If Kalaignar were a Bihari

Aditya Sinha

First Published : 01 Nov 2008 01:38:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 01 Nov 2008 07:32:05 AM IST

Sometimes I wonder: what if Mr Kalaignar was a Bihari. He is, as you know, Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi; I am, as regular readers know, an American Bihari.We have something in common: the Shiv Sena. The Sena was born mobilizing unemployed Marathis by demonizing the “Madrasi”. Now that Sena founder Bal Thackeray is close to croaking, his nephew Raj and son Uddhav are wrestling for his political inheritance by demonizing the “Bihari”.

In the way that “Madrasi” encompassed all south Indians during the Sena’s birth, “Bihari” includes everyone from the Gangetic belt. This is confusing. South Indians refer to all north Indians as “Punjabis”, so for the “Madrasi”, are Marathis and Biharis sub-sets of “Punjabis”? And why does the “Madrasi” refer to those from the Northeast (like my wife) as north Indians when “Punjabis” refer to them as “Chinkies”? Should we refer to Kashmiris as “Extremely North Indians”? Since Pakistan is dominated by Punjabis, are they a subset of north Indians too? And since Hema Malini and Sridevi both married Punjabis, are they traitors? But I digress. The attacks on Biharis will likely continue for another year, till the Maharashtra assembly elections are due. In part, this is because both Raj and Uddhav think their incontinent old man is going to pop it sometime soon; he was too “leaky” to travel to election meetings far from his house “Matoshri” in Bandra during the 2004 elections. Their fight for the soul of the Sena means a bit of economy with the truth: the Maharashtra state labour commission apparently says there is no fight for jobs between Marathis and Biharis; Marathis dominate government jobs, Biharis do the low-level stuff, and the private sector (which can’t be regulated through quotas) is dominated by the folks from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Could Raj and Uddhav be jumping the gun? After all, their old man is a couple of years younger than our Mr Kalaignar who, Brahmanical Gods willing, will torment India for many years to come. And he hasn’t lost his touch: he recently wrote in the Sena mouthpiece, Samna, that Biharis were “an unwanted lot” in the country, or that the 16 Bihar MPs who have threatened to resign were “spitting into the plate they ate from”. It seems that my wife is not the only one who thinks Biharis are unwanted.

In fact, till my wife and I met, she, like the ULFA, thought all Biharis were either tea garden labourers or rickshaw drivers. In Punjab, at the height of terrorism in the 1980s, extremists used to gun down Bihari migrant workers, though Punjabi entrepreneurs are now trying to woo Biharis back since their own people are too prosperous to do manual farm labour.
In Delhi, Biharis will soon overtake Punjabis as the capital’s largest ethnic group; that the BJP has chosen a Punjabi candidate, V K Malhotra, for CM means the Biharis are likely to vote for Mayawati and thereby split the Congress tally. Even CM Sheila Dixit last year spoke of how “these Biharis” came to Delhi and stayed on.

Even in America. While I grew up, other Indian youngsters used to snort when I revealed I was from Bihar (you’d think that Indians would display more unity living halfway across the globe). Once, feeling demoralized I told my father, and he counseled me to buck up; “Tell them about Bihar’s ancient culture,” he said. “How it was the birthplace of Buddhism, and the centre of the empire of Chandragupta Maurya, the first unifier of India.” In fact,my parents are currently visiting from America; my mother comes annually for Chhath puja, this year on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the same time as the US presidential elections (anyway they would have split their votes between Obama and McCain). Chhath entails worship of the Sun; it is said to have started in the Mahabharata with Karna, the son of Kunti by the Sun God. Biharis celebrate it wherever they migrate to; in New York, my mother tells me, one of her friends does Chhath on the banks of the Hudson River. Though my mother stopped going to Bihar for Chhath during the lawless years of Laloo Prasad’s reign, she did the puja in Delhi, where I used to live.
In fact, the 16 MPs who were protesting against Raj Thackeray’s behaviour and who demanded a CBI inquiry into the police shooting of an angry young migrant, said they would quit Parliament after Chhath.

