DISCLAIMER: We don't endorse or support any of these theories. This article is only meant to inform that these may have been the reasons behind the event.
It was the time of the Cold War. After defeating Pakistan in the second biggest armed conflict since the Second World War, Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri arrived in Tashkent, former USSR,( know Russia)to sign a peace accord. After days of extended negotiations, the peace agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in the presence of Alexei Kosygin, the USSR Premier.
Hours later, at 1.32 AM, Shastri died in his dacha. Abruptly. Mysteriously.
Soon after, his official Russian butler and the Indian cook attached to the Indian ambassador were arrested by the Ninth Directorate of the KGB under the suspicion of poisoning Shastri.
No post-mortem was done. No confession was achieved. There was no judicial enquiry ever. It's been 50 years since his death, and we still don't know the truth.
Was it really a heart attack?
Was he poisoned?
Did the CIA kill him?
Was it the KGB?
Was it a state-sponsored murder?
shastri death linked to tibet issue
In this blog we will discuss the each aspect :-
Lal Bahadur Shastri though being a popular is a lost name in Indian history and the quest for India’s independence from the British Raj. Lal Bahadur Shastri is one of the legends who led India to its freedom, and actively participated in India’s fight for freedom, and served the country even after that. So, remembering Lal Bahadur Shastri, the legend, on his birth anniversary i.e., on 2nd October 1904, let’s know more about Lal Bahadur Shastri Biography, his career, education, and contribution to Indian politics in the article below.
Who was Lal Bahadur Shastri? An Indian Statesman, Lal Bahadur Shastri also served as the second Prime Minister of India. He was the one who led India during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. Shastri’s slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” (“Hail to the soldier, Hail to the farmer”) became a popular slogan during the war. Lal Bahadur Shastri was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna by the indira gandhi government .
Lal Bahadur Shashtri Age: Born on 2nd October 1904, Lal Bahadur Shastri died at the age of 61.
Lal Bahadur Shastri Early Life: Born on 2nd October 1904, to Sharada Prasad Srivastava and Ramdulari Devi in Mughalsarai, Lal Bahadur Shastri shares his birth anniversary with Mahatma Gandhi. Lal Bahadur Shastri went to East Central Railway Inter College and Harish Chandra High School, which he left to join the non-cooperation movement.
Lal Bahadur Shastri political career and advancements: Lal Bahadur Shastri promoted the White Revolution, a national campaign to increase the production and supply of milk by supporting the Amul milk co-operative of Anand, Gujarat, and creating the National Dairy Development Board. Shastri also underlines the need to boost India’s food production, while promoting the Green Revolution in India in 1965. The movement led to an increase in food grain production, especially in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. While working for the betterment of the Harijans at Muzaffarpur, Shastri dropped his caste-derived surname of “Srivastava”. Lal Bahadur read about Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Annie Besant, and was quite influenced by them, while being deeply influenced and impressed by Gandhi Ji, Shastri joined the Indian independence movement in the 1920s.
Lal Bahadur served as the president of Servants of the People Society (Lok Sevak Mandal), founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, and held prominent positions in the Indian National Congress (INC). After India’s independence in 1947, Lal Bahadur Shastri joined the Indian government to become one of the key cabinet members in Jawaharlal Nehru’s government. Lal Bahadur Shastri first served as Railway Minister (1951-56), and then at various prominent positions including the Home Minister. After Jawaharlal Nehru’s death, Lal Bahadur Shashtri went on to become the second prime minister of India.
Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru died in office on 27 May 1964 and left a void. The then Congress Party President K. Kamaraj was instrumental in making and installing Shastri as Prime Minister on 9 June. Shastri, though mild-mannered and soft-spoken, was a Nehruvian socialist and thus held appeal to those wishing to prevent the ascent of conservative right-winger Morarji Desai.
In his first broadcast as Prime Minister, on 11 June 1964, Shastri stated :-
“There comes a time in the life of every nation when it stands at the cross-roads of history and must choose which way to go. But for us there need be no difficulty or hesitation, no looking to right or left. Our way is straight and clear – the building up of a socialist democracy at home with freedom and prosperity for all, and the maintenance of world peace and friendship with all nations.”
Lal bhadur shastri
11 June 1964, Shastri worked by his natural characteristics to obtain compromises between opposing viewpoints, but in his short tenure he was ineffectual in dealing with the economic crisis and food shortage in the nation. However, he commanded a great deal of respect in the Indian populace, and he used it to gain advantage in pushing the Green Revolution in India; which directly led to India becoming a food-surplus nation, although he did not live to see it. During the 22-day war with Pakistan, Lal Bahadur Shastri created the slogan of "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" ("Hail the soldier, Hail the farmer"), underlining the need to boost India's food production. Apart from emphasizing the Green Revolution, he was instrumental in promoting the White Revolution. Greatly impressed by a visit to the Kaira district in October 1964, he urged the rest of the country to learn from the successful experiment at Anand. The National Dairy Development Board was formed in 1965 during his tenure as Prime Minister.
Though he was Socialist, Shastri stated that India cannot have a regimented type of economy. During his tenure as Prime Minister, he visited Russia, Yugoslavia, England, Canada and Burma in 1965.
War with Pakistan
The problem for Shastri's administration was Pakistan. Laying claim to half of the Kutch peninsula, Pakistan sent incursion forces in August 1965, which skirmished with Indian tank divisions. In his report to the Lok Sabha on the confrontation in Kutch, Shastri stated:
“In the utilization of our limited resources, we have always given primacy to plans and projects for economic development. It would, therefore, be obvious for anyone who is prepared to look at things objectively that India can have no possible interest in provoking border incidents or in building up an atmosphere of strife... In these circumstances, the duty of Government is quite clear and this duty will be discharged fully and effectively... We would prefer to live in poverty for as long as necessary but we shall not allow our freedom to be subverted.”
