Tamil parties launch campaign to get ailing Santhan to see his aged mother

Tamil political parties have requested that the government secure the repatriation of Suthenthiraraja, alias Santhan, one of the seven released convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, considering his critical health condition. He was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in a critical condition last Sunday.

Mr. Santhan, 55, is suffering from cryptogenic cirrhosis—liver-related health complications—and expressed his wish to reunite with his aged mother, who resides in Jaffna. He had requested the Sri Lankan authorities provide travel documents, including a Sri Lankan passport, to return home.

Along with five other convicts—Nalini Sriharan, Sriharan, Robert Payas, Jayakumar and Ravichandran— Santhan was released after 32 years of incarceration over the assassination of the former Indian Prime Minister. All of them are currently detained at a special camp on the Trichy central jail campus since none of them possesses any travel documents or passports.

The Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) and the Tamil National Peoples' Front wrote to both Sri Lankan and Indian authorities to secure the swift release of Santhan on humanitarian grounds after decades of incarceration. The newly elected ITAK Chief S. Shritharan too took up the issue with the Foreign Ministry to arrange necessary travel documents so the convict could return to Sri Lanka.

The aged mother and the family also met with Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda this week, pleading with him to take up the matter in the higher ranks of the government. The ailing mother told the minister that her last wish was to see her son alive and that she would like to spend some time with him in her final days.