PTI
First Published : 05 Nov 2008 11:59:00 PM IST
CHENNAI: Flaying the Hindu practice of smearing ash or saffron or sporting a 'tilak' on the forehead for yet another time, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Wednesday questioned the need for "such things in a country which preached equality of all religions."
Karunanidhi also questioned the rationale behind Brahmins wearing sacred thread. "What is the need for these things in a country that has accepted all religions and preached equality of the same," he asked in a poem penned by him in the wake of caste-related violence in Madurai yesterday in which one person was killed in police firing.
He had on earlier occasions also ridiculed the practice of smearing ash or saffron on the forehead.
The DMK chief had made similar remarks on certain other Hindu customs earlier and described Hindus as "robbers". But later he clarified that he meant Hindus were robbers "who stole hearts".
In the height of the Sethusamudram controversy, he had described Lord Ram as a "drunkard" and wondered whether he was a qualified engineer to have built the Ramasethu.
In the poem, Karunanidhi described truth as God, adding that all people were equal before God and described as "ignorance" those who were not aware of it.
"Caste differences are the offshoot of the branches called differences based on religion... lets chop off not only the branches but also uproot the tree to witness the emergence of a beautiful concept called equality," he said.
He also described as useless the face-off between believers and non-believers on the concept of God and said there was no point fighting over which faith was supreme.
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http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Karunanidhi+criticises+Hindu+practice+of+sporting+tilaks&artid=IHG62Rtk0o=&SectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&MainSectionID=vBlkz7JCFvA=&SEO=CM,+Karunanidhi&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==
Showing posts with label DMK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DMK. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
MK in a bind on Lankan Tamils
Express News Service
First Published : 03 Nov 2008 03:16:00 AM IST
Last Updated :
CHENNAI: DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has been literally caught in a catch-22 situation, being unable to antagonise the Congress, the only ally in Tamil Nadu, and being forced to do a tightrope walk on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, by renewing his call for unity among all parties.
The only weapon which comes handy to Karunanidhi now is the ‘unity mantra’, which he has been chanting time and again, ever since the Lankan Tamils issue took a serious turn in the recent past.
But the unity mantra has, in a way,united the entire opposition on one agenda: to criticise the DMK on the Tamils issue.
Despite the Centre’s diplomatic moves on the issue after the all-party meeting on October 14, the main demand for a ceasefire is yet to be realised and the truth is that the DMK can’t criticise the Union Government.
The PMK criticised the DMK leadership for the inaction on the issue, while the CPI, which gave a fresh momentum to the Lankan Tamils issue in the current situation, is also posing pertinent questions to the ruling DMK.
J Jayalalithaa, leader of the main opposition party, AIADMK, has been waging a fierce battle of words with Karunanidhi on the issue, while the MDMK chief, who is now in prison, has also condemned the DMK in unequivocal terms. Even the Congress is divided on the Lankan Tamils issue because of the LTTE.
Except for a few leaders, almost all of them have taken a firm stance against the Tigers.
CM hits out at Ramadoss
DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday took strong exception to the remarks of PMK founder leader S Ramadoss who had questioned the action of the DMK Government to raise funds for the cause of Lankan Tamils.
In a statement, he wondered how the PMK leader could criticise his action which was intended to help the suffering Tamils in the island nation. He said even the film fraternity had collected Rs 45 lakh for the Lankan Tamils at a fast in the city.
The fund thus raised would be given to the Tamils in Lanka through the International Red Cross and the United Nations’ representative, he said, and added that there was no need to harbour any fear that the money would be directly handed over to the Sri Lankan Government.
First Published : 03 Nov 2008 03:16:00 AM IST
Last Updated :
CHENNAI: DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has been literally caught in a catch-22 situation, being unable to antagonise the Congress, the only ally in Tamil Nadu, and being forced to do a tightrope walk on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, by renewing his call for unity among all parties.
The only weapon which comes handy to Karunanidhi now is the ‘unity mantra’, which he has been chanting time and again, ever since the Lankan Tamils issue took a serious turn in the recent past.
