Tharoor Guilty? Not Guilty?

NEW DELHI: Ever since the NDA government, rather predictably, turned the alleged suicide of Sunanda Pushkar wife of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, into an alleged murder the media has been going crazy trying to solve the puzzle through interviews and constant reiteration of the few facts doled out by the Delhi police.

Is it murder? Tharoor says he is ‘stunned’ with the turn of events. The police insist that there was injury number ten that is an injection mark, and could be key to the poison that it now claims the glamorous lady was administered. The forensic authorities said that all they had said was she had died of poisoning, but it was for the police to determine whether it was homicidal or not. In the chaos the basic sobriety required for a journalist to sift the wheat from the chaff has disappeared, as every bit of information is sensationalised as ‘breaking news’ without any effort to see whether it is worth the display or not.

To rewind. Tharoor met Pushkar, both supposedly fell in love and got married. She was based in Dubai, had considerable property, and from all accounts of details never fully known, was a self sufficient woman. Both claimed in interviews that they had been bowled over, and soon they were a regular fixture at every single social do in Delhi. Tharoor is known in Delhi socialite circles as a ‘party animal’ and with the pretty Sunanda on his arm became a celebrity-in-demand. They were gracious, polite as they laughed their way through the evenings -- a public persona that did not slip.

Until the phone calls when a desperate, hysterical, Sunanda Pushkar telephone all those she called friends to share her despair: she was not well and Tharoor was having an affair with a Pakistani woman. The desperation turned into hysteria, with the smiling mask having been replaced been replaced by torment, with Pushkar turning into a woman her friends could not recognise. She called them late night, crying inconsolably about Tharoor’s infidelities that even at one stage turned into an open spat through the media with the Pakistani lady in question.

Until the fateful day when a slightly more composed Pushkar returned from Kerala with Tharoor by her side, but instead of going home checked into a luxury hotel. Initial reports suggested that Tharoor went home but then came back to the hotel to stay. And that after a day at meetings he came to the suite in the evening, and was eventually the person who found her dead.

Given her hysterical outbursts about his alleged infidelity suspicions immediately attached themselves to her death at the time. It was certainly not seen as natural with the theories fluctuating between just two options suicide, or murder. And this is what the police was supposed to resolve. How did Sunanda Pushkar die?

The working of the Delhi police has been disgraceful and condemnable. And in the process it has revealed itself to be a highly politicised force, incapable of free and impartial investigation.In the first instance, under the UPA government, the police enquiry throughout gve the impression of being controlled by the politician, of not going deep into the case, of ignoring facts and data like the forensic report about poisoning. The police officers remained evasive in their responses, and were unable to quell suspicions raised by her sudden death, with informed briefings, and clear cut data.

It is largely because of the perception created by the police mishandling of the case---as has been evident in the other high profile dentists Talwar case---that Pushkar was cremated with questions still hanging over her death. Now the NDA government that has taken advantage of those suspicions to order another inquiry into the case, has the Delhi police reversing its earlier position to shout ‘murder.’ Again with little to no evidence to justify the dramatic change in stand.

It is murder by poisoning says the Delhi police. And there has been little effort to question the Police Commissioner as to how he has suddenly arrived at this position, after ruling it out altogether under the old dispensation. Surely Injury No 10---the injection mark---was visible to the police then and how was it that it was ignored altogether at the time, or at least treated as inconsequential? Pushkar’s viscera has been sent to the UK---clearly despite all the tall claims India still does not have the facility or the trained experts required---for further examination. So the question does arise that without the necessary proof, how has the charge been changed to murder? And against whom? So far there is neither a named suspect or the murder weapon, except suspicions that are being projected as reality.

The Delhi police exonerated Tharoor under the Congress rule. The Delhi police has reopened the case as a murder investigation under the BJP rule. In short the Pushkar case is totally politicised and now whatever the results, society will remain divided on its perceptions. The seeds of doubt and suspicion, however, are sowed and again whatever the results, Tharoor will always live under a cloud of suspicion from which he will not be able to shake himself free. He is of course currently living under the threat of being charged with the murder of his wife, and can be picked up on charges any day.

So while Pushkar and Tharoor become fodder for many an entertaining talk show on television news channels, this is real life drama with the potential of destroying yet another life. It needs to be tackled with sobriety from the media, and evidence and serious investigation by the police. Both at this stage seem to be a tall order despite the seriousness of the charges.