The story behind the assassination!

The Hunt (2025)
The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case (Miniseries)S1; E1-E7
Director: Nagesh Kukunoor

https://www.sonyliv.com/shows/the-hunt-the-rajiv-gandhi-
assassination-case-1790006628/episodes

This police procedural drama reconstructs events following the assassination of India's former Prime Minister in 1991, when he was campaigning for his next election. In what is likely the first recorded case of a suicide bomber in human history, a bomber strapped with RDX explosives detonated herself while garlanding her intended victim, the Congress party's candidate for Prime Minister. Aside from kamikaze bombers, this may have been the first time the world encountered the concept of suicide bombing.

Prince Vijaya, expelled from the Vanga Kingdom in present-day Bengal, is believed to be the ancestor of the Sinhalese people. He occupied Lanka to establish the Sinhala kingdom in 543 BCE. The original inhabitants before his arrival were hunter-gatherers, Yakkas, and Nagas. The Tamils began to appear around the 2nd century BCE. South Indian kingdoms such as the Cholas and Pandyas invaded parts of the northern and eastern regions of the island. The British brought a second wave of Tamils to cultivate tea and coffee. Alongside the British, missionaries arrived. The Americans started building churches in the northern Tamil regions, while the British occupied the southern Sinhalese areas. They aimed to introduce 'culture' to the locals through education, but their focus differed. The Americans valued science and technology, whereas the British emphasised arts-related subjects. When it came to establishing their place in the modern world, the Tamils proved to be more marketable and prospered. This disparity in educational and economic status became evident when Sri Lanka gained independence. The newly formed government, dominated by the majority, repeatedly attempted to change the status quo. New affirmative actions were introduced to reduce Tamil dominance. The Sinhala language was emphasised, and a quota system was implemented for university entrance. The Tamils retaliated, eventually leading to a civil war with groups like the LTTE taking up arms to demand their homeland, Tamil Eelam.

Rajiv Gandhi

The ruling government responded with reciprocal actions that led to a mass migration of the Tamil population and employed genocidal tactics that lured fleeing individuals into a supposed safe haven before systematically destroying them. Bodies of tortured dissidents are still being uncovered today and identified to provide closure for families, even as we speak.

By 1991, the Tamil separatist movement, led by Velupillai Prabakaran, was particularly angry with India for deploying a peacekeeping force (the Indian Peacekeeping Force, IPKF) to manage the situation in Sri Lanka. It is claimed that between 1987 and 1990, the IPKF colluded with various groups and was involved in human rights abuses, working closely with the Sri Lankan Army (vis-à-vis the Sinhalese people) to commit atrocities against the Tamil population. As a result, the LTTE developed grievances against the Central Indian Government. Their kin across the Palk Straits, who share ethnic roots, generally supported the LTTE's struggle. They offered a safe haven and even supplied expertise, funding, and moral backing to their cause. The politicians of Tamil Nadu promoted the idea that the conflict in Sri Lanka was akin to a clash between Northern and Southern India, since the ancestors of the Sinhalese were from Bengal (North). This kind of division suited their Dravidian political stance. 

The two years before this were turbulent for Indian politics. After the collapse of previous elected governments, the Congress Party, led by Rajiv Gandhi, believed the next election in 1991 was theirs to win. Filled with hope, he made a last-minute campaign visit to Sriperumbudur to support a local candidate. However, the LTTE network, with its local sympathisers, seized the opportunity to eliminate Rajiv Gandhi.

Tamil Nadu intelligence advised Rajiv Gandhi against coming to Madras (Chennai), as their sources sensed a threat and warned him of potential danger to his life. As if the universe was warning him, his helicopter in Visakhapatnam experienced radio troubles and nearly could not be cleared to fly. Gandhi arrived at the campaign late into the night, past 10 pm, to an excited crowd waiting to welcome him. 

A vigilant policewoman noticed a young lady approaching the VIPs too closely, carrying a garland, and tried to shoo her away. As fate would have it, Gandhi signalled the policewoman and uttered his last words, "Don't worry. Relax." The lady placed the garland over his neck, bowed to touch his feet, and pressed the lever to activate the RDX bomb. 

The core of this police procedural series centres on how a quickly assembled multi-agency Special Investigative Team uncovers the mystery behind the bombing. With no leads except for a camera holding a roll of film, the team embarks on a chaotic chase across the countryside against a non-cooperative local population to find the former Prime Minister's killers. Within 90 days, they succeed in identifying the mastermind behind the attack, but not before leaving a trail of cyanide-swallowing suicidal members of the LTTE.

