Headlines
Declassify files related to Lal Bahadur Shastri's death, demands son
New Delhi, Sep 26
Claiming that prime minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri, who died in Tashkent after signing a peace pact
with Pakistan, could have been murdered, his son Anil Shastri on
Saturday demanded a thorough probe into the incident and that all
related files be declassified.
"I do urge the Indian prime
minister to release the documents. Not a bad idea to have an inquiry
into his death, question all remaining witnesses and clear all
speculation and at least establish the negligence," Shastri, a Congress
leader, told news channel CNN-IBN in an interview.
Shastri and
then Pakistani president, Field Marshal Ayub Khan, had been invited to
Tashkent by then Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin for peace talks following
the Indian-Pakistan War in 1965. An agreement was signed on January 10,
1966 but Shastri was found dead a few hours later, having suffered
cardiac arrest.
Lal Bahadur Shastri's family, while demanding
declassification of all documents related to his death, indicated that
blue marks and white spots seen on his body were signs of foul play.
Recalling
the scene, Anil Shastri said: "When his body (Lal Bahadur Shastri) came
to the Palam airport, we found that the body had turned blue and there
were white spots on his temple."
"The moment my mother (Shastri's
wife Lalita Devi)saw the body, she knew it was not a natural death. She
told us it was a murder, there was out and out foul play," he said.
Anil
Shastri called it "unbelievable" that the prime minister's room in the
capital of then Soviet Uzbekistan had "no call bell, no telephone, no
caretaker in his room and no first aid. He had to walk up to the door
himself." He alleged that the death was due to fault done by the Indian
embassy and termed it as "height of negligence".
"His death was badly handled by the Indian government. It hurts me to a great extent," he said.
Opining
that Shastri was not taken "seriously", he said: "Post-mortem could
have been done in Tashkent if there was a request from the Indian
government or a request from the Indian doctors."
"... some close associates feel that suspicion revolves around an Indian hand or a foreign power," he said.
Anil Shastri claimed that his father had come to know about a scam involving a shipping tycoon Dharam Teja.
Citing an article by eminent journalist Khushwant Singh, Shastri claimed Teja was in Tashkent at the time of his father's death.
He also claimed that the prime minister was likely to take action and order an inquiry against Teja after his return to India.
Raising
suspicions over the hand of a foreign power in his death, Anil Shastri
said: "...Lal Bahadur Shastri had suddenly gained a lot of power, when
he retaliated with full force against Pakistan. Whether it was America,
China or any third country... I cannot name any country but the truth
is Lal Bahadur Shastri was becoming very strong in the region."
He
also raised the sudden death of Dr R.N. Chugh, the personal physician
accompanying the prime minister. Chugh died in an accident with his
family.
Anil Shastri also added that his father's personal assistant too met with an accident, was crippled and lost his memory.
He also expressed concern over his father's missing red personal diary.
"He made daily notings in it and may have even written about the Tashkent agreement and the pressures he was under," he said.