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Her Excellency the President of India
Rastrapati Bhavan
New Delhi
Respected Rashtrapati ji,
The nation was appalled to read on 11th July, 2009 in a national newspaper that the Prime Minister Office has refused to entertain RTI plea seeking declassification of documents relating to the death of Sh. Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent in 1966.
Nearly 45 years have passed since the former PM, Lal Bahadur Shastri died and mystery still continues to shroud the circumstances around his death. The nation wants to know the truth and therefore Sh Anuj Dhar had appealed under RTI seeking information on Shastri ji’s death. It is strange that the government has cited exemption under article 8(1) a, of RTI Act 2005 from disclosure on the plea that it could harm foreign relations or lead to incitement of an offence. We cannot treat this matter casually and brush it aside as no ordinary citizen but a former PM of India had died in a foreign country. The government not coming clean makes the mystery more clouded and pertinent questions are then raised. It is difficult to understand why the government cannot share documents like:
1. Copies of entire correspondences between the MEA and our Embassy in Moscow. For example it is natural that a former PM’s death must have been reported by late T.N.Kaul (then Ambassador in Moscow) or his deputies with MEA.
2. Indian MEA must have corresponded with the Soviet foreign affairs ministry on the subject of the death of Shastriji. Similarly there must be correspondences between Indian Embassy in Moscow with Soviet govt.
3. Report duly signed by Joint Medical investigation conducted by a team comprising of Dr. R.N. Chugh, doctor in- attendance to PM and the Soviet doctors.
Rastrapati Bhavan
New Delhi
Respected Rashtrapati ji,
The nation was appalled to read on 11th July, 2009 in a national newspaper that the Prime Minister Office has refused to entertain RTI plea seeking declassification of documents relating to the death of Sh. Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent in 1966.
Nearly 45 years have passed since the former PM, Lal Bahadur Shastri died and mystery still continues to shroud the circumstances around his death. The nation wants to know the truth and therefore Sh Anuj Dhar had appealed under RTI seeking information on Shastri ji’s death. It is strange that the government has cited exemption under article 8(1) a, of RTI Act 2005 from disclosure on the plea that it could harm foreign relations or lead to incitement of an offence. We cannot treat this matter casually and brush it aside as no ordinary citizen but a former PM of India had died in a foreign country. The government not coming clean makes the mystery more clouded and pertinent questions are then raised. It is difficult to understand why the government cannot share documents like:
1. Copies of entire correspondences between the MEA and our Embassy in Moscow. For example it is natural that a former PM’s death must have been reported by late T.N.Kaul (then Ambassador in Moscow) or his deputies with MEA.
2. Indian MEA must have corresponded with the Soviet foreign affairs ministry on the subject of the death of Shastriji. Similarly there must be correspondences between Indian Embassy in Moscow with Soviet govt.
3. Report duly signed by Joint Medical investigation conducted by a team comprising of Dr. R.N. Chugh, doctor in- attendance to PM and the Soviet doctors.
The Indian government cannot ignore an important fact that the Soviet’s had arrested the Russian butler Mr. Sattarov who was attending to Shastriji on the suspicion of poisoning. Although he was released later but the larger question remains, whether the government of India had conducted an independent enquiry and if not what were the reasons for not following an enquiry into the death of a former Prime Minister ? For the government of India to be satisfied with an enquiry of a Soviet government that led to the release of a butler, there must have been some explanations given by the Soviet agencies, what were they? Why no postmortem was carried out even in India? With so many questions it is inexplicable to note that the Indian government even after 45 years is shying away in sharing with the nation the records which should have been declassified long back?
In an interview given by Smt Lalita Shastri to ‘Organiser’ on 10th Oct 1970 and reproduced in Oct 2000 had said that the cause of Shastri ji’s death is not natural. Smt Shastri had suspected that the water in his thermos flask had been poisoned. She had also questioned why Shastriji’s body had gone blue and bloated. A satisfactory explanation for a cross like cut on his stomach is yet to be found when the cause of death is said to be natural and no postmortem conducted . Smt Shastri had rightly said in the said interview that, “This is not a question of the liking or disliking of an individual, it is a national question; it is a question of correct recording of history.”
Keeping to the spirit of Smt Shastri’s words, we along with many Indians wish for an end to this mystery. The truth must prevail .The government is duty bound to be transparent. The government must respect the right to information given under the Act. We have trust and confidence that you will direct the Government of India to come clean and clear all doubts on Shastriji’s death which remains an issue even after four decades
Yours Sincerely,
Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
In an interview given by Smt Lalita Shastri to ‘Organiser’ on 10th Oct 1970 and reproduced in Oct 2000 had said that the cause of Shastri ji’s death is not natural. Smt Shastri had suspected that the water in his thermos flask had been poisoned. She had also questioned why Shastriji’s body had gone blue and bloated. A satisfactory explanation for a cross like cut on his stomach is yet to be found when the cause of death is said to be natural and no postmortem conducted . Smt Shastri had rightly said in the said interview that, “This is not a question of the liking or disliking of an individual, it is a national question; it is a question of correct recording of history.”
Keeping to the spirit of Smt Shastri’s words, we along with many Indians wish for an end to this mystery. The truth must prevail .The government is duty bound to be transparent. The government must respect the right to information given under the Act. We have trust and confidence that you will direct the Government of India to come clean and clear all doubts on Shastriji’s death which remains an issue even after four decades
Yours Sincerely,
Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
Shri Prakash Javadekar
Shri Madan Lal Khurana
Shri Madan Lal Khurana
Shri Siddarthnath Singh
Shri Manoj Arora
Shri Manoj Arora
Shri Sanjay Mayukh
1.Copy of RTI reply by PMO and MEA.
2. Copy of Smt Shastri’s interview in Organiser.
1.Copy of RTI reply by PMO and MEA.
2. Copy of Smt Shastri’s interview in Organiser.
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