Peace is the only way

The Shastris lost their daughter, Dr Mridula Shastri in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. As Libya burns and a former minister accuses Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi of ordering the bombing, her father says they have no connection with the country

Peace is the only way

The Shastris lost their daughter, Dr Mridula Shastri in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. As Libya burns and a former minister accuses Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafiu00a0of ordering the bombing, her father says they have no connection with the country

Like the rest of the world, the Shastris at their home in Ruia Park Juhu, have been watching the events unfold in Libya on their television screen.

Libyan rebels ready their weapons and munitions in Ajdabiya as pro Moamer Gaddafi soldiers and mercenaries armed with tanks and heavy artillery storm the nearby city of Brega, 200 kilometres (125 miles) southwest of the main eastern city Benghazi

They intersperse this with scouring the newspapers rife with reports about the country, which is burning.

The, 'mad dog of the Middle East' as former US president Ronald Reagan called Moamer Gaddafi continues to cling on to power with desperate, insane violence.

Connection
The Shastris lost their daughter Mridula, in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Scotland. Libya had said in 2003 it accepted responsibility for the actions of its officials in connection with the bombing. M S Shastri, father of Mridula Shastri says, "We have no connection to Libya now. The matter was closed years ago. US had even declared Libya a non-terrorist country.u00a0 Why rake up all these old memories, which give sadness and pain? It is not even worth it. Even the one man convicted for the bombing, Abdelbaset El-Megrahi, was freed."

Punished
Even as the rebellion brews, reports have surfaced about ministers who have broken away from Gaddafi, accusing the leader himself of ordering the Lockerbie bombing. Shastri, like others, is shocked at the loss of life and events unfolding in the country. He says, "Gaddafi must be punished, and I say that not only because my daughter perished in the bombing but because he is autocratic and a complete dictator, subjugating his people for so many years. Why has he not been punished?"

Distress
Shanthi Shastri, mother of Mridula had expressed her distress at al-Megrahi being freed in an earlier interview. She had asked, "Why was El-Megrahi released? Just because he suffers from terminal cancer? So many people died in that bombing. Does that count for nothing? By that yardstick, one needs to free all prisoners who are suffering from illness. Why are they in jail?"

Bloodlust
M S Shastri said, "Whatever happens to El-Megrahi or now Gaddafi for that matter, There is no closure for us. We are never going to get back our child. All this violence in the world, these bombings, bloodlust, and revenge they are futile. We need to talk, negotiate and if there is a disagreement express it in acceptable ways. There should always be a peaceful resolution of conflict. We need to have a more tolerant outlook."

Peace
When a global uproar had simmered over the release of El-Megrahi with families of victims putting up online signatories objecting to his release and demanding answers, the Shastris had not signed up though. M S Shastri does not think it is worth probing the Gaddafi angle too now, at this stage.u00a0 All this gentleman wants is for people to learn that peace is the only way.

Flame
The Shastris have visited Lockerbie at least half a dozen times in their life, to light a candle in memory of their daughter. As the little flame flickers in memory of Dr Mridula Shastri, (she was an MBBS) former national level swimmer and brilliant academic, its kindly light is in sharp contrast to the current reign of terror enveloping Libya.u00a0 In Libya it is darkness, as lives continue to be snuffed out. A leader called Gadaffi rants and raves, promising a bloodbath and kills at will, showingu00a0 an appalled world that a mad dog's bite is as lethal as his bark.

Where is Lockerbie?

Lockerbie (Scottish Gaelic: Logarbaidh) is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately 75 miles (121 km) from Glasgow, and 20 miles (32 km) from the English border. It came to international attention in December 1988, when the wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 crashed there following an in-flight bomb explosion.

A Libyan man rips apart a copy of a book, showing an image of Libyan ruler Moamer Gaddafi before throwing itu00a0 in the north-central Libyan city of Benghazi.

The main UK memorial is at Dryfesdale Cemetery about a mile west of Lockerbie. There is a semicircular stone wall in the garden of remembrance with the names and nationalities of all the victims along with individual funeral stones and memorials. Inside the chapel at Dryfesdale, there is a book of remembrance.

There are memorials in Lockerbie and Moffat Roman Catholic churches, where plaques list the names of all 270 victims. In Lockerbie Town Hall Council Chambers, there is a stained-glass window depicting flags of the 21 different countries whose citizens lost their lives in the disaster. There is also a book of remembrance at Lockerbie public library and another at Tundergarth Church.

Trust formed

The Shastris formed the Mridula Shastri Trust in 1990 from a corpus of Rs 40 lakh. They give scholarships to deserving candidates to pursue their education and deserving sportspersons too.

Recipients like Dr Parthiv Sanghvi of Mumbai says the scholarship helped him pursue higher studies in London.

"The Shastris are such gentle, wonderful people. They must be given a salute for turning around their personal tragedy in such a way to help other people."

The Lockerbie Bombing

Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F.
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Kennedy International Airport. On Wednesday, 21 December 1988, the aircraft flying this route-a Boeing 747-121 named Clipper Maid of the Seas-was destroyed by a bomb, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members.

Eleven people in Lockerbie, in southern Scotland, were also killed as large sections of the plane fell in the town and destroyed several houses, bringing total fatalities to 270. As a result, the event has been named by the media as the Lockerbie bombing.

The explosion punched a 20-inch (0.51 m)-wide hole on the left side of the fuselage, almost directly under the 'P' in the Pan Am logo painted in the fuselage. The disintegration of the aircraft was rapid.

Of the total of 270 fatalities, 190 were American citizens and 43 British citizens
Just days before the sabotage of the aircraft, security forces in a number of European countries, including Britain, were put on alert after a warning from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that extremists might launch terrorist attacks to undermine the then ongoing dialogue between the United States and the PLO.

Released

Abdelbaset El-Megrahi, the only person convicted in 2001 of the bombing attack on Pan Am flight No 103, was released by Scotland in a controversy that continues to simmer. Al-Megrahi's release was granted by Scottish
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill in August (2009) on compassionate grounds.
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It was believed that the 58-year-old had less than three months to live. More than one year on, Al-Megrahi is still alive. The victim's families are devastated. Some time ago, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi, said al-Megrahi was still alive but "very sick."

Residents of the north central town of Benghazi wave an old Libyan flag as others celebrate burning books authored by Libyan ruler Moamer Gaddafi at a local park in the city

Gaddafi responsible?

Reports have re-surfaced about the Obama administration looking into allegations that Moamer Gaddafi may have ordered the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, even as he battles to control his country.u00a0 Libya had said in 2003 it accepted responsibility for the actions of its officials in connection with the bombing.

One report said that Hillary Clinton was recently given a letter addressed to US president Barack Obama signed by two family members of the Lockerbie victims asking to investigate the matter.

Former Libyan Justice Minister Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil, who has broken with Col Gaddafi and declared himself the head of a caretaker opposition government, was quoted as saying Col Gaddafi himself ordered the Lockerbie bombing.
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Reports stated that Mustapha Abdel-Jalil, said that The Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali El-Megrahi blackmailed Colu00a0 Gaddafi into engineering his release from a Scottish prison by threatening to reveal that the dictator ordered the devastating attack on Pan Am Flight 103 unless he was returned home to his family.
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This prompted the dictator to spend a huge amount on lobbying and legal fees in a campaign to secure the terrorist's release.