Lal bhadur shastri
11 June 1964,Under a scheme proposed by the British PM, Pakistan obtained 10%, in place of their original claim of 50% of the territory. But Pakistan's aggressive intentions were also focused on Kashmir. When armed infiltrators from Pakistan began entering the State of Jammu and Kashmir, Shastri made it clear to Pakistan that force would be met with force. Just in September 1965, major incursions of militants and Pakistani soldiers began, hoping not only to break-down the government but incite a sympathetic revolt. The revolt did not happen, and India sent its forces across the Ceasefire Line (now Line of Control) and threatened Pakistan by crossing the International Border near Lahore as war broke out on a general scale. Massive tank battles occurred in the Punjab, and while Pakistani forces made some gains, Indian forces captured the key post at Haji Pir, in Kashmir, and brought the Pakistani city of Lahore under artillery and mortar fire.
On 17 September 1965, while the Indo-Pak war was on, India received a letter from China. In the letter, China alleged that the Indian army had set up army equipment in Chinese territory, and India would face China's wrath, unless the equipment was pulled down. In spite of the threat of aggression from China, Shastri declared "China's allegation is untrue. If China attacks India it is our firm resolve to fight for our freedom. The might of China will not deter us from defending our territorial integrity.". The Chinese did not respond, but the Indo-Pak war resulted in great personnel and material casualties for both Pakistan and India.
The Indo-Pak war ended on 23 September 1965 with a United Nations-mandated ceasefire. In a broadcast to the nation on the day the of ceasefire, Shastri stated:
“While the conflict between the armed forces of the two countries has come to an end, the more important thing for the United Nations and all those who stand for peace is to bring to an end the deeper conflict... How can this be brought about? In our view, the only answer lies in peaceful coexistence. India has stood for the principle of coexistence and championed it all over the world. Peaceful coexistence is possible among nations no matter how deep the differences between them, how far apart they are in their political and economic systems, no matter how intense the issues that divide them.”
Pm shastri at shimla declaration .
Shimla
On January 10, 1966, after the Indo-Pak war in 1965, Shastriji visited Tashkent to sign a peace agreement with Pakistani President Ayub Khan. The agreement was mediated by Soviet premier Aleksey Kosygin, who had invited the parties to tashkent
After signing the Tashkent accord, around 4pm (3:30 indian time) on January 10, prime minister Shastri reached the villa he was provided by his Russian hosts. Late in the evening, he had a light meal prepared by Jan Mohammad, the personal cook of TN Kaul, the Indian ambassador to Moscow.
There were other Russian butlers at his service in the same villa. At 11.30pm, Shastri had a glass of milk brought by the ambassador's cook. When his personal staff took leave of him at that time, he was fine.
But around 1.25am on January 11, Shastri woke up, coughing severely. The room he was in had no phone or intercom. So he walked out to another room to tell his staff to inform his personal doctor RN Chugh. By the time Dr Chugh arrived, Shastri was dying. The symptoms were of a heart attack. T
till know we have learned all about shastri jii life know we will speak about shastri jii death and will look into various aspect :-
Offical view :- Heart attack
It was offically said that he died of heart-illness In 1959 P.m Shastri also had a heart attack after his family and friends had advised him to do a less work but after becoming a president on 1964 the work pressure kept on increasing
Shastri was under the immense pressure after signing the agreement at tashkent . shastri was criticized in india for giving back Haji pir and tithwal to pakistan . not only this : his wife was also angry with his decision
P.m shastri was accompanied by the information officer Kuldeep nayyar to Tashkent . Nayyar once told to bbc in an interview that ,
that night p.m shastri had called the telephone at home . as soon as thee phone rang , he said give the call to Amma . his elder daughter came on the phone and said that Amma would not come on the phone . his elder daughter came on the phone and said that amma would not come in the phone
Shastri asked why ?
the answer came back is you gave haji-pir and tithwal to pakistan . and she is very angry
shastri was shocked they said after this he kept going round the room then he called his secatary venketraman form india wanted to know the reactions coming. Venkataraman told him that by then two statements had come, one from Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the other of Krishna menon both have criticzed the decision
:- Kuldeep Nayyar
(Bbc interview.)
Kuldip Nayyar wrote in his book 'Beyond the Line',
"I was sleeping that night, suddenly a Russian lady knocked on the door. . She told that your prime minister is dying. I rushed to his room. I saw That Russian Prime Minister Alexei Kosgen standing in the verandah, hinting that Shastri is no more.the question is He died suddenly within 12 hours of the settlement. Was his death normal or was he murdered? It is said that after the agreement, many people saw Shastri walking in a disturbed condition in his room many people saw shastrei in a disturb condition
Offical statement In the parliament :-
Taking into the account the fact that prime minister L.b Shastri had suffered even in the past has suffered form infark-tmiocarda and the fact that during the night form 10th to 11th of january , 1966 there was an acute attack of the same disease it can be considered that death occured because of an acute attack of Infraktimiocarda
R.n chugh
Dr . R.n chug
M.D doctor - attendant on the prime minister .
tashkent 11th january 1968
U.a ARIPOV,
professor U. a Aripov , Deputy
Minister of health of uzbek
SSr doctor of medicine .
