From survivors, politicians to intelligentsia, all denounce premature release of Rajiv Gandhi's killers.

ISLAMABAD -- The Indian supreme court on Friday ordered a premature release of six people convicted for killing former Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi, prompting a strong reaction from the victim families, the politicians and intelligentsia calling it 'shocking' and another 'blot' on the reputation of the BJP-influenced Indian judiciary.

In 1991, a women suicide bomber had killed Rajiv Gandhi in Indian state of Tamil Nadu when he was 46.

The assassination was carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Sri Lankan separatist group. A total of 16 people were killed in the 1991 suicide bombing, including Rajiv Gandhi, 9 police personnel and 6 others.

The court released the killers based on their 'satisfactory conduct' in prison and that they had served over three decades of jail time.

However, the decision was widely denounced in India and being dubbed as another tactic of the BJP government to pursue Hindutva ideology through arm-twisting the political opponents and ethnic minorities across the country.

Some critics called it out as 'national disgrace,' 'egregious' and 'dangerous precedent', while others opined that it could only happen in 'banana judiciary.'

Be it is Babri Masjid, Samjhauta Express blast, Bilkis Bano rape or Hijab ban case, this is not the first time, the Indian judiciary has passed a judgment siding with the RSS agenda and letting the hardcore elements go free putting the lives of millions from the minority communities at risk.

The Indian National Congress came up with a strong reaction with its general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh calling the decision 'totally unacceptable and completely erroneous'.

'The Congress party criticises it clearly and finds it wholly untenable. It is most unfortunate that the Supreme Court has not acted in consonance with the spirit of India on this issue,' he said.

Chairperson Social Media and Digital Platforms of Indian National Congress Supriya Shrinate, said, 'The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi was an attack on the soul of India - it can never be pardoned.'

'Rajiv Gandhi's assassination was a national tragedy... His assassins' release is a national disgrace. It sets the worst kind of soft-state precedent,' said Shekar Gupta, Founder, ThePrint, an Indian online newspaper.

Renowned Indian journalist Barkha Dutt calling the release of Rajiv Gandhi's killer 'egregious' said 'We cannot possibly complain about the release in other rape and murder cases if the...