Mumbai, Aug 14 (IANS) As a new web series titled “Lal Bahadur Shastri’s Death – An Unfinished Story” is set to release on Independence Day on Wednesday, the former Prime Minister’s son Sunil Shastri says that even 52 years after his father’s death, the family lives in a hope that they will know the truth someday.
The story of the web series revolves around the mysterious death. The narrative is in the form of a docu-drama based on conversations with Shastri’s family members who have raised some important questions about his death.
Sunil said in a statement: “There is still a big question mark on how Shastri died. When my father called from Tashkent, my family informed him that people here were very upset with his decision of signing the treaty. However, he had full faith that when he comes back and explains, everybody will be very happy. But as fate had it, they never let him reach or speak to anyone.
“Cook Jan Mohammed was the prime suspect in my father’s death. He is believed to be the one who poisoned him. Strangely, he was hired just after the Tashkent declaration and was also the cook to Ambassador TN Kaul, further fuelling our suspicions.”
Sunil says his grandmother had wondered, “It’s surprising that a country’s Prime Minister is dead and nobody raised a question on it?”, after she saw Shastri’s body.
Shastri died in 1966.
Sidharth Nath Singh, Shastri’s grandson, said: “The fateful day when we got a call, my mother told me that the telephone operator started crying saying that Shastriji is no more. When his body came to India, it had cut marks all over and his face had blue marks. It was a clear indication of poison – till date we do not have a death certificate, nor there was any post-mortem done.”
“Is it a coincidence that Shastriji who was a heart patient – wasn’t staying at the pre-decided place? The room he is put up in, has no buzzer – oddly his house help and his doctor’s room was very far?”
Sunil added: “52 years after his death, the family lives in a hope that we will someday know the truth.”
Veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar also features in the docu drama, which will stream on ZEE5.