Declassifying Shastri Files: Was CIA the Alleged ‘Foreign Hand’?

Shastri’s family appeals to Modi to release documents related to the former PM’s death, writes Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

Congress leader and son of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Anil Shastri, lighting lamps during a function in Delhi on September 26, 2015. (Photo: PTI)

Few know that Anil Shastri, who has aired the suspicion that his father, former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, was murdered during his visit to Tashkent in Russia in 1965, and his youngest brother Ashok Shastri were to accompany the late leader on the visit.

But they were not allowed to board the flight and were told that it was an official visit so they could not accompany Shastriji on it.
— Neera Shastri, wife of Ashok Shastri, to The Quint

Ms Shastri, a former National Executive member of the BJP said, “While Anil bhai has raised the issue now and demanded that the official files pertaining to Shastriji’s visit be declassified and the truth about his death be allowed to come out, the family has always believed that he was murdered.”

Mired In Suspicion

“In fact,” Neera Shastri recollected how the late Prime Minister’s wife Lalita Devi had several years ago during an annual lecture even urged the External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj, who had been invited to address the event, to make efforts to let the world know about the real cause of his death. “She had mentioned how Shastriji’s body was blue – apparently because of poisoning – and also bore some white marks and yet no post-mortem was performed on it, neither in the Soviet Union nor here in India.”

Stating that there was definite foul play, she said, “Pictures of that time should also be referred to see who came with a bucket full of sandalwood and applied it on his face so that the blue and white marks were completely obliterated.”

“When Maa (Lalita Shastri) had expressed apprehension that efforts were made by Congress leaders that Shastriji’s legacy should not continue, Sushma had noted that he was like a burning amber covered with ash and nothing could dampen his heat or light.”

Suspicious Death

• Shastri’s family has demanded declassification of files related to his death.
• The family alleges foul play and urges Modi to release the documents.
• Among the many conspiracy theories doing the rounds is the possible role of the CIA.
• Indian government claims it has just one piece of paper under the classified category.
• Wishy-washy reply by the CIC on the contents of that paper.

What the Family Alleges

The Shastri family believes that the diminutive Prime Minister had become too tall in stature for some, through his actions during his short term in power.

He had won the Pakistan war, initiated the Green Revolution and the White (milk) Revolution, was prepared to settle the Tibet issue for good, and had become a household name through his ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ slogan. Obviously this was not liked by some vested interests who wanted to usurp power.

— Neera Shastri, wife of Ashok Shastri, to The Quint

The former Prime Minister and then Pakistan President Field Marshal Ayub Khan had been invited to Tashkent by the then Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin for peace talks after the 1965 Indo-Pak War. A pact was signed on January 10, 1966 soon after Shastri died.

The family insists that even the signature on the pact was not his. “His signatures should be compared with those on the agreement,” demanded Neera.

(Photo courtesy: http://pmindia.gov.in/)

Involvement of a Foreign Hand

In an interview to CNN-IBN, Anil Shastri urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ‘release the documents’. He stated that it was “not a bad idea to have an inquiry into his death, question all remaining witnesses and clear all speculation and at least establish the negligence.”

Anil had also questioned why in Shastri’s room in Tashkent there was “no call bell, no telephone, no caretaker and no first aid. He had to walk up to the door himself.”

Claiming that “suspicion revolves around an Indian hand or a foreign power,” he had also demanded to know how Shastri’s personal diary had disappeared. “He made daily notes in it and may have even written about the Tashkent agreement and the pressures he was under.”

(Photo courtesy: Community page about Lal Bahadur Shastri on Facebook)

The family has also alleged a massive cover-up. It said Dr RN Chugh, the personal physician who had accompanied the Prime Minister, had died along with his family in an accident. His personal servant, Ram Nath, who wanted to depose, also met with a serious accident before he could do so.

Ball in Government’s Court

A number of conspiracy theories are cited about the cause of his death. Some even state that Shastri and nuclear scientist Homi J Bhabha paid with their lives as they wanted India to become a nuclear power. In this matter, there is an alleged interview of an operative of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States to a journalist, which is cited as an example.

If there is even an iota of truth to this, then Anil Shastri’s demand has come at a very critical moment when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just returned and Sushma Swaraj is still in the United States.

Incidentally, the matter had been brought before the Central Information Commission through an RTI application by Anuj Dhar, author of CIA’s Eye on South Asia.

The Indian government has all along claimed that it has just one piece of paper under the classified category on Shastri’s death. This paper was produced before the then Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra in June 2011 by the Prime Minister’s Office after the CIC had demanded production of all “classified documents” before it.

The government had then claimed that a foreign country, which now has good relations with India, had spread false information on the death of the former Prime Minister in Tashkent nearly four decades ago.

On perusal of the document, Mishra had stated that it had “nothing to do directly” with Lal Bahadur Shastri’s death.

“The document comprises intelligence reports collected from different sources saying that a foreign country was spreading canards about the former Prime Minister’s death. The country mentioned here was not on good terms at that time but now we certainly have good relations. The document, if disclosed, has the potential to adversely affect these relations,” Mishra had observed without naming the country.

(The writer is a freelance journalist.)