Delhi National Law University’s Project 39A has canceled the event in which Rajiv Gandhi assassination convict Perarivalan was to give a lecture. After much outrage it was announced that it will be held online due to threats. But it has been canceled after many questioned the decision to platform a man who assassinated a PM, giving him credibility.
The National Law University in Delhi runs a project named Project 39A. It is based on Article 39A that directs the state to ensure equal opportunity in providing justice. It had organised a lecture at Asian College of Journalism in Chennai for its 5th Annual Lecture Series. The lecture titled “The Denial of Justice and a Quest Unfinished” was to be delivered by LTTE terrorist AG Perarivalan who was convicted for his involvement in former PM Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.
Their tweet announcing the event received a lot of criticism as many wondered why a government law university would invite a political assassin to talk about the ills of the judiciary. After all, he was set free by the Supreme Court despite the fact that he was convicted. This action encouraged the media to portray him as a hero and misreport that he was set free because he was convicted wrongly.
Political parties gave him a rousing welcome with even the CM of the state hugging and patting him on the back. There are numerous people who were incarcerated due to delayed justice and lost the prime of their life. But why Perarivalan who was convicted for buying 2 nine volt batteries that were used to make the bomb for the suicide attack against former PM Rajiv Gandhi? That too in a way to cast aspersions on the judicial system.
Perarivalan and his co-convicts found “freedom” only because they were high-profile political convicts with political parties interested in vote bank politics. If anything, Project 39A should be fighting against, and organising lectures against such privileges. But as we dig up, there seems to be a Dravidian connection here. Rukmini, a self-proclaimed Data Journalist, appears to be associated with those at Project 39A. She wrote an article arguing for the mental health of death row prisoners based on Project 39A’s findings.
Rukmini is married to Manuraj Shanmugasundaram, a DMK spokesperson and an advocate who comes from a family of Dravidianists. His father Shanmugasundaram was appointed as the advocate general in 2021 by the new DMK government. His grandfather Rajagopal, who also was an advocate, was an enthusiastic follower of Dravidian Movement. It is no wonder that Perarivalan found a kindred soul in Rukmini, or vice versa, to land an invitation for a lecture from a government law university. In the end, after social media outrage the event was canceled altogether.