But the unity mantra has, in a way,united the entire opposition on one agenda: to criticise the DMK on the Tamils issue.
Despite the Centre’s diplomatic moves on the issue after the all-party meeting on October 14, the main demand for a ceasefire is yet to be realised and the truth is that the DMK can’t criticise the Union Government.
The PMK criticised the DMK leadership for the inaction on the issue, while the CPI, which gave a fresh momentum to the Lankan Tamils issue in the current situation, is also posing pertinent questions to the ruling DMK.
J Jayalalithaa, leader of the main opposition party, AIADMK, has been waging a fierce battle of words with Karunanidhi on the issue, while the MDMK chief, who is now in prison, has also condemned the DMK in unequivocal terms. Even the Congress is divided on the Lankan Tamils issue because of the LTTE.
Except for a few leaders, almost all of them have taken a firm stance against the Tigers.
CM hits out at Ramadoss
DMK president and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Sunday took strong exception to the remarks of PMK founder leader S Ramadoss who had questioned the action of the DMK Government to raise funds for the cause of Lankan Tamils.
In a statement, he wondered how the PMK leader could criticise his action which was intended to help the suffering Tamils in the island nation. He said even the film fraternity had collected Rs 45 lakh for the Lankan Tamils at a fast in the city.
The fund thus raised would be given to the Tamils in Lanka through the International Red Cross and the United Nations’ representative, he said, and added that there was no need to harbour any fear that the money would be directly handed over to the Sri Lankan Government.
PRESS RELEASE by Dr. SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY
PRESS RELEASE I demand that the Union Government probe the end use of the money and other relief materials collected in the name of suffering Sri Lankan Tamils, by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr.Karunanidhi, and as AIADMK leader has warned, the Union Government must ensure that these funds and materials do not end up with the LTTE, an internationally banned terrorist outfit. Most of the suffering Sri Lanka Tamils are presently being held as hostage and a buffer against a Sri Lanka army attack by the LTTE. Hence, India should assist the Sri Lanka government to free these poor helpless Tamils from the clutches of the LTTE and re-settle them in safe camps. The Central Government should also seek the cooperation of Sri Lanka to set up a cohesive Committee of democratically minded and of anti-LTTE commitment those Sri Lankan Tamil personalities who can occupy positions of authority once the Sri Lankan Constitution is amended with the already agreed devolution proposals. Today not one country in the world including Norway is willing to speak up for the LTTE. Many have banned it as a terrorist organisation. Even their "Tamil nationalist hero" Mr. Karunanidhi has to camouflage his support for the LTTE in the name of the suffering Tamils in the island. He does not dare to support openly the LTTE even as he sheds a few tears and pens a poem for their fallen in battle. His call for the ceasefire has been summarily rejected by his own government at the centre. The LTTE's national and global isolation thus is complete and total. Violence in the end does not secure or promote any cause.
(SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY)
(SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY)
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
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
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Swamy alleges mala fide intentions behind arrests
www.hindu.com …
Coimbatore: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has alleged male fide intentions behind the arrest of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Vaiko and party’s Presidium chairman M. Kannappan.
Talking to journalists here on Wednesday, Dr. Swamy said the Tamil Nadu government had resorted to a biased and arbitrary enforcement of law. Why the law had not been equally applied against those who spoke in favour of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, he asked, and sought the reasons for not arresting Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, Pazha Nedumaran and others, who had openly supported the LTTE.
“I am not opposed to the arrest of Mr. Vaiko and Mr. Kannappan. But my contention is that the DMK government is unfair in enforcing the rule of law and it was a clear case of political vendetta.”
Referring to the exclusive interview of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which appeared in The Hindu on Wednesday, Dr. Swamy said there had been a clear understanding from all sides on the need for a political solution, devolution of power and democratic rights. Reiterating the need for a federal constitution in Sri Lanka, with equal rights for the Tamils, Dr. Swamy said that in the absence of the same, he would form a movement for ensuring a federal constitution and equal rights for the Tamils.
