(This is a letter written by a US Sikh to friend. It echoes the Sentiments of many people Ed) Dear friend,

Sat Sri Akal. Thanks you for the letter in memory of Rajiv Gandhi. In death, all controversy is muted. Prayers are for the peace of the departed soul, and sympathy for the bereaved family. I agree with your other comments regarding non-violence, democratic ideals, Removal of any barriers in our hearts, and substitution of love in all our dealings. I hope and pray that people try to live up to them. However, I have some thoughts and questions which come to mind. I will appreciate any response you might have.

  1. Who was this Sri Lankan Tamil woman? Did she lose her own brothers or sons or she represented the loss and anguish of her people? Will she be the Bhagat Singh of her people?
  2. Why did the Sri Lankan government not give autonomy or freedom to the Tamils of their land?
  3. Why did the Indian Authorities train Sri Lankan Tamil guerillas?
  4. Why did Rajiv Gandhi send in the Indian army to Sri Lanka? Why not the United Nations? What happened to the principles of Panch Sheel? Was he acting as the new kid on the block?
  5. Is not the life of this woman or the countless dead she represented as precious as the life of Rajiv? Why no words of sympathy were uttered for those dead or bereaved? I believe that in God’s eyes, the Poor and the Nameless carry as much weight as the Rich and Famous.
  6. Is it possible that in mysterious ways incomprehensible to us, the anguished cry of the people in Punjab added resonance to similar cries of the Sri Lankan Tamils, and God heard those cries and sent this simple woman to deny further opportunity to this immature, ignorant, perhaps well-meaning youth, catapulted foolishly to power by his ambitious mother, to perpetrate further crimes against same or other peoples? Why did he leave his Airline pilot’s job anyway? Did he not know that pursuit of power is a high-reward, high-risk game? In any case, removal of dynastic domination of the people’s democracy in India should not be unwelcome even though the gruesome way it came about is to be deplored.
  7. unless we search our hearts and raise our voices in defense of Truth, there will be no peace or non-violence in this world.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 12, 1991