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Journalism of Courage
HAVING COMPLETED two-month parole term at his home in Jolarpet in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district, A G Perarivalan, a life-term convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, returned to Vellore Central Prison Tuesday afternoon. Perarivalan was granted parole on August 24 to visit his ailing father, Kuyildasan, a Tamil poet.
Arrested in June 1999, when he was 19, Perarivalan was not given bail or parole for 27 years, of which 11 years were spent in solitary confinement. This was his first visit outside jail. Initially granted 30-day ordinary leave on compassionate grounds, Perarivalan’s parole term was extended for another month on September 24. The state government considered a plea by his mother, citing deteriorating health condition of his father, while extending it. His mother Arputham Ammal requested for a second parole extension last week, but the government did not respond. The first month of parole had permission for Perarivalan to meet close friends and visitors — Thol Thirumavalavan of Dalit party VCK and Trichy Siva of DMK were among senior political leaders who visited him. The second month of parole term had strict rules that denied him permission to meet people outside his family.
“He was happy being home all these days,” a relative said. “He got the chance to meet many relatives and old friends for the first time in 27 years. He hopes there will be a reprieve soon, considering his long incarceration.” Kuyildasan was hospitalised in Chennai for surgery and discharged a week ago before his treatment could be completed to allow him to be with his son, as Perarivalan was not allowed to travel outside his native town. Jolarpet is about 220 km from Chennai.
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