My father and I were watching the announcement on TV and I laughed; I further laughed when I saw Raj Thackeray ask his supporters not to disrupt Chhath in Maharashtra.
The resignation threat was as sincere as the recent DMK threat to resign (thereby threatening to pull down the UPA government) in case India did not ensure a ceasefire in Sri Lanka.
But Karunanidhi seems to have had his cake and eat it too. He gets away with his hypocrisy and remains the “champion” of Tamil Eelam, simply because there is nobody else to inherit his mantle (sons Stalin and Azhagiri are no patch on Raj and Uddhav, so Chennai’s Biharis need not worry).

After him, there will be a real crisis of leadership in opposition to Jayalalithaa. If Vaiko or Ramadoss were capable of the top job, they would have somehow got it by now; if they have not, they will never.Vijaykanth does not seem to have any depth, relying for advice on the discards from other parties.

He seems like nothing more than a popular face. Plus, he has no neck.

And if Karunanidhi had roared against the attacks against Biharis,would Raj or Uddhav have had the temerity to tell him to mind his own business, the way they did to Laloo or chief minister Nitish Kumar? Probably not. Of course, Mr Kalaignar takes his alpha-male role too seriously when he throws stones at women, the way his gang did at Jayalalithaa in Madurai on Thursday. His support to Tamil Eelam remains just a lot of lip service, done to ensure his family’s political and business survival, as the coming months may prove. And with Laloo around, Bihar isn’t big enough for two kalaignars.

Last week, my wife scolded me for bragging about my American heritage. I did it because Obama’s words made me proud of that heritage. The USA is lucky to have a leader like him. India’s luck can be gauged by the transcendence of its Thackerays, Laloos, Kalaignars, Amar Singhs, Sonias, Advanis, et al. Our luck is further eroded by the fact that we have a prime minister who is incapable of politically managing this vast land. I don’t buy the theory that at any given time, a chunk of India wants to secede. I think we lack the visionary leaders we had at independence, men and women who forged a nation out of so many peoples.

And if you want to see who’s to blame, you need just look in the mirror!.

editorchief@epmltd.com
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=If+Kalaignar+were+a+Bihari&artid=fAclz7FoN0o=&SectionID=d16Fdk4iJhE=&MainSectionID=d16Fdk4iJhE=&SectionName=aVlZZy44Xq0bJKAA84nwcg==&SEO=karunanidhi,%20tamil%20eelam,%20bal%20thackeray

D Company backing RAJ & His MNS to attack on North Indian Hindus

Here is a view from the Hindu Mahasabha

Dear Hindus, Through ome sources and present incidents of Maharashtra its our duty that people should know reality of RAJ THAKERY & HIS MNS.In behind congress is playing this game just to come in Power again in Maharashtra. MNS attacking only NORTH INDIAN HINDUS not NORTH INDIAN MUSLIMS or BENGLADESHI MUSLIMS.Whereas MUMBAI is full from MUSLIMS from AZAMGARH and fromBENGLADESH. "DAWOOD IBRAHIM" is GOD for MUSLIMS in MUMBAI or MAHARASTRA and MNS workers never attacked these MUSLIMS but target North Indian Hindus only.Our representative from MUMBAI told this fact that "D" Company & CONGRESS backing RAJ & his MNS. In Mumbai few days back all TAXI owners went to strike beacuse VILAS RAO DESHMUKH(CM of Maharshtra going to ban old TAXIS beacuse "D" company have invested money in "MERU"(CAB/TAXI PROVIDER COMPANY) who bringing more new CABS in MUMBAI and VILASH RAO DESHMUKH will also benefited from "MERU". These days in MUMBAI POLICE some currpt Police Officers backing "D" company even these Officers are involved in extortions too.Now Mumbai Police killing the opponents of "D" company and helping to run their rackets in Maharshtra.Crime level in MUMBAI and Maharashtra have been increased.So why ATS in MUMBAI torturing innocent SADHWI PRAGYA and Retired ARMY OFFICER MAJOR RAMESH UPADHYA... because "D" company put big pressure on Congress Govt. in Maharshtra and Police too.Even in central Govt. I.B. is also a tool of CENTRAL GOVT and I.B. is puppet of MADAM SONIA(Who is agent of CIA). This Govt. is de-moralising ARMY and torturing them in remand room those have served nation.UPA govt. have crossed its limits and helping Seperatist ISLAMIC TERRORIST.Even our MEDIA blaming Smt. HIMANI SAVARKAR who is NATIONAL PRESIDENT to provoke SADHWI PRAGYAJI Episode. I again appeal to all Hindu Organisations and ARMED PERSON please come together and fight against these ANTI-NATION forces to save BHARAT MATA.Please forward this mail to maximum no. of people if you are real son or daughter of BHARAT MATA. Dr SANTOSH KUMAR RAI National Organising Secretary AKHILBHARAT HINDU MAHASABHA (New Delhi)