Dr. Swamy said his party would field candidates in Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, but not in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The question of supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party would be considered only if that party asked for support. Under such circumstances, the Janata Party would ask the BJP to take a firm stand on crucial issues, including the Ramar Sethu.
Dr. Swamy said the BJP had a feeble stand on the Ramar Sethu issue and pointed out that the project was cleared when the BJP was in power
Coimbatore: Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy has alleged male fide intentions behind the arrest of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Vaiko and party’s Presidium chairman M. Kannappan.
Talking to journalists here on Wednesday, Dr. Swamy said the Tamil Nadu government had resorted to a biased and arbitrary enforcement of law. Why the law had not been equally applied against those who spoke in favour of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, he asked, and sought the reasons for not arresting Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol. Thirumavalavan, Pazha Nedumaran and others, who had openly supported the LTTE.
“I am not opposed to the arrest of Mr. Vaiko and Mr. Kannappan. But my contention is that the DMK government is unfair in enforcing the rule of law and it was a clear case of political vendetta.”
Referring to the exclusive interview of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which appeared in The Hindu on Wednesday, Dr. Swamy said there had been a clear understanding from all sides on the need for a political solution, devolution of power and democratic rights. Reiterating the need for a federal constitution in Sri Lanka, with equal rights for the Tamils, Dr. Swamy said that in the absence of the same, he would form a movement for ensuring a federal constitution and equal rights for the Tamils.
Dr. Swamy said his party would field candidates in Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, but not in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
The question of supporting the Bharatiya Janata Party would be considered only if that party asked for support. Under such circumstances, the Janata Party would ask the BJP to take a firm stand on crucial issues, including the Ramar Sethu.
Dr. Swamy said the BJP had a feeble stand on the Ramar Sethu issue and pointed out that the project was cleared when the BJP was in power
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
BJP has misgivings over relief for Lankan Tamils
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=11800%20&%20section=5
Wed, 29 Oct, 2008,02:44 PM
.
Casting some doubts over the ongoing collection of relief fund for Sri Lankan Tamils, BJP State president L Ganesan today wanted to know whether the money would really reach the needy.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the relief materials sent to the tsunami victims in the island nation by the BJP was stopped.
‘Hence we have decided not to collect fund or other things for the affected Tamils. If a positive assurance is given by the authorities, we are ready to do so,’ he said.
Stating that the BJP would find a solution to the Lankan crisis in six months if voted to power, Ganesan said Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had failed to help the ailing people in the neighbouring country even after sharing the power in the Centre for four and half years.
‘At a time when just months are left for the tenure of the Union government, Karunanidhi has made a mockery that his party MPs would resign over the issue.’
The BJP leader said all those speaking in support of the banned LTTE organisation should be arrested.
On the fishermen issue, Ganesan said Pranab Mukherjee’s remarks that the Sri Lankan Navy would no more attack the Indian fisherman showed his ignorance. ‘The fishermen from India are entitled to fish anywhere as per an agreement between India and Lanka,’ he said.
He also said that the DMK should have properly briefed the Centre on the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka, as those in the power were unaware of the issue.
Ganesan said that the Indian government had every right to pressurise Lanka over the issue, as more than one lakh refugees from the neighbouring nation were being fed here.
On the recent remarks by Karunanidhi that the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal project should be completed soon, the BJP leader said the Chief Minister was not trying to construct a bridge, but to destroy the one constructed by Lord Rama.
Wed, 29 Oct, 2008,02:44 PM
.
Casting some doubts over the ongoing collection of relief fund for Sri Lankan Tamils, BJP State president L Ganesan today wanted to know whether the money would really reach the needy.
Speaking to reporters here, he said the relief materials sent to the tsunami victims in the island nation by the BJP was stopped.
‘Hence we have decided not to collect fund or other things for the affected Tamils. If a positive assurance is given by the authorities, we are ready to do so,’ he said.
Stating that the BJP would find a solution to the Lankan crisis in six months if voted to power, Ganesan said Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had failed to help the ailing people in the neighbouring country even after sharing the power in the Centre for four and half years.
