(Shehzad Poonawalla is a Congress supporter and has been defending Shashi Tharoor for a long time. In this article, he demands that the BJP leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy must come for a debate with him on the Sunanda Pushkar murder case)
New Delhi: It's almost one year that Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor died. In this past one year we have almost summarily concluded that Shashi Tharoor must be hanged. Some people claim he had an alleged affair and that was the motive for him to kill Sunanda and on other occasions Dr.Swamy, leader of the BJP and our in-house but out-of-work Sherlock Holmes, claims that it's a mafia-style killing with deep links with the IPL. Which one is it? Who cares? The 9 PM Kangaroo courts, low on content and perhaps even lower on ethics, loves its murder, cricket and politics and these days anything sells when you add the lines "The nation wants to know".
So what if the Delhi Police Commissioner himself is cautious enough in TV interviews to say that, the FIR u/s 302 notwithstanding, he cannot say whether the poison was consumed by Sunanda or injected or administered and whether it's a homicide or something else. Kiran Bedi, an IPS officer of repute, not known to be too affectionate towards Congress party, on a TV debate says all angles are possible and investigations could well reveal that it is not a murder or homicide.
So what if the Delhi Police Commissioner on being specifically asked refuses from labeling Shashi Tharoor as a prime suspect leave alone naming him as an accused in the same FIR. So what if there are reported statements from Delhi Police that they are in no hurry to question Mr. Tharoor, who has been declared as a criminal by some in the media already. So what if out of the last one year that this matter is being probed by Delhi Police and supervised by an SDM, seven months or majority of the time of this investigation has taken place under a BJP led government in Delhi who have no obvious affinity for a Congress MP in Shashi Tharoor. Is it your contention that Dr. Tharoor is controlling Delhi Police which reports to the Home Ministry under Rajnath Singh? Is it not possible that may be you are jumping the gun here in labeling the man "guilty until proven innocent" ! And let us be clear about one thing- all throughout, Tharoor has said over and over again that Delhi Police have his full cooperation. Usually people with something to hide don't say that!
Cherry picking facts, twisting statements and pushing half truths seems to be more important that any genuine pursuit of justice in this case. If indeed there was no prejudice explain why some in the media dither in playing out Sunanda's biological son- Shiv Menon's statement, issued not once but twice, where he not only expressed that Shashi Tharoor could never harm Sunanda but also said that speculations being made in the media were 'deeply disturbing'. But the media instead discovers a distant cousin of Sunanda's who was probably not even in touch with her and delightfully obliges us with his sound byte on how it was a murder most foul and how obvious it was that Shashi is the murderer, all based on his wild imagination without basis in any hard facts! And we run with that story because it's infinitely sexier than what Shiv Menon, Sunanda's son has to say about Tharoor. So what if Shiv's statement is more material and relevant in eyes of the law. We want some "Masala" in the case.
Then some say that Sunanda never had any ailments including Lupus. Well at least two persons Sunanda spoke to namely actor Naseer Abdullah and leading columnist Shobhaa De (as per Naseer) confide publicly that Sunanda told them how she was indeed suffering from Lupus. The last medical institute Sunanda was admitted to between 12th and 14th January 2014, just 3 days before her death says that her ANA (an indicator for Lupus) was positive. But frankly Sunanda's 'suspected Lupus' or 'confirmed Lupus' is NOT even the debate or point of contention (except for the "nation that wants to know" if you get my drift). The debate is what killed her and as per AIIMS post mortem report there was a presence of caffeine, acetaminophen and continine in her viscera which can be explained from her smoking and over dependence on a drug called Execedrin! Anyway, since the viscera has been sent for tests abroad, let us await those results too! Till now, we do not know what killed Sunanda.
But then we have Dr. Subramanian Swamy, the BJP leader, self confessed crusader for the truth who by the way is an accused, out on bail, in my case for a hate-speech. While seeking bail in 2012, Mr. Swamy and his lawyer KTS Tulsi, gave an undertaking that he would never ever reproduce baseless, communal statements of the kind that he wrote in his DNA article of 2011.
Now this very illustrious gentleman, Dr.Swamy, whose annual visit to the Harvard University was cancelled and who accused a Bharat Ratna, former PM Vajpayee, of having an alliance with her rival Sonia Gandhi and a very dubious personal life (I cannot repeat Swamy's allegations on Vajpayee out of respect for the elder statesman) says he knows that Shashi Tharoor knows who murdered Sunanda Tharoor. He also adds that it's linked with Dubai, big money, IPL and so on and at least seven politicians would be exposed if the truth was revealed! Well, if Dr.Swamy had any information about the commission of a cognizable offence should he have not approached the Delhi Police and recorded his statement as is obligatory under Indian law? In fact not disclosing such information is an offence and so I request the Delhi Police to question Dr. Swamy on his reluctance to disclose information about a crime!
Dr Swamy knows Russian poison was used and he knows the motive too. Then why is Delhi Police wasting its time and money by sending samples abroad? Anyway, just to give you an insight into Swamy's track record on this case- Dr.Swamy claimed CCTV footage from the floor of the hotel Sunanda was found dead in was not available. Well the hotel clarified that "all 237 cameras including 10 near Sunanda's room 235 were working" and given over to authorities. Swamy also claimed that AIIMS doctor Sudhir Gupta was under tremendous pressure to manipulate his report but this charge was rejected vehemently by the AIIMS, under a BJP Health Minister Dr. Harshwardhan, in July 2014 as being 'baseless'! So I am beginning to wonder if Shashi Tharoor now controls the health ministry too. Quite an achievement for an out of power Congress man to control the BJP run ministries and departments to shield himself! Astounding indeed.
Moreover, on 10th of July 2014 the venerable Dr. Swamy tweeted the Delhi Police was kind enough to let me see Sunanda's autopsy video. Clear murder by lethal poison. Will summon it for PIL." May I respectfully ask under what law, provision or authority was such evidence shared with a BJP leader by Delhi Police? Is it fair or impartial to do so?
Dr Swamy in an interview to TV channels also said that 'officers of Delhi Police brief him on the Sunanda matter'. Intriguing indeed. We would like to know from the Home Minister Rajnath Singh if that is how investigations under Delhi Police function these days? Briefing BJP Netas is a normal practice now?
Anyway, Shashi Tharoor's three word statement. "Who is Swamy?" seems apt. If indeed Dr. Swamy was to be taken seriously, would not his own party leader - PM Narendra Modi pay heed to Swamy's 'undeniable' evidence and not make Shashi Tharoor, an alleged accomplice in the murder of his wife, the brand ambassador of Swach Bharat Abhiyan? Finally, I ask Dr. Swamy to shed his inhibitions and fears of being exposed, appear on a TV debate with me rather than ask channels to drop from me from panels when he is appearing and answer some of the questions I have posed to him in this piece. Those in the media, playing cheerleader to him, may also, if their conscience permits, see through this despicable attempt at misery hunting.
Finally, let us at least on the occasion of one year of Sunanda's death give her husband and her family a moment to grieve. We are obviously not giving her or them any justice or any closure
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