in Madras had shown that the unidentified
man of the Hari Babu photographs was a one-eyed LTTE operative
called Shivraj Master.” [Book: Beyond the Tigers by Rajeev Sharma,
1998, Foreword]

Vijay Karan also indicated in his foreword, “By June 12 [1991], Nalini, her
mother, her brother and her LTTE boyfriend [referring to Murugan] had
been arrested. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.” Is this a minor slip of
memory for Vijay Karan in 1998? The 1999 Supreme Court verdict of
Justice Wadhwa records, Nalini and her husband Murugan were arrested on
June 14, 1991. This contradiction in the date of arrests is not insignificant, I
believe.

Vijay Karan had also noted cryptically, “When we were in Colombo in the

6 of 7 12/15/2008 11:30 AM
The Pirabhakaran Phenomenon Part 33 http://www.sangam.org/PIRABAKARAN/Part33.htm

first week of June 1991, we were told in whispers by various persons that
Premadasa could be behind it. There is a lot of difference between could be
and is. I am not trying to say that there was no larger conspiracy.”

The subtle use of double negatives in the last sentence, coming from the
then Director of the CBI who led the Rajiv assassination inquiries has some
significance. Unfortunately, Vijay Karan also has hidden his Colombo
sources with the phrase ‘whispers by various persons’. Were they Sinhalese?
Or were they Tamils? Were they politicians? Or were they law enforcement
personnel?

To summarise the Sinhalese angle of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination,

journalist Rajeev Sharma has presented two theories. One is ‘Premadasa did
it in collusion with LTTE’. The other is ‘Premadasa did it and pointed the
fingers at LTTE, who in vengeance assassinated Premadasa two years later in
the similar fashion.’ Subramanian Swamy, an ardent apologist for Israel and
Mossad in India, in his 2000 book on Rajiv Gandhi assassination, presents
his angle with a variant of Rajeev Sharma’s first theory: that is, ‘Premadasa
and Pirabhakaran jointly did it to eliminate their common adversary.’ But
Swamy’s track record on serious matters have as much credibility as Nixon’s
on integrity. [Continued]

7 of 7 12/15/2008 11:30 AM