‘At a time when just months are left for the tenure of the Union government, Karunanidhi has made a mockery that his party MPs would resign over the issue.’
The BJP leader said all those speaking in support of the banned LTTE organisation should be arrested.
On the fishermen issue, Ganesan said Pranab Mukherjee’s remarks that the Sri Lankan Navy would no more attack the Indian fisherman showed his ignorance. ‘The fishermen from India are entitled to fish anywhere as per an agreement between India and Lanka,’ he said.
He also said that the DMK should have properly briefed the Centre on the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka, as those in the power were unaware of the issue.
Ganesan said that the Indian government had every right to pressurise Lanka over the issue, as more than one lakh refugees from the neighbouring nation were being fed here.
On the recent remarks by Karunanidhi that the Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal project should be completed soon, the BJP leader said the Chief Minister was not trying to construct a bridge, but to destroy the one constructed by Lord Rama.
Pepper MK with telegrams, ask him to quit, says Jaya
First Published : 29 Oct 2008 02:30:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 29 Oct 2008 10:32:02 AM IST
CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday called upon the people of Tamil Nadu to send in telegrams to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi asking him to quit for staging a farcical drama.In a statement, Jayalalithaa, who mentioned a news item about Gangai Murugan, who got drunk, climbed the scaffolding of a billboard in Nellai and threatened to jump off and commit suicide, said, ``Some people enact various types of dramas to catch attention. Only when they are taught a bitter lesson, they will stop doing it.’’ She said Karunanidhi was “apparently unaware that India could not interfere in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka.’’ “His misconception was cleared by no less an authority than the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who had come down to Chennai on Sunday to tell him that it would not be possible for India to bring about a ceasefire in Sri Lanka as that would amount to interfering in the internal affairs of that island nation.’’ “Convinced that nothing more could be done for the Tamils in Sri Lanka, he decided not to hand over the resignation letters of all his party MPs, thereby avoiding a crisis for the Centre,’’ she said.She claimed that in return, the Congress would ensure that its MLAs in Tamil Nadu, who sustained Karunanidhi’s minority government in power today, would behave accordingly.Jayalalithaa, calling the whole affair as a drama and a farce, pointed out that ``On day one, when it was reported that Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi had handed over her resignation to her father and not to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, I had predicted this was how things would shape out. Even Karunanidhi, with all his ingenuity and theatre experience, could not come up with a better script!’’ She said “ Karunanidhi will continue to stage many more such farcical dramas and fool the people who trust him. He should know what the people think and this has to be done, if Tamil Nadu has to survive.’’ “He has to go. And we cannot expect the Centre to do anything about it. For, the persons in power at the Centre are also supporting actors in Karunanidhi’s play,’’ she said.Saying that Karunanidhi had taken nation for a ride, she said he conveniently forgot all about the thousands of Tamils who had been homeless or been displaced by the ongoing war in Sri Lanka.
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.
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.
