Shastri's death must be probed, says Nayar

Did former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri die a natural death or was he poisoned to death as the belief goes?

Shastri's death remains a mystery even after 47 years. However, seasoned journalist Kuldip Nayar pieces together many incidents surrounding the mystery in his latest book 'Beyond the Line', which gives ample hint that his death might not be a natural one.

Speaking at the launch of his book at Hotel Taj West End on Saturday, Nayar recalled the events that unfolded on the night when Shastri died. Nayar was with Shastri in Tashkent where the Indo-Pak agreement was signed.

He recollected that Shastri instructed him in the evening to wake him up early in the morning as a lot of work had to be attended to. But in the night, a woman knocked on the door of Nayar's room only to tell him that the Indian prime minister was dead. He rushed to Shastri’s room where he saw him lying dead and doctors surrounding him. He then noticed a flask lying overturned. Shastri’s slippers under the bed were intact.

When he returned to Delhi, Shastri's wife Lalita Devi said her husband had been poisoned to death. She claimed she had seen Shastri's body turning blue. However, the then Union minister Morarji Desai dismissed the poisoning theory and said Shastri died a natural death.

The death of Dr R N Chugh, personal physician of Shastri, in a road accident on the day he was to depose before an inquiry committee probing the death, raised more doubts.
Shastri’s personal assistant too could not give a statement before the inquiry committee on the given date as he turned emotional. The next day, he too died in an accident.

“It could be, it could not be. A commission must be set up to inquire into the case although five commissions inquiring Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death could not come out with any conclusion,” Nayar said.

Jinnah regretted partition

Reminiscing the days of partition, he said Muhammad Ali Jinnah had regretted the partition when he flew with a journalist Mazhar Ali over the present Indo-Pak border and saw people migrating in huge numbers from one side to another.

He quoted Jinnah as saying, “What have I done?” Nayar learnt about Jinnah's regret from Mazhar Ali's wife Tahira.

Earlier in the day, a Kannada version of Nayar’s book titled ‘Ondu jeevana saaladu’ was also released. ‘Beyond the Line’ has been translated by Assistant Editor of Mayura, R Poornima.