It's 25 years since the brutal assassination of former PM Rajiv Gandhi. But the late Congress leader is back in the news following a decision by the Tamil Nadu government to seek the release the seven people serving life term for his murder in 1991.
The southern state has written to the Centre asking for its opinion, which has led to an outpouring of differing voices on social media.
While there is an overall feeling that the Jayalalithaa government's decision to free the convicts, just ahead of the state polls, is to tap into Tamil sentiments, many people look at it as an issue of human rights.
Read: Govt studying Tamil Nadu's plea to free Rajiv killers
The TN government's major argument is that all the convicts have already served over 20 years behind the bars and it's time to let them walk free. However, the opponents, including the Congress party believe that the release of the seven who are convicted under criminal laws will be against national interest.
The late leader's son Rahul has maintained he would not give an opinion on the issue and will abide by whatever decision the Centre takes.
In a noble gesture, Rahul's mother and Rajiv's widow Sonia Gandhi had intervened to save Nalini, one of the accused, from the death row earlier.
The home ministry is yet to make a decision on the fate of the seven persons namely, Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Nalini Sriharan, Robert Pious, Jayakumar and Ravichandran.
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