DMK, Congress playing politics: CPI, BJP

IANS

CHENNAI: The Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday assailed External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for allegedly using the plight of the suffering Tamil minority in Sri Lanka for political ends.

"The discussions between Karunanidhi and Mukherjee (Sunday) were centred round the crisis that could have arisen due to the resignation of (16) DMK MPs from parliament. Later, for appearances' sake, the duo merely issued open-ended statements around probabilities of the Sri Lankan military establishment's future stoppage of assaults on innocent Tamil civilians and nothing more," CPI state secretary D. Pandian said.

Senior BJP leader Ila Ganeshan said separately: "The threat of the resignation of MPs from parliament was a mere drama aimed at diverting attention of the masses from the urgent issues in Tamil Nadu like the electricity shortage, law and order problems and rising prices. None expected the resignations to be handed over on Oct 29 to the speaker. The suffering Sri Lankan Tamil minority has only served the narrow political ends of the DMK and the Congress."

A decision was taken during a meeting of the ruling DMK and its allies Oct 14 that all MPs from Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry would collectively resign from parliament if the central government did not take decisive steps before Oct 29 to end the killings of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka.

The DMK's 16 Lok Sabha members and four Rajya Sabha members handed over letters resigning from parliament to party president Karunanidhi.

Since Karunanidhi issued several statements to record his appreciation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's attempts to alleviate the sufferings of Sri Lankan Tamils.

The decision to defer the resignation threat emerged after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's senior advisor Basil Rajapaksa held talks with top Indian leaders in New Delhi Sunday and assured them that innocent Tamils will not be harmed.

Tamilnadu politics and the LTTE defeat - they are dud as a damp squib!

October 27, 2008 by janamejayan ( http://janamejayan.wordpress.com/ )
Mutual survival resolves the conflict!
NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: For the first time since the conflict in Sri Lanka besieged New Delhi, there were signs on Sunday that the crisis had blownover for the UPA. Pranab Mukherjee’s unscheduled meeting with Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi in Chennai in the evening seemed to have ended on a positive note, with the external affairs minister stating that the DMK chief had assured him that he would not precipitate a crisis for the UPA.

Mukherjee was rushed to Chennai hours after Sri Lanka’s special envoy, Basil Rajapaksa, assured him in Delhi that the authorities were going out of their way to ensure the safety of Tamil civilians in the war-torn island nation. Basil Rajapaksa, who is advisor to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was sent to New Delhi on Sunday to apprise the Indian government about the situation in the country.

The Mukherjee-Rajapaksa meeting on Sunday may have provided the safe exit passage for Karunanidhi as he was feeling increasingly alienated over the issue in the past few days.
With AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa slamming the DMK for its alleged support to LTTE and Congress keeping away from the human chain organized by the party, Karunanidhi clearly had been cornered.

After his meeting with Mukherjee, Karunanidhi indicated that his party ministers would not resign from the Congress-led UPA government. “The chief minister has assured that he will not precipitate any crisis in the UPA,” Mukherjee said at Karunanidhi’s residence after the hour-long meeting.

