Appeal to Tamil Chauvinism is Karunanidhi’s last resort

Congress, AIADMK flay pro-LTTE, secessionist moves

IANS

CHENNAI: The Congress, the main ally of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK, and the state’s main opposition AIADMK Wednesday slammed “secessionist moves” by regional parties and the Tamil film industry under the guise of supporting the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka.Congress Legislature Party leader D. Sudarsanam and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha decried attempts of organisations and individuals openly supporting the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and demanded their arrest and prosecution.”The Congress calls for stern action against pro-LTTE elements - regardless of their being politicians or media personalities as they have openly begun secessionist moves,” Sudarsanam told reporters after an urgent meeting of Congress legislators.”The National Security Act should be invoked against movie directors Seeman and Ameer for canvassing support for terrorists, espousing separatist causes in India and threatening to start an armed rebellion from a public platform in Rameshwaram Oct 19.”Failure to do so will result in agitations to prosecute persons like Seeman and Ameer who blatantly insulted Congress martyrs (late prime ministers) Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi,” Sudarsanam added.Jayalalitha blamed Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi for allowing “secessionist movements” to take root in Tamil Nadu and allowing a free run for terrorist organisations with links to the LTTE for espousing separatist causes.”The LTTE is a terrorist organisation linked to several fissiparous outfits in India and abroad. While local outfits like the banned People’s War Group, United Liberation Front of Assam and at least three terrorist movements in Tamil Nadu are known to be open collaborators with the Tigers, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence also has an unholy alliance with this outfit,” Jayalalitha said.”While during Karunanidhi’s rule, such movements always manage to take roots, it is surprising that former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s widow Sonia Gandhi has tacitly allowed the LTTE to operate freely in India. Rajiv Gandhi’s killers like Nalini (Murugan) have adopted holier-than-thou attitudes and claim to be fighting for their birthright of freedom after assassinating the former prime minister in cold blood,” Jayalalitha added.The AIADMK leader, however, did not react to statements by its main ally MDMK leader Vaiko which termed as “Tamil traitors” all those who opposed LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran’s “fight for the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka”.A few days ago, Vaiko had demanded that apart from immediately stopping military aid, India also cut off diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka.Meanwhile, Karunanidhi issued a statement criticising the Sri Lankan regime for “killing Tamil civilians” and exhorting his supporters to make the human chain protest slated for Friday a success.”Men, women, children are felled cruelly by bullets of those inimical to the origins of Tamil race. Only those with treason against the Tamil nationality in their minds are opposing the spirited defence of the Tamil race’s origins rightful homeland - Eelam,” Karunanidhi said in an open letter addressed to his party workers, writing in Murasoli - the DMK party organ.