They believed forgiveness was better than answering violence with more violence.

 


The Assassination and the Call for Mercy: This concerns the tragic killing of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the moral and legal choices faced by his widow, Sonia Gandhi.  

Key Facts  

- The Assassination: Rajiv Gandhi was killed on 21 May 1991 in Sriperumbudur, near Madras (now Chennai), by a suicide bomber linked to the LTTE during an election rally.  

- The Trial: After years of investigation, several conspirators were convicted. In 1998, the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence for four of them.  

- Nalini’s Case: Nalini Sriharan, part of the conspiracy, was arrested while pregnant and gave birth in prison. Her role as a mother became central in later appeals for mercy.  

- Sonia Gandhi’s Stand: Despite her grief, Sonia Gandhi and her children, Rahul and Priyanka, asked that the death sentences be reduced to life imprisonment. They believed forgiveness was better than answering violence with more violence.  

- Outcome: Over time, appeals were accepted, and the death sentences were changed to life imprisonment.  

Nalini was released in2022 after serving 30 years in jail now residing in chennai.

An Imaginary Letter of Forgiveness

(In the spirit of what Sonia Gandhi might have written during the mercy plea process)  

New Delhi  

15 May 1999  


My dear fellow citizen,  

I write to you with a heart that has suffered great sorrow, yet now seeks the strength that comes from compassion.  

Eight years ago, in Tamil Nadu, my husband Rajiv Gandhi was taken from us in a cruel act of hatred. That moment robbed me of my life’s companion, left my children without their father, and wounded our nation deeply.  

The courts have finished their work, and the Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence for some of those involved. Many expect me, as his widow, to demand the same punishment—to ask for ‘an eye for an eye.’  

But in the quiet of many nights, I have remembered what Rajiv believed: hatred cannot heal hatred, and violence only creates deeper wounds.  

I cannot fully understand what led these people to such darkness. But I do know that our country must rise above revenge. If we let vengeance harden our hearts, then those who killed Rajiv will have won twice.  

After speaking with my children, Rahul and Priyanka, we have chosen the harder path—the path of forgiveness.  

So I appeal to the President of India, to the Government, and to all my fellow citizens: show mercy. Commute the death sentences to life imprisonment. Not because the crime was small—it was immense—but because our compassion must be greater than the hatred that tried to destroy us.  

Rajiv always taught that India should turn even its deepest pain into greater humanity. In his memory, I make this plea today.  

May God give us the courage to choose life over death, and reconciliation over revenge.  

With sorrow, yet with hope,  

Sonia Gandhi  




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