Asked about the resignation threat, Karunanidhi said Mukherjee had requested him to postpone any decision in this regard as it would lead to a lot of complications. “I will certainly not create problems for the Centre,” the chief minister said. Specifically asked if he was sending the resignation letters of his party MPs to the Speaker, he said cryptically, “You can infer from Mukherjee’s statement.”

However, the key DMK demand — that India ensure a ceasefire — remains unfulfilled. Mukherjee said: “As we are not a party to the ceasefire, we can’t ask them to (call a ceasefire).” All that he said was there could be no military solution. “During our interaction, both the Prime Minister and I have said there can’t be a military solution. We are asking them to find a political solution,” Mukherjee said.

Karunanidhi said, ” The question as to who will bring about a truce is yet to be answered. Will India lead the talks, or some other countries or some organizations will take the lead has to be decided,” he said, emphasizing that a climate conducive for negotiations would have to be created first. When told that reviving Norway’s facilitation might take time, he said: “It should not take much time.”

Both leaders agreed that the decades-old ethnic conflict could not be solved in a fortnight or five weeks. “We wanted a ceasefire to give effective relief to public,” the DMK chief said, expressing satisfaction at the pace and tone at which the Centre had got Sri Lanka to make a promise that the Tamil civilians would not be hurt anymore in the war against the LTTE.

In New Delhi, Rajapaksa also met NSA M K Narayanan and foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon. As a gesture of goodwill, India has decided to send around 800 tonnes of relief material to Sri Lanka for the affected civilians in the North. Rajapaksa said that the Sri Lankan government would facilitate the delivery.

” Both sides discussed the need to move towards a peacefully negotiated political settlement in the island including in the North. Both sides agreed that terrorism should be countered with resolve. The Indian side called for implementation of the 13th Amendment and greater devolution of powers to the provinces,” the foreign ministry said in an official statement in New Delhi.

Rajapaksa emphasized that the Sri Lankan president and his government were firmly committed to a political process that would lead to a sustainable solution. The two sides also agreed to further nurture the democratic process in the Eastern Province.

During the talks with Rajapaksa, the two sides agreed to put in place practical arrangements to deal with bonafide Indian and Sri Lankan fishermen crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line. As part of these practical arrangements, Indian fishing vessels will not venture into sensitive areas designated by the Lankan government. Further, there will be no firing on Indian fishing vessels.

“It was agreed that Indian fishing vessels would carry valid registration/permit and the fishermen would have on person valid identity cards issued by the Tamil Nadu government,” said the foreign ministry.

India and Sri Lanka also agreed to continue with their discussions, initiated in 2005, on the proposed Memorandum of Understanding on development and cooperation in the field of fisheries.

The following was posted by Dravidadwija in Kanchiforum:

Rajapaksa’s assurance on displaced in Wanni COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said his government has made arrangements for the safety of the displaced civilians in Wanni once they enter the “cleared areas” from the LTTE controlled territory amid reports of heavy fighting on Sunday. Mr. Rajapaksa gave the assurance when Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree called on him at the Presidential Palace on Friday and discussed the situation in Wanni and the political developments in South India. Mr. Rajapaksa briefed the TULF chief in detail the measures to ensure the safety of the civilians displaced in Killinochchi and Mullathivu. He told him the LTTE had blocked those innocent civilians from entering the cleared areas but is creating a wrong picture that the government was to blame. The TULF leader told the President that he had written a letter to Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi on the Wanni situation and urged him to prevail upon the LTTE to let people trapped in the war zone go wherever they wished. In his letter titled “What should be done”, released here on Sunday, the TULF said the Tamil People of Sri Lanka were glad that Tamil Nadu had started showing interest in the Sri Lankan ethnic problem but were disappointed that the concerns of the trapped Tamil people had been ignored. “LTTE is using them as human shield to protect them. The people are also upset and worried that the enthusiasm displayed in Tamil Nadu is showing tendencies of confrontation with the majority community the Sinhalese, with whom the Tamils had been living from time immemorial and will have to live in the future as well. Early solution : “Long before his assassination, Mahatma Gandhi had warned that India and Ceylon can’t afford to quarrel [with] each other, but more than that being immediate neighbours and having several things in common, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka should maintain cordial relationship between the two.” Mr. Anandasangaree said the decision of the All Party Conference to seek the help of the central government to find an early solution was perfectly alright but it was not the immediate need of our people trapped and kept under compulsion in Killinochchi by the LTTE. The TULF said in the interests of the Tamils, the leaders of Tamil Nadu should forget their political differences and find a solution to the ethnic problem.

