Commentary/Rajiv Shukla

There is no way that Gujral can keep playing the diplomat once the Jain Commission report is out

The Pandora's box lies there with Home Affairs Joint Secretary (Security) Vinay Kumar. Its seals are still intact, but one of these days, soon, it is going to be broken. And then...

And then, out would pop the Jain Commission's interim report. Will it swallow I K Gujral and company?

Of course, it would. Anyway, Gujral seems to think so -- or else, why did he set up a committee to 'study' the report (which move, as any sensible person can see, is nothing but a delaying tactic)?

Let's not get into all that. Instead, let's see if we can take a little peek into this pandora's box.

Hmm, indications, indications... all saying that Justice Milap Chand Jain has placed a hell of a lot of blame on the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. In fact, it would appear that M Karunanidhi's government went about promoting and protecting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam in Tamil Nadu. Our box contains enough evidence to substantiate these observations.

So the moment the report is made public, there will be no option for the Tamil Maanila Congress leaders but to oppose DMK and Karunanidhi. Being close to 10, Janpath, the TMC leadership will have to act decisively. Which, naturally, would create serious problems for the United Front and place Gujral right up to his neck in scalding soup.

Not only the TMC, the Congress too will be forced to demand immediate action against Karunanidhi, failing which they will mount pressure on Gujral. Congress vice president Jitendra Prasada has already demanded a special Parliament session to discuss the report. He has also sought the prime minister's explanation about his (Gujral's) role as a member of the Union Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs which decided to withdraw Rajiv Gandhi's SPG cover.

Hence, there is no way that Gujral can keep playing the diplomat once the report is out. Even Sitaram Kesri will not be able to help him then, as Prasada will have the full backing of Rajiv's widow.

Now for another peek into the box. Ah, what is it that we see here of State-sponsored training camps in India for Tamil Tigers? Justice Jain refers to such camps being run during the regimes of Indira Gandhi and M G Ramachandran.

Is that true? Well, I guess it must be -- otherwise, the report wouldn't be mentioning it, right? How's this going to affect the government?

Besides the obvious embarrassment Gujral & Co will have to face, it will present Pakistan and America a good club (on a silver platter, mind you!) to drub India a terrorist country. P V Narasimha Rao saw it coming -- which was why he did not want to give the details of these camps to the Commission. But finally, the government had to do it. The Sri Lankans too will surely create a hue and cry about it.

I hope Justice Jain will submit his final report in couple of months time. I also hope that once the report is out, the government will act decisively.

There is no doubt that the V P Singh government withdrew Rajiv's security cover purely for political reasons. I still remember how Singh kept counting the money being spent on it and was severely snubbed by Kamlapati Tripathi. Besides those who are responsible for actually bringing about the assassination, action should also be taken against those who made it possible.

Six years is too long a time for anyone to go unpunished.

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