Note :- this speech is photostated
Former pm Shri A.b vajpayee at that time read a obituary speech and raised a serval claim on shastri death
Tashkent mae kya hua : unki mritu kaisae hui mritu ko tala nahi ja sakta tha kuch prashan hai jo man par uth tae hai kya kya unko koi pareshani thi unko bistar sae uth kar kuy jana padha kya bistar sae hi madat kaeliyaeh nahi bula saktae thae waah par oxygen kuy nai tha
ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE
14th feb 1966
(this speech is sumarrised actual speech will be updated soon)
In an another lokh-sabha session A.b vajpayee raised a question regarding shastri death :-
According to the media report the last thing that shastri took before going to bed was a glass of milk . i wonder why no mention has been made of the fact of the statement . it was reported form tashkent by indian correspondents that the last thing that shastri took was a glass of milk . people should know who was the person who offered milk to prime minister
Pm vajpayeethen sardar swaran singh who at that time was foregin minister of shastri governement said that
I can not say that because the service was always done by Shri ram nath the attendant . i don't know whether the milk was last thing or knot
swaran singh ....
foregin minister
then on the another session vajpayee raised an another question in the lokh sabha session that
Jab unkae pass teen telephone thae to unko darwajae tak aanae ki jarurat kuy padhi-
atal bihari vajpayeein which Swaran Singh replied
yae mae kaisae bta sakta hun unkae room mae do telephone thae tisra telephone vo utha tae hi staff aa jata vo dono mae sae kuch bi kar saktae thae un honae bajar nai bajaya sidha uth kar chalae gayae sayad unkae man mae ho ki mae kuy kisi ko taklif dun
Swaran singh
Fake letter Published in tabloid :-
An year after lal bhadur shastri death In january 2 1966 rusian tabloid , biltz tabloid which at that time was very closed to communist posted a letter of lal bhadur shastri which was later claimed fake or forged letter . letter stated that :-
prime minister house
new - delhi
january 2 , 1966
Dear Shri Karanjia ,
i wish to congratulate you on your strong drive for a fruitful tashkent confrence as a paticular highlighted on your moving cover picture of 25th december . you can be fully assured that India enters this meeting with a firm resolution to bring leating peace
your sincerly ,
lal bhadur shastri
Shri R. k karan jia
editor blitz
17/17 cawaji patel
st. bombay - 1
this letter is photo stated
after an year a foregin country newspaper namely barut who waqs very closed with cia had made few claims
1):- russian has not suppoorted india in Indo-pak war of 1965
2)- russia has given 3rd quality weapon to india which has not worked well in war
3):- tashkent pact was the matter of prestige for the soviet union " if soviet union succeded then they will be established as international brokers .
4) letter which was posted by blitz was forged
it made very clear that ; whoever planted the forged letter must have known there was no risk of shastri comming back form tashkent
there was serval question raised in parliament session one such question was raised by lokh sabha in question hour by shri abid ali
shri abid ali : will the prime-minister Indira gandhi be kind enough to ask for letter atleast my claim is in 5 pieces , diffrent pieces collected form diffrent places and having been put together . it has been claimed that letter contains despatch number . will it be possible for her to refer to the record and compare whether it has been issued or knot
Mr . chairman :- the question hour has been over
Shri bupesh singh baghel :- he took exactly 5five minutes to put forward the question
Indira gandhi later said that
the deputy minister has already said that no enquiry was conducted because we didn,t think that the enquiry was necessary
Smt indira gandhiThousand of question raised Regarding shastri death after 1970:-
shastri wife lalita shastri raised serval allegation in his interview which she gave on 1970 in a magzine called dharam yudh'
her allegation were
1)- shastri felt heaviness and asked ram nath to leave .
2)- pointed to the flask . but didnt take water when offered . once again in the same direction flask never came back
3)- when some pointed out the blue spot on her face someone quickly smeared sandle paste
4)- family were not allowed to go there when the body was bathed
5) surgical mark on the stomatch and neck blood still poring
China's Role :-
The recent biography of HH the Dalai Lama the exile ruler of tibet indicates that there may be a Chinese angle to the Shastri Ji’s death, which is still an unresolved puzzle”
his biography revealed that the death of shastri in tashkent in 1966 could be due to some serious international developments and forces at play that has remained out of the popular public narrative. The book reveals that the Shastri government was going to recognise the Dalai Lama’s Dharamshala establishment as the ‘Tibetan Government in Exile’ soon after his return from Tashkent. But the entire process dropped through following the sudden and mysterious death of the Indian Prime Minister at Tashkent.
The biography of dalai lama stated that :
On an early year of 1966, the Dalai Lama received a message from W.D. Shakabpa, who at hat time was heading the ‘Bureau of His Holiness ’ in New Delhi which functions as the de-facto ‘Embassy of Tibet’ in India. ( His main assignment in New Delhi was to function as the hot link between the government of India and the ‘Central Tibetan Administration’ (CTA) he carried the news which he has been laging to hear since the day he had entered India in 1959 after his 17-day long daring escape from the guns of Chinese Army in Tibet. Shakabpa informed the Dalai Lama that “the Indian government was prepared to recognize the Tibetan government in exile and that he would receive a definite answer once the Prime Minister (Lal Bahadur Shastri) returned from Tashkent.” These details come from the latest biography of the Dalai Lama, written by his closest associate Tenzin Geyche Tethong, who worked with him for over 44 years in different capacities including 30 years as his Private Secretary. But unfortunately for Tibet and Dalai Lama, the claws of death snatched away P.m Shastri before he could even start his journey back home from the Soviet city of Tashkent on 11th January 1966
My views :-
why i think that P.M Shastri was in the favour of tibetian governent :-
1)- As against P.m Nehru’s openly pro-China inclinations during the 1959 and 1961 voting in the General Assembly of U.n on the issue of Tibet, I points out that that the Indian government under Mr. Shastri’s stewardship strongly supported and voted in favour of the same resolution on Tibet when it was presented before the UN in 1965. According to the me Mr. Shastri was in regular touch with the Dalai Lama and used to write ‘long letters to His Holiness’ who too was a great admirer of Mr. Shastri.
