This Article is From Nov 08, 2011

Should These Men Die?

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The entrance to the protest venue in a Chennai suburb.

At Vellore Central Jail, three men await their death. All three charged in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The question of whether they should live or die has never had any answers but now the debate has been further complicated by a number of debates that have exploded around them. From the debate over the death penalty, to questions being raised on the veracity of evidence in the case, to a re-awakening of a radical strain in Tamil Nadu politics and to the emotional charge of families who are still hoping for reprieve.

Vellore: Outside Vellore Jail, two hours west of Chennai, the mother of Perarivalan or Arivu, completes the rituals to meet her son - a ritual of the past 20 years.

Except now she is no longer alone. The jail has become a pilgrimage of sorts, the Vellore 3 have gone from convicts in an assassination case to popular heroes.

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