Monday, October 27, 2008
TN government denies plans to arrest Jayalalithaa
IANS
First Published : 27 Oct 2008 06:53:29 PM IST
Last Updated : 27 Oct 2008 07:06:48 PM IST
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government Monday denied the claims of opposition leader J. Jayalalithaa of her impending arrest by the state police. "The allegation is a figment of her imagination and not based on any fact," Director General of Police K.P. Jain said in a press release here. Jayalalithaa, AIADMK chief, said in a statement Sunday evening that she has been informed by top police officials that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has ordered her arrest "under any pretext" following her demand for dismissal of the DMK regime for its "anti-national acts". "Stung by my demanding the arrest of Karunanidhi and the dismissal of his government for anti-national crimes for which Marumalarchi DMK leaders Vaiko and M. Kannappan were arrested, the chief minister has exhorted reluctant police officials to immediately arrest me under some pretext or other. I have been informed about this by officials," Jayalalitha said in a statement. "Since MDMK leaders have been arrested after being accused of anti-national acts of supporting the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, for circulating elegies for the deaths of LTTE leaders Tamilselvan and Anton Balasingham using government machinery, Karunanidhi too deserves to be arrested," Jayalalitha said. "As I demanded that this be done by the central government after dismissing the minority DMK regime due to the impossibility of the state police detaining a chief minister, Karunanidhi is planning this vengeful action against me," Jayalalitha added. She also demanded, in her statement, the arrest of film personalities Ramanarayanan, director Bharti Raja and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan for their anti-national statements in praise of LTTE leader Prabhakaran
First Published : 27 Oct 2008 06:53:29 PM IST
Last Updated : 27 Oct 2008 07:06:48 PM IST
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government Monday denied the claims of opposition leader J. Jayalalithaa of her impending arrest by the state police. "The allegation is a figment of her imagination and not based on any fact," Director General of Police K.P. Jain said in a press release here. Jayalalithaa, AIADMK chief, said in a statement Sunday evening that she has been informed by top police officials that Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has ordered her arrest "under any pretext" following her demand for dismissal of the DMK regime for its "anti-national acts". "Stung by my demanding the arrest of Karunanidhi and the dismissal of his government for anti-national crimes for which Marumalarchi DMK leaders Vaiko and M. Kannappan were arrested, the chief minister has exhorted reluctant police officials to immediately arrest me under some pretext or other. I have been informed about this by officials," Jayalalitha said in a statement. "Since MDMK leaders have been arrested after being accused of anti-national acts of supporting the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, for circulating elegies for the deaths of LTTE leaders Tamilselvan and Anton Balasingham using government machinery, Karunanidhi too deserves to be arrested," Jayalalitha said. "As I demanded that this be done by the central government after dismissing the minority DMK regime due to the impossibility of the state police detaining a chief minister, Karunanidhi is planning this vengeful action against me," Jayalalitha added. She also demanded, in her statement, the arrest of film personalities Ramanarayanan, director Bharti Raja and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi leader Thol Thirumavalavan for their anti-national statements in praise of LTTE leader Prabhakaran
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.
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.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
T.R.Jawahar's description of DMK's 'Parinaama valarchi'
Kalaingar K’s dilemmas are legendary. At the personal level, no amount of rationalism has been able to settle certain ‘issues’. Disposing of the Marans was easy. But choosing from Azhagiri, Stalin and Kanimozhi and their progeny is turning out to be a tough call even for someone who has handled the mothers of many such dilemmas with ease. Politically too, with elections round the corner, it’s dilemma time again: Have all the bridges ...sethus ... been burnt with Lord Ram’s own party, BJP? Or should the Roman holiday continue? And with the familiar tiger rearing its head again, is there a way out by which he can play protector of SL Tamils without being dubbed anti-national? Trust the ultimate rationalist to come up trumps. Really, arresting Vaiko, the familiar fall guy, had never posed a dilemma to any CM. Having thus established his patriotic credentials, how now to ‘save’ the SL tamils and make the SL army shudder in their military fatigues? Lo, a human chain, that’s it! But from cycle chains, that’s truly a sterling evolutionary growth (parinama valarchi) indeed and a peaceful resolution of the dangerous dravidian dilemma!
Kalaingar K’s dilemmas are legendary. At the personal level, no amount of rationalism has been able to settle certain ‘issues’. Disposing of the Marans was easy. But choosing from Azhagiri, Stalin and Kanimozhi and their progeny is turning out to be a tough call even for someone who has handled the mothers of many such dilemmas with ease. Politically too, with elections round the corner, it’s dilemma time again: Have all the bridges ...sethus ... been burnt with Lord Ram’s own party, BJP? Or should the Roman holiday continue? And with the familiar tiger rearing its head again, is there a way out by which he can play protector of SL Tamils without being dubbed anti-national? Trust the ultimate rationalist to come up trumps. Really, arresting Vaiko, the familiar fall guy, had never posed a dilemma to any CM. Having thus established his patriotic credentials, how now to ‘save’ the SL tamils and make the SL army shudder in their military fatigues? Lo, a human chain, that’s it! But from cycle chains, that’s truly a sterling evolutionary growth (parinama valarchi) indeed and a peaceful resolution of the dangerous dravidian dilemma!
