AIADMK vow to release son surprises Arputhamma

Chennai: The election manifesto of the ruling AIADMK promising steps to get her son Perarivalan @ Arivu released is surprising considering that as the party in power it could have already delivered her son from his custodial misery rather than merely making poll-time posturing, Arputhammal said here on Monday.

The dour mom in her late 60s, fatigued through long years of chasing politicians, bureaucrats, rights activists, judges and journalists, spoke to reporters at the Stanley Government Hospital where son Arivu was brought from his Vellore prison cell for treatment of his breathing difficulty associated with persisting urinary infection.

“He was taken back at the end of the day after the doctors checked him and prescribed treatment. This problem has been troubling him for a long time and I am very worried. He has spent 28 years so far in jail after being arrested as a teen for a crime he was not involved in,” Arputhammal told DC.

"The election manifestos of all the major parties have promised steps to get my son released from jail. What surprises me the most is that even the ruling party has included this promise in its poll document whereas they could have easily set him free as they are in power", she said, recalling that 'Amma' Jayalalithaa had as the Chief Minister promised her she would "deliver my son into my hands very soon".

"Why aren't her followers honouring her commitment to this old mother?" asked the anguished woman, pointing out that the government's recommendation for the premature release of Perarivalan, sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has been gathering dust at the Governor's office in the Raj Bhavan.

"This government can at least order my son's release on long parole, considering his poor health condition", Arputhammal pleaded.