CHENNAI: A shiver runs down her spine every time 66-year-old Arputham Ammal recalls the hanging of Afzal Guru, convicted for the Parliament attack. Her son Perarivalan, one of the three convicts on death row in Vellore prison for his role in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, is awaiting a verdict from the Supreme Court as his mercy plea was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee. The case is now pending for a different reason — the 11-year delay in execution.
The fact that the letter informing Guru's wife about the hanging, sent by speed post, was delayed, is stuck in her mind. "I dread the morning news flashes or seeing the postman on the street," she said. When she met her son last Thursday, Perarivalan talked about Guru's hanging.
A badge pinned on her sari that reads 'Marana Thandanai Ozhipom' (abolish capital punishment) says everything she feels about the death penalty. It's a badge she has decided to wear for the rest of her life. Ammal said she and her family are wedded to the ideals of Periyar and Dravida Kazhagam.
"He (Perarivalan) was 19 when he was arrested, now he is 41. All I can do is meet him in prison and talk. I have done that for the last 22 years and he gives me courage during my visits," said Ammal, who finished her SSLC in 1963. Ammal, 66, lives with her grandson in Chennai, while her 76-year-old husband Kuyil Dasan aka Gnanasekaran, a Tamil poet, stays with one of her two daughters.
"Arivu (as she calls her son) and I us used to sing together," she said, recalling the days when her son was free. "He sings better than me, especially the melodies of Ilayaraja. I like the older MGR songs," says Ammal. She has a reason to like MGR songs. "His movies and songs were about people and their lives. Unlike others, his songs had a substance of life, and those lyrics had something we could easily relate to," she said.
"He (Arivu) was an avid reader since school. Other than reading history, he enjoyed Bharathiyar and Bharathidasan poems. He continues to maintain the habit of reading and discusses about the latest novels and poems published in Tamil when we meet," she said.
Whenever she meets her son, she takes a bundle of books he's asked for, mostly international history, poems and novels. "We never gave him any luxury in life. Following Periyar's ideology, we lived a simple life. Throughout his school days, he was the best student and passed his higher secondary examination with distinction," she said. "Everyone likes him. Even the retired jail officers have great regard for him. I hope I can live with him before I die."
Wait of Rajiv killer's mother continues
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Wait of Rajiv killer's mother continues
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Wait of Rajiv killer's mother continues