I believe the miniseries provides a fair and accurate depiction of the facts. It moves at a brisk pace. The conversations alternate between Tamil, Hindi, and English. There are no melodramatic elements. The facts are presented as they are, without any biased undertones. 

P.S. Seven of those involved were ultimately imprisoned for the killing. Two of the masterminds were initially sentenced to death but later had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment. In 2022, after three decades behind bars, the seven were released on good behaviour, though the decision was still controversial. Rajiv's children, Rahul, the Opposition leader, and sister Priyanka, engaged in a one-to-one discussion with Nalini, one of those originally sentenced to death. They said they had forgiven their father's killers. The Tamil Nadu Government also campaigned for their release.

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The lonely road to success?

Le Samourai (The Samurai; 1967)

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

The film title card starts with a fabricated quote from Bushido, the moral code of the samurai. It says, "There is no greater solitude than that of the samurai, unless it is that of the tiger in the jungle… perhaps". Miyamoto Musashi, probably Japan's foremost samurai swordsman of the late 16th century, is said to have said this, among other things. He describes the solitary path to success as being filled with loneliness. Solitude accompanies the path to success. He further goes on to say, in one of the books that he had written, that solitude shapes, moulds, and builds character all along our journey to success.

Does this go against the grain of what we have been taught? We had been told that we are social animals and that a man is not an island. Social interaction is essential for mental health, and a child turns out to be developmentally stunted without the tactile stimulation of his loved ones.

On the other hand, we know how lousy companies and wrong associations often derail our ambitions to attain greater heights. There is a reason why high-level athletes and sportsmen train in isolation before a major event. In the same vein, I suppose seekers of greater knowledge should focus on the quest rather than be swayed by the white noise surrounding them. Is this the detachment Buddha mentions in his teachings, with attachment being the root of all misery?

In the Samurai code, there are guidelines that they have to follow. Their allegiance and loyalty are laid out clearly. His loyalty to his Lord is paramount. But when a samurai loses his master, he drifts around aimlessly like a leaf on moving water, swaying at random to forces of nature. Yet, he is still alone but without any direction in life, clutching on straws for direction and strength. 

'Le Samourai' is a classic French noir that stood the test of time. Combining the elements of art in filmmaking while maintaining its suspense in storytelling, it narrates the tale of a paid assassin who works alone. He laboriously details his every job to perfection. His last job, even though successful, hits a snag. He had been targeted as a possible suspect by the French police. The hiring party, naturally, gets hot under their collar. 

The assassin now has to run to save his own skin, not only from the police who want to pin him down but also from his hirers, who would rather have him eliminated than squeal to the police for their involvement. The assassin, now no longer a samurai but a ronin, has to use his survival skills and judgement to be alive. The silver lining of all is that there is a pretty pianist who was an eyewitness to the murder and can identify the killer but prefers to stay mum. 

It's a good watch—4.3/5—and one of Alain Delon's best movies, which skyrocketed him to the international market.

P.S. Freud and Nietzsche found wisdom through silence found in nature walks and roaming the wilderness. Hardcore criminals are placed in solitary confinement, hoping that they will find meaning of life through self-reflection. Unfortunately, this approach of living in a silo may not be applicable to all. Men of the robe have to flaunt the gift of their gab to showcase themselves as the saviours of mankind. Politicians meet an audience to cheat them blind. Businessmen need people interaction to patronise their premises. Solitude brings these people nothing.

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Deep down we want some masala!

Amar Singh Chakila (Hindi, Punjabi; 2024)

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Whilst self-proclaimed intellectually minded individuals peruse the internet for minute-to-minute updates on the situation in Gaza, the masses are pretty contented sneaking into the WhatsApp communication between Aliff Aziz and Ruhainies, the latest two-timing pair of the Malaysian showbiz scene. Netizens feel for the wounded wife, Bella Astillah, who used to be Ruhainies' bosom buddy. 

Neither party, the 'intellectuals' or the regular people, can do anything to change the trajectory of the event. In no way do these events bring them their bread or make their lives more fruitful. But it allows the masses to divert their attention from their mundane lives. They do not want their lives to be complicated, but they find solace in finding how much muck goes on in people's lives. And how virtuous is theirs, until, of course, the readers' own story becomes the topic of the day…

Look around us at regions ruled by regimes which promote religion as their bedrock of creating a 'sinless' society. Paradoxically the regions turn out to be the ones with the most subscribers of Porn Hub, of rape, drug abuse, incest and domestic disharmony. 

