Jain Commission Fallout
Commision's Omissions

The initial revelation of the Jain Commission's interim report have, predictably, created a controversy. There are charges that Jain was selective in his indignation and that he did not attach sufficient importance to the testimonies of various individuals. In particular, the interim report has been criticised for prejudging the issue and partial use of available evidence. INDIA TODAY collates some of the contrarian testimonies. Excerpts:

"The mandate to Karunanidhi by the Central government was conveyed to him during a meeting in Delhi with me, I.K. Gujral and some officers of the MEA that he should open a dialogue with all militant groups ... for a peaceful settlement among themselves ... In fact, in one of the papers in the MEA there is a recommendation that the DMK should be used and a general opinion was formulated that we should call Karunanidhi as the earlier government had utilised the services of the Tamil Nadu chief minister for a resolution of the Sri Lankan problem ... Karunanidhi also contacted Mehrotra, high commissioner in Colombo, whose assignment was to open a dialogue with Prabhakaran via Premadasa so that at the tail end of the de-induction, attacks are not made on the Indian Army." (V.P. Singh's testimony)

"I do not remember any letter from Karunanidhi about giving arms to the ltte and if any such odd requests against Government of India policy had come, it would certainly have registered in my mind ... I do not remember any intelligence report presented before me that made any such allegation." (V.P. Singh's testimony)

"Padmanabha came to Madras from Orissa without informing me or the Central or state intelligence agencies ... The assassination could have been averted if the EPRLF leaders had informed the Tamil Nadu police about their movements and had asked for police protection." (Affidavit of Karunanidhi on January 3, 1994)

"I further submit that we have no information about the interference by P. Durai, former DGP, Tamil Nadu, and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi." (Affidavit on January 14, 1993, by P.C. Pant, chief of the Tamil Nadu Special Investigating Team into the Padmanabha assassination)

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