‘We are victims, not terrorists or killers’: Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict RP Ravichandran after release

The Supreme Court, in a bold decision, decided to release all six convicts in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The six convicts had remained in jail for over 30 years and were sentenced to death by the court previously.

After his release after 31 years in prison, RP Ravichandran, who was accused of being a part of the conspiracy that killed Rajiv Gandhi, said that he should not be viewed as a terrorist or a killer, but rather a “victim” and that time will judge the convicts as “innocents”.

Speaking to ANI after his release from Madurai Central Prison, Ravichandran said, "The people of north India should see us as victims instead of terrorists or killers. Time and power determine who is a terrorist or a freedom fighter but time will judge us as innocent, even if we bear the blame for being terrorists."

Nalini Sriharan and Ravichandran had approached the Supreme Court seeking release from prison in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, similar to the release granted to fellow convict AG Perarivalan earlier this year.

After her release, Nalini Sriharan, who was the sole survivor of the five-member squad which was responsible for the blast that killed ex-PM Rajiv Gandhi, said that she had no plans of meeting the Gandhis after her release from jail after 31 years.

“I am not planning to meet anyone from the Gandhi family. We are under the case. There is no possibility of me meeting them,” she said. Sriharan further thanked the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre for the assistance, which led to the release of the convicts.

"Our judges know everything. They have studied our case. They know what is wrong and what is correct and what they can do, they have done it," she said, as per ANI reports.

Former PM Rajiv Gandhi was killed by LTTE operatives in Sriperumbudur in 1991 during the general election campaign by a suicide bomber named Dhanu. Sri Lanka's Tamil militia feared Gandhi might send back the peace-keeping force should he return to power.

(With ANI inputs)

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