My Malaysian Punjabi friends had not heard of this singer until this movie was shown on Netflix. Sure, they had heard that many Punjabi singers get killed, promote gun violence, and are misogynistic and vulgar, but somehow, Chamkila missed their radar. Now they know that he was once the highest-selling musician in Punjab and was even more popular than Amitabh Bachchan. Someone even referred to him as the 'Elvis of Punjab'. Sadly, he was gunned down while arriving for a show. He joined the now famous 'Club 27' - the talented musicians who conspicuously died at 27 - Cobain, Winehouse, Morrison, Hendrix and more. This was in the 80's.

Chamkila's story was that his songs were liked by the majority but no moral guardians of society. The moral guardians felt that Chamkila's vulgar, immoral song lyrics were not what the public wanted to hear. Funny, if that is not what the public wants to hear, how come his records are the highest grossers?

Chamila is not even his surname. It was given or maybe mispronounced by the introducer. Amar Singh started life in a lowly Dalit family, growing up in feuding families amidst a rather 'not-so-refined' neighbourhood. Caught in an unsatisfying job making socks, he composed songs to the tune of his musical instrument, the tumbi, during his free time.

A singer, Jinda, picked up his talent, and Amar Singh started writing songs for him. When Jinda failed to appear on time at one of his shows, Amar Singh had to fill in. The audience was so taken up by his rendition that they did not want Jinda when he eventually appeared later. Amar's singing career started then. After partnering with a few female singers, he stuck with Amorjit.

Amar and Amorjit became romantically linked. They got married. Only later did Amorjit find out that Amar was already married before.

The duo found success after success. Appointments were pouring from villages, towns and even overseas. There were criticisms regarding their overtly vulgar lyrics and crass tone of songs, but the money that came with the shows seemed to sanitise everything. When Amar's father got furious seeing that Amar had cropped his hair, his anger simmered down when Amar presented him with a stack of cash he earned singing. When his first wife and family got crossed when they discovered his clandestine marriage to Amorjit, everything was squashed with a promise of fat alimony and compensation.

Things became complicated when the Sikh elders and Kahalistani members accused him of corrupting the youth. Amar then started writing devotional songs and the call for freedom. The police construed these as dog whistles for the general public to rise up to the call of the Kahalistani movement. After all, this was the heady time after Indra Gandhi's assassination and national discontent with the Sikhs. Chamkila was confused. When the police and the religious people forbade him to sing his songs, the general public wanted more and more of his songs with raunchy lines about peeping toms and promiscuous MILFs. 

There was a strong suspicion that Khalistani hitmen killed Amar Singh Chamkila and Amorjit as they were getting down from their car for a performance at a small village on 8th March 1988, but nothing was proven. The killers are still at large.

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Death can be a satire?

A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Author: Mohammed Hanif

On 17th August 1988, President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan was killed in an aircraft crash. Perishing together with him on the Hercules C-130 military aircraft were the President’s close assistant Akhtar Abdur Rehman, American diplomat Arnold Lewis Raphel and 27 others.

In the rest of the world, a country owns an army. In Pakistan, however, its Army own the country. In 1976, Prime Minister Bhutto elevated ul-Haq to a full general. One year later, he deposed Bhutto and declared martial law. Bhutto was hanged for treason.

Ul-Haq’s 11-year tenure as the Supremo saw him announce Pakistan as a nuclear nation, aided Afghanistan to fight the Soviets and secured himself as a prominent Islamist leader. In a way, he was instrumental in making Pakistan a theocratic country and the rise of global Islamic terrorism.

The crash was extensively investigated by many quarters, but nothing was conclusive. The possible theories range from aircraft failure, as the C-130 was notoriously famous for faulty equipment, to sabotage by Americans, Soviets, Mossad, the Pakistani Army, and even Bhutto’s dependents.

Mohamad Hanif, the author of this book and the head of BBC Urdu service, was consumed by the crash. The interviews he conducted did not reveal much. The aircraft did carry mangoes. A rope was found among the debris. Someone suggested the possibility of explosives in mango seeds and the usage of poisonous gas to incapacitate the pilots as the craft plunged head down suddenly.