Now let’s see what has happened so far.

1. We all know that Pirabakaran has been cornered and has nowhere to go. His ‘fort’ being overrun is only a matter of time.

2. Pirabhakaran’s friends such as MuKa and the sundry Dravidian outfilts have tried their best to pressurize the Govt.of India into relieving Pirabakaran from his check-mate position. They employed such threats as their MPs quitting the parliament and some lower rung vishamis even threatening secession. Poor Vaiko did a oneupmanship on that and landed in jail.

3. The Congress thought it could get away with some initial moral support for it had reconed that the DMK is doing some ‘udaance’ to sooth its ‘Tamil chauvinists’ but did a big ‘jahaa’ when it realized that MuKa might be taking it for a ride.

4. The bravado talks of the DMK and its ilks to carry arms into Srilanka or its talk of pulling the plug on the UPA govt were big but stupid bluffs that were easily called.

5. The talk of secession of Tamils have found no takers.

6. DMK again got isolated with Congress and AIADMK arrayed against it. It still held the trump card of pulling the plug on the UPA which would also be committing harakiri for the Congress in turn would pull out and kill the DMK govt.

7. So Pranab Mukharjee jumps in to cojole Karunanidhi not to be stupid. So this straw of ‘truce’ and ‘negotiated settlement’ are being flown as their new kites. That was enought for MuKa to retreat!

But then what is this ‘truce’ and ‘negotiated settlement’ that is fancied about?

The grapewine talk is that the king of Tigers wants to escape to a safe haven (he seems to have stashed away huge wealth all over the world) and MuKa is prodding GOI to facilitate it!!
So either the ‘fort’ is run over or that the ‘brave’ beast escapes unhurt!! In the meantime his only choice is to hold those very people he swears to represent as hostage. But then we also see that the hostages are making noise in Jaffna. It is only going to get louder!

It is getting curiouser and curiouser isn’t it!

Yes of course, we are curoius too to see how this is resolved.

Paradox of Indian Secularism - The politics of the alliance of convenience

The fact that the DMK as a minority party is able to rule is because the Congress Party supports it. The Congress Party supports it because DMK supports the Congress to rule Delhi.

The DMK in its two years of rule has earned the reputation of the worst kind of swindlers. If there is an election today they would be roundly defeated.

The DMK support the Congress Party's UPA govt not only for its convenience to rule the state of Tamilnadu but to loot the central treasury through its ministers. The Sethu Samudhram project is a good example. However the UPA rule of the centre is to end shortly and it is conceived that it is facing a certain defeat at the hands of the elctorate in the next election. So the DMK rat is trying to jump the ship.

What can be the best bet for Karunanidhi that can bring down two mangos with one stone? Given its unpopularity caused by its looting resulting in the economic ruin of Tamilnadu it cannot face the people with its 'achievements'. So the DMK and Karunanidhi have seized the near defeat of the LTTE for their survival. So they are appealing for the Tamil pride!

The Congress party went along for a short while in support of the LTTE even though this terrorist outfit has assasinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who was the leader of the Congress Party. But such support is a live wire and could not be held for two reasons: one is that the support to the LTTE is quickly transforming into a Tamil separatist movement in India and second, there is no quid pro quo from the DMK which is ready to abandon the UPA and bring down the Congress Govt of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

So the Congress Party came out demanding that the DMK govt. arrest all those who voice support for the separatist movement! Wow! Brave but stupid demand. Why stupid? Because the perpetrators of separatist cause is the DMK and how can one ask the thief to catch himself?!

