Lal Bahadur Shastri’s son requests Centre to declassify all documents on the former PM’s death
Fifty two years after the mysterious death of Lal Bahadur Shastri, his son and Congress leader Anil Shastri on Friday demanded that the Centre declassify all documents related to former prime minister’s death. He also demanded the findings of the Raj Narain Committee– set up in 1977 to look into Shastri’s death– to be made public.
During the launch of a Punjabi translation of the book “Lal Bahadur Shastri: Lessons in Leadership”, Anil Shastri said there were many versions of reasons behind his father’s death but everyone wanted to know the truth.
Mentioning that he had already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a year back about the declassification, he said Modi is yet to respond to his request. “When the BJP was in opposition, they were very vocal about declassifying the documents. But they have not uttered a single word on declassifying the documents in these four years”, he added.
Anil also took a dig at his own party, saying United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had refused to do so citing the “documents are classified”.
Lal Bahadur Shastri died in Tashkent on January 11, 1966 at the age of 61 a day after signing Tashkent pact with Pakistan. Cardiac arrest was cited as the cause behind his death. But his family alleged foul play and sought a detailed investigation into the death.
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