Were our great scientists Dr.Vikram Sarabhai and Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha killed?
Headlines that New Year's Eve could have been anything an Indo-Pak war raging and India was deliberating over nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). But, newspapers on December 31, 1971 screamed Dr Vikram Sarabhai Dead!
Thirty seven years later, many think it was a plane crash, because of the suddenness with which this man so visible and in such a hurry, was silenced, quite like his predecessor Dr Homi Bhabha in 1966. Death came to Vikram Sarabhai in a quiet room of his favourite resort on Kovalam beach after he had witnessed firing of a Russian rocket and inaugurated Thumba railway station to retire for the night.
Strange that there was no scientific inquiry on this celebrated scientist's death. "The seat next to him was kept vacant in a flight and an entire coupe allotted to him if he travelled alone by train, for security reasons," says Padmanabh Joshi, a close associate of the Sarabhais.
When former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's died of a heart attack in Tashkent in January 1966, where he was signing a peace treaty with Pakistani President Ayub Khan, there were loud demands for a postmortem.
The evening before he died, Vikrambhai had promised famous architect Charles Correa who was doing up Kovalam Palace, a swim in the sea. He would then meet scientists and leave for Ahmedabad to celebrate New Year's Eve with family.
In 52 years of his life, businessman, scientist and art connoisseur Vikrambhai had given to Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A), Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association (ATIRA), Darpana, ISRO and a drive for development.
"We saw no point in carrying out a postmortem," says his daughter Mallika. Amrita Shah, in her book Vikram Sarabhai - a life' mentions about murmurs of international foul play'. Kamla Chaudhary, a close associate of Vikrambhai at IIM-A is quoted saying, "Vikram had told me that he was being watched by both Americans and Russians."
"The whole process would have been quite unpleasant," says his son Kartikeya, when asked about carrying out an inquest. "It was my grandmother, Sarladevi's decision not to have a postmortem," he adds.
TN Seshan who worked under Vikrambhai in atomic energy department, informed Kartikeya at Cambridge, about the death. But he reached only on January 2. Mallika, then 17, was shooting for her first film at Mumbai. "When Amma told me, I first thought it was a plane crash because papa's medical reports were fine," says Mallika who later lit his pyre something that came quite naturally to the Sarabhais. Vikram Sarabhai was brought to Mumbai as freight' in the very flight he was travel as passenger.
Thirty seven years later, many think it was a plane crash, because of the suddenness with which this man so visible and in such a hurry, was silenced, quite like his predecessor Dr Homi Bhabha in 1966. Death came to Vikram Sarabhai in a quiet room of his favourite resort on Kovalam beach after he had witnessed firing of a Russian rocket and inaugurated Thumba railway station to retire for the night.
Strange that there was no scientific inquiry on this celebrated scientist's death. "The seat next to him was kept vacant in a flight and an entire coupe allotted to him if he travelled alone by train, for security reasons," says Padmanabh Joshi, a close associate of the Sarabhais.
When former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's died of a heart attack in Tashkent in January 1966, where he was signing a peace treaty with Pakistani President Ayub Khan, there were loud demands for a postmortem.
The evening before he died, Vikrambhai had promised famous architect Charles Correa who was doing up Kovalam Palace, a swim in the sea. He would then meet scientists and leave for Ahmedabad to celebrate New Year's Eve with family.
In 52 years of his life, businessman, scientist and art connoisseur Vikrambhai had given to Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A), Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association (ATIRA), Darpana, ISRO and a drive for development.
"We saw no point in carrying out a postmortem," says his daughter Mallika. Amrita Shah, in her book Vikram Sarabhai - a life' mentions about murmurs of international foul play'. Kamla Chaudhary, a close associate of Vikrambhai at IIM-A is quoted saying, "Vikram had told me that he was being watched by both Americans and Russians."
"The whole process would have been quite unpleasant," says his son Kartikeya, when asked about carrying out an inquest. "It was my grandmother, Sarladevi's decision not to have a postmortem," he adds.
TN Seshan who worked under Vikrambhai in atomic energy department, informed Kartikeya at Cambridge, about the death. But he reached only on January 2. Mallika, then 17, was shooting for her first film at Mumbai. "When Amma told me, I first thought it was a plane crash because papa's medical reports were fine," says Mallika who later lit his pyre something that came quite naturally to the Sarabhais. Vikram Sarabhai was brought to Mumbai as freight' in the very flight he was travel as passenger.
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