In most countries, too, something so sombre, like the death of a leader, is not sneered upon. This rule may not apply to Pakistan. Because of the restriction of freedom of speech, Pakistanis have volumes of jokes about their leaders. Every other day, even its immediate neighbour finds pleasure in mocking Pakistan. So, it is not surprising to read the humorous narration of the moments before Zia-ul-Haq’s demise in this light-hearted satire.

Even though the exact cause of the crash is not explained and the real perpetrators of the accident are not told, it seems like everyone had a burning desire to see the President die - the Pakistani Army, a Trade Union leader, the curse of the imprisoned blind gang-rape victim or a disgruntled soldier whose father was killed by Zia. A crow, possibly intoxicated by the nectar of the sweet Pakistani mango, may have a hand in it, too. The aircraft also carried such a heavy load of mangoes, so aromatic that it filled the whole vessel that the air conditioning need not be switched on. VX gas filled the machine when it was switched on later, and we know what happened next.

(Dedicated to RK, a Pakistani-Hindu from the Sindh Province, who paints a rather rosy image of his Motherland contrary to the perception of the rest of the world.)

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It is the suspense!

The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Director: Fred Zinnemann

It is like watching a sitcom re-run or a delayed telecast of a football game of which you already know the result. This movie describes an assassination attempt on President De Gaulle's life. History buffs would already know that is not how he died, and the attempt failed. Nevertheless, the excitement and anticipation of how the plan was foiled kept the suspense going.

Charles de Gaulle became the President of France in 1958 when France had just lost one of their most profitable colonies in the East, Indochina. When the Battle of Algiers reached its peak, De Gaulle discussed the self-administration of Algeria with the guerillas. Subsequently, Algeria became independent, and many Frenchmen were expelled. Under the umbrella organisation OAS, sympathisers of French Imperialism and the military forces decided that De Gaulle had to go.  

In October 1962, in a failed assassination, De Gaulle escaped a rain of 150 bullets that rained over 7 seconds into a Saab car, ferrying him from a conference. The organiser of that crime was apprehended and executed later. That was where Frederick Forsyth's fictional account of another attempt at knocking off De Gaulle began in his 1971 novel.

In the novel, the vestigial members of OAS, now in hiding, hire an unknown assassin from the UK, possibly, to assassinate the French President. The rest of the story is about how the French Police try to identify, pin down and save De Gaulle, who has no inclination to stay away from public image despite the threat.

It is interesting to see how forgery was done, and police manually went through file after file to look for criminals in the pre-computer era. Still, work got done, and crooks got nabbed. This police procedural drama keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, not because they do not know the endeavour will fail but wanting to know how the police foiled the plan and where it went wrong.

Interestingly there is another assassin, this time a flamboyant Venezuelan communist militant, who was linked to many terrorist attacks around the world in the 1970s and 80s. Because he was a South American, he was nicknamed Carlos. During an exploration of one of his hideouts, a copy of Frederick Forsyth's 'The Day of the Jackal' was found. Henceforth, he was referred to as 'Carlos the Jackal'.

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Hey Ram!

Nine Hours to Rama (1963)

Director: Mark Robson

This movie is based on a novel of the same name written by Stanley Wolpert. Both the book and the film were banned in India when they came out. Nehru and his government at that time thought that the story created a human out of Godse, justified his crime and did not give enough dignity to Gandhi. This was even discussed at the Rajya Saba level.

Throughout our childhood, my sisters and I could not help but see an imposing statue of Gandhi in our living room. My mother had bought it from a Thaipusam fair to remind her kids to be a person who brings glory to family and nation. At that tender impressionable age, we took in all my mother's Gandhi stories of his tenacity and eloquence. We were reminded of his vow to his mother to stay vegetarian upon boarding the steamship to England, the land of beef eaters and gin. And staying true to his word, he allegedly stayed vegan, this Mahatma (great soul).

Alas, when we grew, one by one, the onion peeled skin by skin to reveal that perhaps the story is more layered than it was thought to be. Probably the one thing that Gandhi managed to do in this land with hundreds of languages, scripts and personalities is to be a unifying icon. Under the excellent strategy of 'divide and rule' by the tyrannical British, he led the nation under one banner for the first time. This process, however, was marred by many incidences that seemed to favour one particular set of social and selected leaders.

