This week, we come face to face with the three men convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case: Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan, held in Vellore Jail. They have earned a temporary reprieve from the High Court which has kept open the question of whether they should live or die. The answer was never going to be easy, but it has been further complicated by a host of volatile factors - from the debate over death penalty, to those questioning the evidence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, to the competitive politics of radicalism in Tamil Nadu, and the emotional charge of their families fighting for a reprieve.
