Rajiv according to Jain

This encomium is sycophantic writing, says a Supreme Court advocate. “Never before has a judge written in this manner.” In fact, critics cite Justice J.C. Kapoor’s probe into Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and the Justice Chandrachud panel inquiring into the death of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. “These people were certainly worthy of praise. But the judges refrained from any comment since commissions of inquiry are not platforms for opinion.”But then Rajiv was no Mahatma and maybe that’s why Jain breaks tradition.So he begins his chronological account of his life with his birth in a family of “freedom fighters, great leaders and statesmen.” And he ends on a note almost tragic and lyrical: “But, alas, in a split of a second, his life was snuffed out by an explosion of a human bomb.”

Jain is certainly entitled to his grief and his opinion but legal experts say a commission of inquiry is not. To be fair to Jain, however, he says so. In his introduction which prefaces the profile, he writes in Para V: “The Commission is a fact-finding body entrusted to give its honest and impartial view of truth. Its function is to find facts or real truth based on materials before it. The Commission is a statutory body which acts as eyes and ears of the Government.”

And, also, perhaps some hearts.

For, Jain’s Rajiv was a man who could do no wrong, who was caught perhaps against his wishes in the oh-so-inexorable currents of fate. “Tragedy overtook him,” writes the judge.

On the fateful day when Indira Gandhi “fell by the bullets of her own security guard,” Rajiv was “far, far away from her…When he was extremely grieved and undergoing trauma, he dashed to Delhi and the nation’s responsibility fell on his shoulders.”

It may be that he was “not cut for politics,” Jain tells us but “nevertheless, by his charismatic personality, he won the hearts of his countrymen.” And what an admirable job he did, says Jain. He signed accords all over the place, Punjab, Assam, Mizoram and the Indo-Sri Lankan accord in 1987. So what if later volumes of Jain’s own report show how the accord was signed and how India played the bully.

This doesn’t matter since Jain’s Rajiv was a “champion of human rights and was opposed to oppression and exploitation.” The judge also credits Rajiv with the terribly original insight that “apartheid was a blot on civilization.”

Jain announces that though Rajiv lost power in December 1989, come campaign time and he was “on the crest of popularity and seen as if destined to be the future Prime Minister of India after the May 1991 general elections.” However, in one brief moment of caution, Jain guards his flanks. “He was so projected by the media,” he says.

Jain doesn’t dwell too much on Rajiv’s legacy except for wrapping up his profile on his typical heart-felt, caring note. “He is survived by his widow Sonia, daughter Priyanka and son Rahul who too are leading their traumatic lives under constant fear and extreme threat.”

Jain’s `Honest and impartial view’
“From the childhood, Rajiv Gandhi had immense interest in technology and he had a passion for machines and had developed keen interest in aviation. He used to learn flying during his holidays in England and India…He loved flying and was leading a happy family life as a professional commercial pilot.”