New Delhi:
Today marks the 34th death anniversary of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated on May 21, 1991. On this solemn day, let’s revisit the tragic events that led to his death and the reasons behind the conspiracy. Let’s start from the beginning — with his rise to power. After the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her own bodyguards in 1984, her son Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India by President Giani Zail Singh. At just 40 years old, he became the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the country.
The rise of LTTE
Around the same time, in 1976, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was founded by Velupillai Prabhakaran. The group aimed to establish an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka and to resist the oppression of the Tamil people there. It is said that initially the LTTE enjoyed sympathy and support from India, especially during Indira Gandhi’s tenure, when Indian intelligence reportedly provided training and aid to Tamil rebel factions.
Assassination. Rajiv Gandhi’s last public meeting was on 21 May 1991, at Sriperumbudur, a village approximately 40 km (25 miles) from Madras (present-day Chennai), where he was assassinated while campaigning for the Sriperumbudur Lok Sabha Congress candidate
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