The DMK seized the opportunity to arrest its political opponent and MDMK chief Mr.Vaiko and put him behind bars!

The drama goes on!

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.

The changing stripes

By: T R Jawahar

Saturday, 18 October, 2008 , 04:33 PM

He might be on the run and under terminal siege at home, but Veluppillai Prabakaran is having a good run in TN now. The sudden escalation of temperature on the Sri Lankan issue here is really a lifeline to one of the most wanted terrorists of our times. For if the TN blackmail of the Centre succeeds, VP will get a new lease of life. Of course, the people of the State are being fed the familiar alibi of solidarity with Sri Lankan Tamils. Well, of all the cries of woes coming across the Palk Straits, we all know which one is heard and heeded the most here!

After ensuring that no one else remained to fight for the Tamil cause, the supreme tiger has managed to pass muster under almost all the political skins in TN. To their credit, the MDMK and the PMK have never hidden their affinity to the LTTE. The two parties have been too vocal in their support, at times even warranting an extended ban. Thirumavalavan’s Viduthalai Chiruththaigal is extended family, as the name, intentionaly or inadvertently suggests. Its leaders are known to frequent Vavuniya till quite recently right under the noses of the authorities of the two nations. The DK and its breakaway factions have a known history of Tiger riding. Though his voice has been drowned by other megaphones this time, to Nedumaran, VP is the only Tamil that exists in Lanka. It is not difficult to guess where the sympathies of the fledgling DMDK of V’kanth lie; after all the origins of ‘Captain’ is tinsel legend.

No one knows the stand of the BJP. The AIADMK of course, has been steadfast in its opposition to the LTTE. The Left is a new entrant to the Eelam politics in TN. Actually it was the comrades who set the political ball rolling with a fast that eventually fizzled. That leaves the DMK and the Cong. While all the aforesaid outfits have been somewhat consistent in their behaviour, the DMK and Cong have made a virtue of contradictions. These two parties have played a variety of political games on the issue, at times at each other’s throat as antogonists, tangoing often as partners or simply engaging in friendly bouts while under one umbrella. From dare devilry to duplicity all tricks have been on parade. If the SL issue is now a diplomatic and emotional maze it is primarily due to the self-serving antics of these parties.

To the Cong first. To its prima donna specifically. If the LTTE today is less of a menace in the eyes of many, the credit must go in great measure to Sonia Gandhi. She has single handedly engineered a revival of its fortunes here and emboldened all the elements that have laid low for tactical or legal reasons after Rajiv’s death. Rajiv’s murder was a national calamity for it was a revenge killing for a decision he took as PM. It was also a personal tragedy, no doubt to his family and friends. But it was the Congress that mixed that personal grief with politics and made it a heady cocktail that caused cataclysmic convulsions in the nation and in TN.

The party brought down a government in 1997 because it could not support an alliance in which the DMK was a part. It is common knowledge that between 1991 to 1998, Sonia and family have on many occasions expressed displeasure at the tardy progress of investigations into Rajiv’s assassination, particulary w.r.t to DMK. She made a spirited defence of the Jain Commission and dubbed criticism of it as an attempt to divert the investigation. In a virtual direct attack on K, VP Singh and Chandra Shekhar, she said in Amethi in 1999: ‘There are some people in the political arena of the country who facilitated the murder of my husband’. And referring indirectly to G.K.Moopanar’s alliance with DMK, Sonia said:’There are people who are aligning with fans of my husband’s murderers due to the politics of power’. But soon, with the prospect of power blooming before her, the bloody clot thawed and the DMK became the most trusted soulmate. And worse, the PMK and MDMK are part of her bandwagon even without getting off their tiger-mounts! But if political pragmatism can provoke a personal leap of faith of this magnitude, does it not call for a special kind of mindset? But why bother! Dead men, even if they happen to be husbands, tell no tales, much less object!

