Case closed?

Its not everyday that articles in the newspaper catch your attention. The past few months have been rather uninteresting (to us normal students, at least) as the papers spoke of little more than the recession and the cruise of the obamobile through a country to the west. However, with the recent hunting of tigers in Sri Lanka, some juice had entered the print. Not that I love blood or anything, but something happening closer home is certainly much more thought provoking.

I was reading through the newspaper today when I came across an article which reported that Veluppillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the LTTE had his body 'reduced to ashes'. That's right, its been just two days since he was found (dead) and his body has been burnt already. Had this been a regular soldier of the Eelam, this action by the Lankan military might have been considered standard procedure and dismissed without further ado. But, with Prabhakaran being the head of a terrorist organization that has assassinated an Indian prime minister among other things, a few questions were raised about the whole mission.

As soon as the first reports came in about the slaying of the LTTE chief, loyal voices dismissed it as a ploy by the Lankan military to assert its victory. As photos of the felled tiger were printed, conspiracy theories started claiming it was a double. And as the day passed, news descended that LTTE lieutenants had confirmed the authenticity of the body found. The Indian government took this as the proof it needed to close the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case and chop the warrants issued for Prabhakaran's arrest. DNA tests carried out on the body are said to have matched the samples from his son (shot; body recovered the previous day). This is where the tale ends if you are satisfied with reading the english dailies.

Controversially, this is where it all starts for the tamil weeklies. A particular weekly carried a report today from a retired DGP (if my memory serves me right) about the procedures to be followed when bodies are recovered - especially those that are of some importance. The bottom line was that they are to be preserved, not reduced to ashes. An example stated was that of the hitherto unidentified man that was responsible for the suburban train hijack-cum-crash that occurred a few weeks back; since he could not be identified, his body, under court order, was to be preserved for a year. This is the point where the conspiracy theories start to kick in again - now ranging from a mere coverup to a coordinated plot for the LTTE chief's escape with a government hand in it. What made matters worse was the discovery (reportedly) that there was no centre in Sri Lanka capable of carrying out DNA testing - which served as the gate to close the issue. Also, such testing generally takes around a week. Facts do differ depending on the publication - the article in an english daily claimed he had no cyanide capsule on him (which is mandatory for the tigers) while the tamil weekly put the number at two. Truth would be hard to glean from the papers alone. The hurry with which the Lankan administration finished everything and the eagerness of the Indian government to close the related cases seems a tad suspicious.

Then again, conspiracy theories aren't my cup of tea; So, I'll just leave it there. Maybe he is alive and maybe, some of this was planned. Without any evidence, it wouldn't make sense to delve into this any further. If the Indian government sees fit to close the assassination case, nobody is going to stop it. Besides, it doesn't really affect us now, does it?