THUPPAHI darkens our entry into The YEAR 2021 and its Cumulus Cloud of COVID with two pictorial memories of two horrendous acts of political assassination by Pirapaharan and the Tamil Tigers ….. that of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Neelan Tiruchelvam in 1999 …. with the roadside memorial painting at the junction of Rosmead Place and Kynsey Terrace where the LTTE’s female suicide killer ended Neelan’s life on earth (as he headed for his office) marking the moment …. albeit in temporary modality …. WHILE conveying an everlasting message.
SEE Michael Roberts, “Killing Rajiv Gandhi: Dhanu’s sacrificial metamorphosis in death,” South Asian History and Culture, Vol. 1, No. 1, January 2010, 25–41
Kokilavanni, Dhanu (the assassin) …. and Sivarasan (the operational mastermind) await the moment for thier strike …. AND … in Hari Babu’s last camera shot we see Dhanu approaching Rajiv Gandhi behind Kokilavani
Haribabu had been hired by Sivarasan to take photographs of their operation and was probably unaware of the intent. He died in the blast activated by Dhanu as she bowed in pretended worship before Rajiv Gandhi. Full details can be gathered from the excellent account of the investigation in DR Kaarthikeyen & R Raju, The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination, The Investigation, Slough, New Dawn Press, 1994.