With that somersault the Cong lost all moral authority to cage the tiger. But the idea looks to be to engage. It was Sonia’s fervent pleas that forced the law of the land to commute Nalini’s death sentence to life. It was a blatant interference with the judicial process, rather a perversion of a judicial verdict that sought to punish the enemies of the nation. This too became a saintly personal affair, as Sonia disposed of what the law had proposed. Very recently, Priyanka’s meeting with Nalini in jail was downright improper and again this too passed under the family’s divine right of passage above law. The clamour for N’s release gained momentum only after that. Given such trends, would it be wrong to expect a shift in India’s Lanka policy at the behest of the super PM? Indeed, Prabakaran has only to say sorry to Sonia by e-mail or SMS for ‘bumping off’ Rajiv, and not just pardon but even Indian paratroopers would be at his doorstep ahead of the Lankan army, for a sensationl airlift. Now, with such soft-hearted saints strutting around dispensing amnesty at random for whatever reasons, can anyone blame petty PMKs and vociferous Vaikos for holding tigers by the tail?

For the DMK, the Sri Lankan Tamil cause and even the LTTE are political bargaining chips. Commitment is subject to self-interest. No wonder, K could shelve self-respect and align with the very party that accused him of complicity in murder. But that’s a petty price. Now he has made bold to sacrifice MPs for Tamil’s sake and Tamils’ sake. That too his own daughter’s own post itself. But then how was the ultimate rationalist, under whose thumb the mighty Congress and the UPA regime lie, unaware of the military aid that the Indian Government is supposedly giving to Lanka? Obviously, the sudden rush of Tamil blood is provoked by other calculations in which SL Tamils figure least. But then with Tamils right under his nose here in TN getting the short shrift thanks to power cuts, traffic jams, inflation etc where is succour for those across seas? In any case, not all Tamils answer to names like A’Giri & K’Mozhi! But if we may suggest, why not quit as CM of Tamils’ nadu rather than exiting distant Delhi?

And as if the legitimate SL Tamil cause has not been belittled and destroyed enough, alternately by Sinhala chauvnists, the LTTE itself and the politics here, another familiar dimension unfolds: filmdom’s protest! We now know the script by heart: The SL Tamil cause will be served as speaker after hails the CM for serving the, er., SL Tamil cause! For the Cine Minister, pardon, Chief Minister, who has appointed himself as the sole arbiter of Tamil identity, that’s ratification enough of his Tamil credentials coming as it does from those who matter most to him. No matter if there are hardly any Tamils in tinseltown!

e-mail the writer attrjawahar@vsnl.net
http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=30

Dangerous pangs of proximity

Excerpts from the editorial of New Indian Express:

"The New Indian Express poll found that despite the remarkable groundswell of support the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have, mobilising Tamil opinion on the Sri Lankan issue was certainly not on top of their wish list of things politicians needed to devote their energies urgently. They would much rather that Karunanidhi devoted more energy to contain the prices and ameliorate the power situation in the state, for example. Yet, the chief minister has personally raised the stakes in the game of competitive politics to an unsustainable level and by using the word Eelam set a disturbing political precedent in an atmosphere surcharged with pre-election political manoeuvres.

Many might wonder what the state Congress unit is coming to in a meeting devoted to partisan special pleading."

New antics of the DMK to further their power grab

Suddenly the DMK threatens to quit the UPA!

Anyways they had shared the booty with the Congress's UPA for almost 5 years and why hang in with them anymore if it is reconed that the Congress is the sinking ship as the communists portray.

Afterall it is the tradition of the DMK to do just this as they did it to Hajpayee's NDA.

So what are their options? Continue with the UPA or join hands with the UNPA?

It looks the choice is between the frying pan and the fire! Both are going to lose the next election unless Maino uses her ill stashed money abroad to buy and rig the election. Oh, yea! these guys may have some stashed away abroad too but who knows!

Before I forget, do they really love the Srilankan Tamils or anyone other than MK's family?