2):- It is a well-known that before Indo-China war of 1962, Pakistan was a close ally, of the US block in the cold war against USSR ( now:-Russia ) and communism, had perpetually stood on the wrong side of China. But soon after its war with India and worsening relations between India and China, Mao's saw a new ally in Pakistan with a large ground to develop "Anti-Indian friendship" further; This was the time when China under the guidance of Mao was trying to reduce the influence of Comintern (Communist International), controlled by the Soviet Union (russia). The Sino-Soviet relations were already taking the downward trend, while the Communism in China was recalibrating its relations with the USA. It was perfectly suitable for the Beijing to sabotage in the Tashkent Agreement, as it would kill many birds in one arrow. One single act of eliminating Shashtri Ji could stop India from recognising the Tibetan Government in Exile; and at the same time, it could create distrust between India and USSR. If the claim of Shastri Ji’s intention after returning from Tashkent is true, then China was the biggest beneficiary of his death. From a supportive and an obedient Nehru who would concede on almost every point before the Beijing leaders, Shastri was a complete contrast. He was emerging as a new challenge to the Chinese designs and dreams. The changing face of India and its leadership has been already on show before the Chinese and the world when a resolute and determined Shastri led his poorly equipped defence forces to give a bleeding nose to General Ayub Khan and his army and air force which were armed up to their teeth with the most modern American weapons. Shastri surely represented a qualitative as well as a quantitative change in New Delhi’s policy towards China, especially on Tibet.
As a result of China’s attack on India in 1962 by occupying Tibetan territory as its launch pad, the ‘Hindi-Cheeni Bhai-Bhai’ spirit fast gave way to anti-China feelings in India. Even Pandit Nehru, who has been blindly supporting China on the issue of Tibetan occupation, lost his faith in chaina . Until then it was Nehru who had stood in the way of America and her allies when they brought resolutions in favour of Tibet and against China in the UN in 1959 and 1961. But following China’s attack on an unprepared India and India’s military humiliation, the anti-China and pro-Tibet sentiments started gaining ground in India. So much so that in December 1965 when a resolution on Tibet was placed and discussed in the UN General Assembly, India’s representative Rafiq Zakaria not only blasted China with a high voltage speech but also voted in favour of the resolution.
Tragic end of witness
May be there is more involvement at India level than KGB into this Big Conspiracy . What happened to two witnesses of this whole Incident has raised some suspicion.
Two witnesses were scheduled to depose before this parliamentary body in 1977. One was R.N. Chugh, Shastri’s doctor who accompanied him to Tashkent. Chugh was travelling to Delhi by road to testify before the committee and was hit by a truck and died.
The second was Ram Nath, his personal servant, who was also present on the day of his death. Ram Nath came to Delhi and visited Shastri’s widow before the deposition. According to family members, he told her, “Bahut din ka bojh tha, amma. Aaj sab bata denge (I have been carrying this burden too long. I will shed it today).” Ram Nath left the 1, Motilal Nehru, residence to make his way to Parliament. He was hit by a moving vehicle, his legs crushed (eventually amputated) and he lost his memory.
t.n kaul pressuried Kuldip Nayar
His employer, Ambassador (and future Foreign Secretary) TN Kaul later pressurised the recently-deceased journalist and Shastri's media advisor Kuldip Nayar to refute the poisoning theory. Kaul, a man who was vocal about things sundry in his long life, never uttered anything worthwhile about Shastri’s death — about which he knew more than anyone else.
October 2012
kuldip nayar told cnn news 18 - t.n kaul rang me up to issue a statement agauinst poison theory . " he bragged me literally 4-5 timesOur diplomats world-over are known for pontificating the need to follow a Gandhian path of truth and non-violence.
Shastri’s near and dear ones see a needle of suspicion pointing towards an insider's hand
lets discuss on the another aspect of Shastri death that he didn't die of a heart attack, but he was poisoned. in this blog we will discuss on the fact that shastri was
When Shastri’s body was brought to Delhi, no one had any clue about what the KGB was suspecting. But seeing strange blue patches on Shastri’s body, his mother screamed that someone had poisoned her son. “Mere bitwa ko jahar de diya!”
Shastri’s wife Lalita shastri died thinking that her husband had been poisoned. Other family members and near and dear ones, like childhood friend TN Singh and close follower Jagdish Kodesia, were not able to make sense of the cut marks on Shastri's stomach and back of the neck. The cut on his neck was pouring blood and the sheets, pillows and clothes used by him were all soaked in blood. A grandson of Shastri told me that he still has his nanaji’s blood-soaked cap.
Kuldip Nayar, in his column for Outlook India magazine, wrote,
"When I returned from Tashkent, Lalita Shastri asked me why Shastri’s body had turned blue.
I replied: “I am told that when bodies are embalmed, they turn blue.” She then inquired about “certain cuts” on Shastri’s body. I did not know about those because I had not seen the body. Even so, her remark that no post-mortem had been conducted either at Tashkent or Delhi startled me. It was indeed unusual. Apparently, she and others in the family suspected foul play. A few days later, I heard that Lalita Shastri was angry with the two personal assistants who had accompanied Shastri because they had refused to sign a statement which alleged that Shastri did not die a natural death."
Kuldip Nayar,
outlook magzine when RTI was filed by Kuldip , an RTI activitist regarding for a document on Shastri's death it was also reportedly declined by Prime Minister's Office.
In an column, Kuldip Nayar also gave out details about the aftermath of Lal Bahadur Shastri's mysterious death. He revealed that Shastri's family members were convinced there was a foul play in his death.
He wrote, "As days passed, the Shastri family became increasingly convinced that he had been poisoned. In 1970, on October 2 (Shastri’s birthday), Lalita Shastri asked for a probe into her husband’s death. The family seemed to be upset that Jan Mohammed, T.N. Kaul’s cook at the time, had cooked the food, not Ram Nath, his own personal servant. This was strange as the same Jan Mohammed had prepared food for Shastri when he visited Moscow in 1965."