Gandhi seems to go all out to appease the Muslim minority in the eye of the majority. He helped to start the Khalifat movement in India in solidarity with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He fasted whenever riots broke out without ever condemning the actions of rabble-rousers, especially when they involved Muslims. In retrospect, his non-violence stance of opposing is said to have delayed independence by decades. In the end, it was the stern rebuttal by the Indian National Army (INA) and the mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy that did the trick. By all accounts, Gandhi did not want India to be an independent nation. He wanted India to be a British Dominion, much like Australia and Canada, with the British monarch as the Head. The British, of course, were not keen to treat the brown-skinned subjects as equals.

Gandhi's actions (or inactions) are solely blamed for the Partition of the country and all its miseries and heartbreaks. Gandhi's extra-political activities also raised eyebrows. His experimentations with celibacy would be considered criminal in this age and time.

Still, my Amma thinks she had done the correct thing in that Thaipusam fair when she purchased that Gandhi statue. She still thinks it must have inspired us. By the by, she also bought a Nehru figurine to complement Gandhi. Of course, she does not know of Nehru's tryst, not with destiny, but also with Lady Edwina Mountbatten. Let her have her peace.

This 1963 Hollywood production narrates the nine hours that passed between Godse reaching Delhi railway station and Gandhi collapsing after a gunshot in the compounds of Birla House, sighing 'Hey Ram'. It used a predominantly brown-faced white cast with a smattering of local crew.

It took the liberty to fictionalise Godse. He turned against Gandhi after being rejected by the British Army for being a Brahmin. He blamed Gandhi for his father's and wife's death. They both died in racial riots. In real life, Godse never married. Here he was married off to a child bride, fell in love with a married socialite and engaged with prostitutes.


P.S. There is a 2022 Telegu film with the name Godse. It has nothing to do with Nathuram Godse and Gandhi's assassination. Here, a prosperous Indian American industrialist decides to pay back to the country he grew up. He decides to invest in India. He soon realises that the memorandums signed to start industries do not actually go towards the betterment of India but are circulated amongst the inner circles of politicians. Like Godse, who went against a system that carved up his Bharat Mata, in this film, Visvanath, goes on a crusade to expose the corrupt political system.

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Remembering Jallianwala Bagh massacre...

Sardar Udham (Hindi; 2021)
Director: Shoojit Sircar

One always wonders how a cult started by a group of semi-literate fishermen at the fringe of the Roman Empire by the Sea of Galilee could eventually grow up to impress the whole of the Empire, including its rulers. This rebel's rhetorics soon triggered justified wars and legitimised usurping of lands to claim their hegemony. The belief system garnered potential believers because it targeted the oppressed or the persecuted. The marginalised and the dying were given the dignity to exist with others on Earth. In return, the converts were willing to trade in their lives (or, in their words, sell their soul) for the religion. Yes, martyrdom played an essential role in recruiting more new members. 

As India goes on a spree to rewrite its national history, more and more heroes of yesteryears come to the fore. Sardar Udham Singh (@ Sher Singh @ Ram Mohammad Singh Azad) is one such example. He had been conferred the title Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh, the great martyr, after Indian Independence to honour him as one of the freedom fighters in India's war of Independence. He is credited for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former Lt Governor of Punjab who gave orders to Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer to open fire on a crowd of 20,000 inside Jallianwala Bagh, an enclosed park, in 1919. These people congregated in an enclosed garden near the Golden Temple in Amritsar to celebrate Vaisakhi, at the same time, to express their protest against the British colonial masters for arresting Congress Party's satyagraha proponents, Satya Pal and Saifuddin Kitchlew. The congregants were accused of violating the law, which banned any assembly of more than four people.

Udham Singh

Udham Singh from an orphanage, himself a late teenager, was witness to the brutal assault at Jallianwala Bagh. Deeply traumatised by the whole event, he joined the movements of the masses to oust mighty Britain from their country. He, a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Movement, made it his life mission to assassinate the perpetrators of the killings at Jallianwala Bagh. The army shot at the unarmed civilians not to warn them but on a mission to kill. They hit till their enormous cache of bullets ran out.

Udham Singh was running away from the British Imperial Police all his life. He crept out of India, through Germany and Russia and finally sneaked into England. His revolutionary activities were influenced by Bhagat Singh and the Gaddarites, the overseas Indians who supported India's quest for self-rule. 

21 years after the incident at Jallianwala Bagh, Udham Singh shot Michael O'Dwyer in cold blood after he delivered a lecture in London. This film gives a rundown account of this whole saga, spending a lot of time on the aftermath of the shooting and death at Jallianwala Bagh.

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