'Stop Lankan war or we quit' - MuKa

IANS
First Published : 15 Oct 2008 10:59:00 PM IST
Last Updated : 15 Oct 2008 10:17:55 AM IST
CHENNAI: An all-party meeting convened by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Tuesday asked the central government to immediately halt all military aid to Sri Lanka and ensure an immediate ceasefire in the civil war on the island, warning that all MPs from the state would resign in two weeks if this didn't happen.

"The centre should stop the 30-year-old civil war that has resulted in thousands of Tamils' death in Eelam. Since Indian military aid is resulting in genocide of Tamils, this meeting urges its immediate stoppage," an official statement quoted a resolution adopted at the meeting as saying.
"This (all party) meeting informs the centre that if India does not fulfil the demands, (the inaction) may result in the resignation of all MPs from Tamil Nadu," another resolution said.
The meet also urged the central government to end the killings of Indian fishermen, allegedly in firing by the Sri Lankan navy, and sought the government's good offices to ensure that essential supplies reach the needy in the island through reputed international agencies like the Red Cross, the statement added.

Significantly, this is the first time the Tamil Nadu government has used the term "Eelam" in an official statement.

During the last three weeks, parties across the political divide have condemned Sri Lanka and termed as genocide the alleged mass murder of Tamils in that country.

Sri Lankan diplomatic sources, however, refrained from comment.

Now what does Manmohan Singh do to appease MuKa?

Sri Lanka situation cause for concern: PM
IANS
First Published : 16 Oct 2008 12:00:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 16 Oct 2008 12:08:03 AM IST
NEW DELHI: As Tamil MPs mounted pressure on the Centre over the incidents in Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the situation in the island nation is a cause for "serious concern" and asked Colombo to find a negotiated settlement rather than looking for a "military victory".

Underlining that the human rights of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka must be respected, Singh said India has conveyed its views to the island government, including at the time when National Security Adviser M K Narayanan called Sri Lanka's Deputy High Commissioner last week.
"Situation in Sri Lanka remains a cause of serious concern for India. We are concerned over escalating hostilities, losses suffered by civilians and increasing number of displaced persons," Singh said in reply to a question at a press conference after the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Summit here.

"We always believe that situation in Sri Lanka does not call for military victory. It calls for negotiated political settlement which respects the unity and the integrity of Sri Lanka and at the same time respects the essential human rights of minorities, particularly Tamil minorities," he said.

The Prime Minister said India is also "concerned over harassment and killing of Indian fishermen" while fishing in maritime area between India and Sri Lanka.
"We have made representations to the Sri Lankan government," he said and referred to the summoning of Sri Lanka's Deputy High Commissioner by Narayanan last week to "let know of India's intentions".

The Prime Minister's comments came against the backdrop of an all-party meeting in Tamil Nadu yesterday demanding that the Centre should act to stop military offensive in Sri Lanka failing which all MPs from the state would quit within a fortnight.

TN parties' concern conveyed to Sri Lanka: Congress

Meanwhile, the Congress on Wednesday said that it has conveyed the concerns of the Tamil Nadu parties to the Sri Lankan government but indicated that the Indian government had limitations on the issue of Sri Lankan army offensive in the Tamil-inhabited areas of the island.
"Those who make demands about other sovereign countries should know that India's sovereignty runs through the boundaries of India," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.

Singhvi said the Indian government cannot interfere with the sovereignty of other countries.
His comments came as a reaction to an all-party meeting in Tamil Nadu asking the Central government to ask Sri Lanka to end the offensive in Tamil areas within a fortnight failing which MPs from the state would resign from Parliament.

Singhvi said issues of and conduct of foreign relations should be left for the Centre. "That is something in the exclusive domain of the Centre (foreign relation issue)," he told Times Now channel.

He said "while condemning any violent act in another country, I do not think anything should be done or asked from the central government."

Another spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters that the concerns of the parties in Tamil Nadu has been conveyed to Sri Lanka through the Deputy High Commissioner.

"The parties should also understand that you are not dealing with a part of India but a sovereign nation," he said.

Asked about the threat of DMK, Tewari said it should not be seen as a threat but a concern. "Their principal concern is civilian casualties," he added.