Nayar further wrote about how after many years, he asked Morarji Desai about his take on Shastri's death. Nayar wrote,
"Following newspaper reports, the old guard Congress party supported the demand for a probe into Shastri’s death. I asked Morarji Desai towards the end of October 1970 whether he really believed that Shastri did not die a natural death. Desai said: “That is all politics. I am sure there was no foul play. He died of a heart attack. I have checked with the doctor and his secretary, C.P. Srivastava, who accompanied him to Tashkent.”"
Doctors view on lal bhadur shastri death :- was shastri poisoned
The death of Lal Bahadur Shastri, India’s second Prime Minister, was mired in controversy right from the time his body arrived in Delhi, hours after his demise in Tashkent early morning on January 11, 1966. At the airport itself, there was an attempt to prevent his family members from taking a look at the body.
When family members, friends and followers eventually saw it, they were horrified.
As Shastri’s wife Lalita noted, his body had taken a dark blue hue, even though the PM had been dead for barely for a few hours. There were also some white patches on the face. Lalita Shastri recalled: “We were not allowed to go near it even when the dead body was being bathed. It was only after much insistence that we were allowed. Shastri ji’s face and body had turned blue and were greatly swollen. [The] body was so bloated that the vest had to be torn off it and the kurta could be removed only with difficulty… Later on, when some people pointed to the spots on the face someone present quickly brought sandal paste in a small bowl and smeared the whole face with it.. but the spots could not be hidden in spite of the sandal coating.”
Certain cut marks were noted in the stomach area and on the back of his neck.An official explanation, coming after four inexplicably long years, elucidated that the cut in the stomach was made for introducing the embalming fluid in the body. The existence of any incision on the neck was flatly denied, despite the fact that the family members, among others, clearly saw the cut. There is no reason why they should be disbelieved.
In the words of former Delhi Congress chief and Shastri ji’s follower Jagdish Kodesia:
“We saw a cut at the back of the neck and a cut on the stomach where sticking plaster had been pasted to block the outflow. But the cut at the neck was leaking blood and the sheets, pillows and the clothes used by him were all soaked in it.. We approached the leadership with the request that the body be sent for postmortem. We were told not to make such a request as this would adversely affect international relations.”
anuj dhar in his book says
in the course of writing my book, I supplied this information to some forensic pathologists and other experts, inquiring whether the condition of Shastri’s body, as seen in the pictures and described by his family, was “consistent with the official description of his death and the subsequent embalming process?”
Many refused, not wanting to stray into a sensitive subject matter, while others, requesting anonymity, stated that as per their experience of dealing with such matters, it was a clear case of poisoning. All the same, three experts were good enough to make their observations.
Dr . Somuya chakraborty :-
. blurish discolouration means reduced hemaglobin which futhure indicates either poisoning or asphyxial death
. plaster in region of stomatch is probably a place for femoral where embarbing was done
. bloating , a sign of putrefaction occurs in freezing or cold temprature only after 48 hours and beyond
. post- mortem should have been done since without post mortem cause of death can't be identified Dr Sayan biswas :-
according to world health organisation , " death is said to be sudden or un- expected when a person not known to have been suffering form any dangerous disease injury or poisoning is found dead or dies with in 24 hours after the onset of the terminal illness . in india it is mandatory to perform an autopsy upon any death falling under the provision of inquest as per 174 176 Crpcs 1973 and so on . there are even provision to the second autopsy .
emblaming not done properly ( dr. soumya of the same option )
hole in the neck :- cerebrospinal fluid might have been drawn form the corpse . this course is performed in the course of forensic investigation to identify the present of murder , accidental overdose or sucide victims
Dr. Nirmalya Roychowdhry :-
if the deceased was not suffering form any serious inter- current illness then tne case can be consider as poisoning unless proven other wise . A post- mortem needs to be done under the international law .Dr Ajay kumar gupta :-
form the photographs of the dead lal bhadur shastri , a strong suspicion arises it may be a cause of death due to some vegetable poison acting on the heart which can be excluded only through a detail medico legal post mortem examination .
it is not clear why wife and son of shastri jii did not personally go to the officer in charge on the local police station and lodge a written request for holding post mortem examination anuj dhar later in his bok wrote
To this I can add that in the USSR of those days, extreme care was taken to ascertain the cause of death, particularly in cases of suspected poisoning, accidental deaths and murder. In case of suspicions of poisoning, a complete chemical examination was made of all organs and in some instances organs were sent to labs for examination.
Both Chakraborty and Biswas indicated that the quantity of embalmingconclusion form the report USSR of those days, extreme care was taken to ascertain the cause of death, particularly in cases of suspected poisoning, accidental deaths and murder. In case of suspicions of poisoning, a complete chemical examination was made of all organs and in some instances organs were sent to labs for examination.
Both Chakraborty and Biswas indicated that the quantity of embalming fluid used to preserve Shastri's body was inadequate. (There were allegations that embalming was done to fudge the telltale signs of poisoning.)
The suspicion in Shastri matter hovered around Jan Mohammed, the Indian ambassador’s cook, who was subsequently arrested by the KGB — and yet government of India gave him a clean chit, without ever mentioning that he had been picked up by the KGB for interrogation soon after Shastri died.
Jan Mohammed was subsequently posted at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
His employer, Ambassador (and future Foreign Secretary) TN Kaul later pressurised the recently-deceased journalist and Shastri's media advisor Kuldip Nayar to refute the poisoning theory. Kaul, a man who was vocal about things sundry in his long life, never uttered anything worthwhile about Shastri’s death — about which he knew more than anyone else. Our diplomats world-over are known for pontificating the need to follow a Gandhian path of truth and non-violence.
Russian angle in shastri death
Vasili Mitrokhin, a KGB spy who later defected to the United Kingdom, revealed many secret documents and information to the world through his archives called ‘Mitrokhin Archive’.
In the archives, there are several chapters dedicated to India and the Gandhi family. Mitrokhin Archives are considered to be the most sensational counter-intelligence documents and what it said about India is something I can’t express in words.
Have a look at it yourself.
so if i summarised the pages on the short few points i can derived
To summarise what the book said
Secret talks intercepted between CPI and someplace in Moscow by the Ind*an IB.
In 1957, Krishna Menon, Minister of Defence was friendly with the S.U., so much that in 1962 the Soviets authorized a Russian Intelligence residency in New Delhi to strengthen the minister’s position. Later, he was involved in giving many defense deals to Russia.
Gulzarilal Nanda the successor of Nehru and Shastri Ji were never in contact with the Russian Intelligence, but Rus Int supported them because they didn’t want Morarji Desai to succeed Nehru.
In 1966, after Shastri’s dem*se, Congress chose I.G. as his successor; she was codenamed VANO by RusInt.
During her appearances in Parliament, she seemed incomp*tent and unable to th*nk on her own.
Russian Intelligence claimed that the 1967 elections were influenced by them, and they had in control over 40% of the new Parliament.
In 1969, CPI gave its support to I.G., of course on the orders.
When Congress split into two :
Congress A – supporting the Syndicate
Congress B – supporting I.G.
The syndicate came open on I.G.’s intentions on selling India to the S.U. being in contact with them through her secretary.
During the 1970s, RusInt’s largest presence in the world was in India after its place of origin (Soviet). There were no limits put by Indira Gandhi on the number of Soviet officials and diplomats in India.
By 1973, RusInt had sources in every part of the Indian govt., foreign ministry, defense ministry, intelligence agenc*ies and even the police. A RusInt agent turned down a minister who wanted to provide information for $50,000, as RusInt already had connections in the ministries. To them, it looked like the entire country was for sale as written in the book.
RusInt thought they were more successful than the AmrInt in exploiting the corrupts under I.G.’s rule.
Bags of money were taken to the PM house as a routine and never returned. A gift on 20 lakh rupees was personally delivered by the head of RusInt’s Political Intelligence in India.
Arest made :-
1. The KGB suspected poisoning
At 4am, Ahmed Sattarov, the Russian butler attached to Shastri, was rudely woken up by an officer of the Ninth Directorate of the KGB (responsible for the safety of VIPs). sattaraov was woken up by the officers of the kgb who told him they sduspected indian prime minister has been poisoned sattaraov and three others were handcuffed and taken to 30 km away form tashkent they were locked at the basement after a while they brought the indian cook mohammed jan we thought it must have been him who have poisoned shastri death
Decades after the harrowing interrogation he was subjected to, Sattarov continued to reel under its impact.
"We were so nervous that the hair on the temple of one of my colleagues turned gray before our eyes, and ever since I stutter".CIA role
Let’s talk about the CIA now. Did it had a role? It’s actually related to death of Homi . j. Bhabha.
In an interview with Journalist Gregory Douglas, Robert Crowley, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent confirmed that CIA is behind the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri and even Dr Homi Bhabha. As the US seemed threatened by India emerging as a reformed state and also to put an end to Indo-Russian dominance in the nuclear front. .
The interview was published in a book called, “Conversations with the Crow” Known as ‘The Crow’ within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Robert T. Crowley (‘Bob’ Crowley) joined the CIA at its inception and spent his entire career in the Directorate of Plans, also know as the ‘Department of Dirty Tricks,’ Crowley was one of the tallest man ever to work at the CIA.
Born in 1924 and raised in Chicago , Crowley grew to six and a half feet when he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in N.Y. as a cadet in 1943 in the class of 1946. He never graduated, having enlisted in the Army, serving in the Pacific during World War II. He retired from the Army Reserve in 1986 as a lieutenant colonel. Bob (Robert) Crowley first contacted journalist Gregory Douglas in 1993 and they began a series of long and often very informative telephone conversations that lasted for four years. In 1996, Crowley told Douglas that he believed him to be the person that should ultimately tell Crowley ‘s story but only after Crowley ‘s death. Douglas, for his part, became so entranced with some of the material that Crowley began to share with him that he secretly began to record their conversations, later transcribing them word for word, planning to incorporate some, or all, of the material in later publications.
In 1998, when Crowley was slated to go into the hospital for exploratory surgery, he had his son, Greg, ship two large foot lockers of documents to Douglas with the caveat that they were not to be opened until after Crowley ‘s death. These documents, totaled an astonishing 15,000 pages of CIA classified files involving many covert operations, both foreign and domestic, during the Cold War. While CIA drug running, money-launderings and brutal assassinations are very often strongly rumored and suspected, it has so far not been possible to actually pin them down but it is more than possible that the publication of the transcribed and detailed Crowley-Douglas conversations will do a great deal towards accomplishing this. These many transcribed conversations are relatively short because Crowley was a man who tired easily but they make excellent reading. There is an interesting admixture of shocking revelations on the part of the retired CIA official and often rampant anti-social (and very entertaining) activities on the part of Douglas but readers of this new and on-going series are gently reminded to always look for the truth in the jest!Cia's role
While CIA drug running, money-launderings and brutal assassinations are very often strongly rumored and suspected, it has so far not been possible to actually pin them down but it is more than possible tha the publication of the transcribed and detailed Crowley-Douglas conversations will do a great deal towards accomplishing this. These many transcribed conversations are relatively short because Crowley was a man who tired easily but they make excellent reading. There is an interesting admixture of shocking revelations on the part of the retired CIA official and often rampant anti-social (and very entertaining) activities on the part of Douglas but readers of this new and on-going series are gently reminded to always look for the truth in the jest!
QUOTING THE CONVERSATION
Conversations with ‘the Crow’ – Part 14
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS (GD): I am a man of sorrows and acquainted with rage, Robert. How about the Company setting off a small A-bomb in some hitherto harmless country and blaming it on mice.
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY (RTC): Now that’s something we
never did. In fact, we prevented at least one nuclear disaster.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: What? A humanitarian act? Why, I am
astounded, Robert. Do tell me about this.
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Now, now, Gregory, sometimes
we can discuss serious business. There were times when we prevented
terrible catastrophes and tried to secure more peace. We had trouble,
you know, with India back in the 60s when they got uppity and started
work on an atomic bomb. Loud mouthed cow-lovers bragging about how
clever they were and how they, too, were going to be a great power in
the world. The thing is, they were getting into bed with the Russians.
Of course, Pakistan was in bed with the ****** so India had to find
another bed partner. And we did not want them to have any kind of
nuclear weaponry because God knows what they would have done with it.
Probably strut their stuff like a Washington nigger with a brass
watch. Probably nuke the *****. They’re all a bunch of neo-coons
anyway. Oh yes, and their head expert was fully capable of building a
bomb and we knew just what he was up to. He was warned several times
but what an arrogant prick that one was. Told our people to **** off
and then made it clear that no one would stop him and India from
getting nuclear parity with the big boys. Loud mouths bring it all
down on themselves. Do you know about any of this?
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: Not my area of interest or expertise.
Who is this joker, anyway?
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Was, Gregory, let’s use the
past tense if you please. Name was Homi Bhabha. That one was
dangerous, believe me. He had an unfortunate accident. He was flying
to Vienna to stir up more trouble when his BOEING 707 had a bomb go
off in the cargo hold and they all came down on a high mountain way up
in the Alps . No real evidence and the world was much safer.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: Was Bhabha alone on the plane?
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: No it was a commercial Air
India flight.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: How many people went down with him?
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Ah, who knows and frankly, who
cares?
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: I suppose if I had a relative on the
flight I would care.
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Did you?
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: No.
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Then don’t worry about it. We
could have blown it up over Vienna but we decided the high mountains
were much better for the bits and pieces to come down on. I think a
possible death or two among mountain goats is much preferable than
bringing down a huge plane right over a big city.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: I think that there were more than
goats, Robert.
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Well, aren’t we being a
bleeding-heart today.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: Now, now, it’s not an observation that
is unexpected. Why not send him a box of poisoned candy? Shoot him in
the street? Blow up his car? I mean, why ace a whole plane full of
people?
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Well, I call it as it see it.
At the time, it was our best shot. And we nailed Shastri as well.
Another cow-loving rag head. Gregory, you say you don’t know about
these people. Believe me, they were close to getting a bomb and so
what if they nuked their deadly **** enemies? So what? Too many people
in both countries. Breed like rabbits and full of snake-worshipping
twits. I don’t for the life of me see what the Brits wanted in India .
And then threaten us? They were in the sack with the Russians, I told
you. Maybe they could nuke the Panama Canal or Los Angeles . We don’t
know that for sure but it is not impossible.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: Who was Shastri?
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: A political type who started
the program in the first place. Bhabha was a genius and he could get
things done so we aced both of them. And we let certain people there
know that there was more where that came from. We should have hit the
****** too, while we were at it but they were a tougher target. Did I
tell you about the idea to wipe out Asia ‘s rice crops? We developed a
disease that would have wiped rice off the map there and it’s their
staple diet. The ******* rice growers here got wind of it and raised
such a stink we canned the whole thing. The theory was that the
disease could spread around and hurt their pocketbooks. If the Mao
people invade Alaska , we can tell the rice people it’s all their fault.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS : I suppose we might make friends with
them.
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: With the likes of them? Not at
all, Gregory. The only thing the Communists understand is brute force.
India was quieter after Bhabha croaked. We could never get to Mao but
at one time, the Russians and we were discussing the how and when of
the project. Oh yes, sometimes we do business with the other side.
Probably more than you realize.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: Now that I know about. High level
amorality. They want secrets from us and you give them some of them in
return for some of their secrets, doctored of course. That way, both
agencies get credit for being clever.
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Well, you’ve been in that game
so why be so holy over a bunch of dead ragheads?
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: Were all the passengers Indian atomic
scientists?
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: Who cares, Gregory? We got the
main man and that was all that mattered. You ought not criticize when
you don’t have the whole story.
JOURNALIST GREGORY DOUGLAS: Well, there were too many mountain
goats running around, anyway. Then might have gotten their hands on
some weapons from Atwood and invaded Switzerland .
FORMER CIA OFFICER ROBERT T CROWLEY: You jest but there is truth in
what you say. We had such a weight on us, protecting the American
people, often from themselves I admit. Many of these stories can never
be written, Gregory. And if you try, you had better get your wife to
start your car in the morning.Some shocking facts :-
According to Lalita Shastri (wife of Lal Bahadur Shastri), that flask in which her husband drank water did not come back to them from Tashkent.
On a small piece of paper Shashtriji had written a couplet by poet Saqib Lakhnavi: Bade Shauq se sun raha tha zamana; Ham hi so gaye dastan kehte kehte (The world was intently listening to me; only I fell asleep while narrating the story.)
Lalita Shastri also found a terse note hidden in his spectacle case. Written by Shastri in Hindi, it read ”I have been betrayed”.
Days before general elections of 1977, when it was rumoured that Janata Party might order a probe in Shastriji’s matter, a truck rammed into a car killing Dr. R.N.Chug(key witness), his wife and son.
Around the same time, Ram Nath(Shastriji’s personal servant) met Lalita Sashtri and told her that he was going to ‘unburden’ himself. Thereafter, he left Shastriji’s residence and was hit by a bus. He survived but his legs were amputated.
Lot of talk has been done on Shastriji’s cook Mohammed Jan or Jan Mohammed. But, few reveal facts like apart from him there was also a Russian butler in Shastriji’s service named Ahmed Sattarov. Both, of them had been arrested by KGB on suspicion of poisining Shastriji.
When Shastriji’s body was bought to India, the body color had turned bluish, also there were cuts on the body and still there are no official records of a post mortem.
After death, when this matter was raised in the Parliament and asked for an investigation, the then Congress govt refused by stating that they don’t feel it necessary.
It is very likely that he met Subhash Chandra Bose during his trip. There has been conspiracy theories floating around since the 50s which categorically state that Subhash Bose did not die in the plane crash in 1945 and there is enough evidence to support his escape to Soviet Russia. Shastriji’s third son Sunil Shastri, once mentioned in an interview that shortly before his death, Shastriji had told him that he was going to meet “a special person” very soon. Who was this special person?
The Tashkent man theory adds fuel to the fire. Sidhartha Satbhai commissioned Neil Millar, a former veteran of the Royal Signals Regiment of the British Army, to conduct Facial Mapping and imagery analysis on the video and photographic evidence supplied by Satbhai. Millar firmly concluded that the photographs of the Tashkent man and Subhash Chandra Bose had incredible facial, cranial and Rhinal similarities. Therefore Bose and the Tashkent man, may and very well be one and the same person. We all know that Bose was a master of disguise
It is quite likely that his phone calls were being monitored by the IB (Intelligence Bureau). If indeed this “incredible news” were to be about Subhash Bose being alive, its would have shaken the Congress Party to the very core of its foundation. The congress party and their allies have always been the biggest supporters of “Bose died in 1945 “ theory, even though the British Intelligence services had expressed their doubts. Therefore they would have suffered huge backlash and quite possibly have lost their status as India’s political family, if it was found that Subhash Bose was indeed alive and well. It is a well known fact that Bose was the biggest threat to the existence of INC and to Gandhian/Nehruvian ideologies even when he was alive. So whom do you think benefits from silencing Shastriji?
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My views
After the Indo-Pak war in 1965, Lal Bahadur Shastri travelled to Tashkent to sign an agreement that would formally end the war on 10th January, 1966. One day later, he was found dead. It was alleged that he died of a heart attack but the circumstances seemed extremely suspicious. Recently Shastri's family has also asked files related to his demise be declassified, just like Subhash Chandra Bose's. Until then, we can only jump into the pond of conspiracies and fish out what could be the truth.
Here are 8 mysteries and conspiracies surrounding the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri:
1. Where are the records of the first inquiry into his death?
The Raj Narain Inquiry apparently could not come up with any conclusions, however there are no records in the Parliament's library of this inquiry. Regardless of the conclusion, it does raise questions as to why the report is missing, suppressed or destroyed.
2. There was no post-mortem conducted. Or was there?
His wife Lalitha said the body was blue and there were cut marks. A body turns blue if it is embalmed. If there was no post-mortem conducted, then why would these indications be there? And if it was, where are the reports?
3. Could it be poisoning?
His personal doctor, RN Chugh, had said that he was in perfect health and never had any heart issues in the past. A heart attack seemed highly unlikely. And since there were claims that there was no post-mortem conducted, then the puncture marks could be a result of poisoning.
4. What about the witnesses?
There were two witnesses the night Shastri died and they were scheduled to be in front of the parliamentary body in 1977. One was Dr RN Chugh, who was on his way to testify in front of the committee but was hit by a truck and died.
The other was his servant Ram Nath who visited Shastri's home first and according to the family members he said, “Bahut din ka bojh tha, amma. Aaj sab bata denge (I have been carrying this burden too long. I will shed it today).” He too was hit by a car. His legs were crushed and had to be amputated. He lost his memory.
5. What of the CIA agent's word?
Gregory Douglas, a journalist, interviewed CIA agent Robert Crowley, who confirmed that the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri and even Dr Homi Bhabha (father of Nuclear Science in India) was the work of the CIA. Shastri gave the green light for nuclear tests and the US seemed threatened by India emerging as a reformed state and also of Indo-Russian dominance in the region. The interview was published in a book called, "Conversations with the Crow" .
6. Was the Russian butler involved?
The butler was serving the then PM and was in fact arrested. He had easy access to Shastri and if in fact he was poisoned, the butler would certainly be a big suspect. But he was allowed to walk and the authorities maintained that Shastri died of cardiac arrest.
7. Why was Delhi Police asked to handle the retrieval of docs?
The Home Ministry referred the matter to Delhi Police and the National Archives for retrieving any documents or information based on the incident. Shastri's son said that it was "absurd and silly" how the death of a sitting PM was inspected by district level police instead of higher authorities.
8. What about the RTIs?
Anuj Dhar (author of CIA's Eye on South Asia) filed an RTI pertaining to the PM's death. But the PMO responded saying there was only one classified document which could not be declassified as it may disrupt foreign relations.
A different response was given to one, Kuldip Nayar, "No such record related to the death of the former Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri is available in this district... Hence the requisite information pertaining to New Delhi district may please be treated as nil."
He led the nation to victory in the 1965 war. His slogan, ' Jai Jawan Jai Kisan', became our war cry. Many twists in the mystery behind his death have taken place since the night of 11th Jan, 1966 in Tashkent.
If the government was to declassify documents on his death, his family and the Indian public may get some substantial evidence or information on how our second premier died.
few things will be added soon .........................................
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