Curbing dangerous tendencies
It was extremely irresponsible of a political leader like Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Vaiko to make a speech with barely concealed secessionist overtones and warn the Government of India that its help to protect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka would jeopardise the unity and integrity of India itself. Speaking from the same platform, his party chairman M. Kannappan was more explicit in warning the Centre not to force the Tamils in the Sta te to launch a struggle for a separate Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has moved swiftly to arrest them and charge them with sedition under the Indian Penal Code and with unlawful activity. Sedition involves speech that would “bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India.” To make it compatible with the right to freedom of speech under the Constitution, the Supreme Court has set the bar high on any prosecution for sedition, limiting it to “activities involving incitement to violence or intention or tendency to create public disorder or cause disturbance of public peace.” Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, any activity that amounts to advocacy of secession is an offence. Mr. Vaiko’s speech will be tested in the courts under both these provisions as the law takes its course.
What is clear, however, is that speeches and activities such as his are wholly unacceptable and politically dangerous. As this newspaper had spelt out in an editorial on October 18, the response of the Government of India and the people of Tamil Nadu needs to take into account certain imperatives in approaching the Sri Lankan situation. In the first place, no comfort should be given to the LTTE, which is a terrorist organisation banned in 30 countries including India. Secondly, the Indian commitment must be to finding a solution that envisages devolution of powers to the Tamil regions within a united Sri Lanka, which would mean giving no quarter to the demand for an independent Eelam. Thirdly, mainstream political parties in Tamil Nadu need to make a sharp distinction between the current military plight of the LTTE and the displacement and suffering caused by the conflict, affecting an estimated 230,000 Sri Lankan Tamils. The right response for the Government of India and the people of Tamil Nadu would be to offer food, clothing, medicines, fuel and other essential goods as well as the logistical facilities required to reach them to the people through the Sri Lankan government whose President Mahinda Rajapakse has declared his commitment to bring their hardship to an end “in a short time.” Meanwhile, there is cause for concern over the activities of some fringe groups in Tamil Nadu who have let their sympathy for a foreign terrorist organisation overwhelm their commitment to India’s own integrity and have indulged in violent acts including against the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission and the railways. The action against Mr. Vaiko will send a message to these groups that the State government is firm in its resolve to contain such dangerous tendencies.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/25/stories/2008102556231000.htm
It was extremely irresponsible of a political leader like Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Vaiko to make a speech with barely concealed secessionist overtones and warn the Government of India that its help to protect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka would jeopardise the unity and integrity of India itself. Speaking from the same platform, his party chairman M. Kannappan was more explicit in warning the Centre not to force the Tamils in the Sta te to launch a struggle for a separate Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has moved swiftly to arrest them and charge them with sedition under the Indian Penal Code and with unlawful activity. Sedition involves speech that would “bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India.” To make it compatible with the right to freedom of speech under the Constitution, the Supreme Court has set the bar high on any prosecution for sedition, limiting it to “activities involving incitement to violence or intention or tendency to create public disorder or cause disturbance of public peace.” Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, any activity that amounts to advocacy of secession is an offence. Mr. Vaiko’s speech will be tested in the courts under both these provisions as the law takes its course.
What is clear, however, is that speeches and activities such as his are wholly unacceptable and politically dangerous. As this newspaper had spelt out in an editorial on October 18, the response of the Government of India and the people of Tamil Nadu needs to take into account certain imperatives in approaching the Sri Lankan situation. In the first place, no comfort should be given to the LTTE, which is a terrorist organisation banned in 30 countries including India. Secondly, the Indian commitment must be to finding a solution that envisages devolution of powers to the Tamil regions within a united Sri Lanka, which would mean giving no quarter to the demand for an independent Eelam. Thirdly, mainstream political parties in Tamil Nadu need to make a sharp distinction between the current military plight of the LTTE and the displacement and suffering caused by the conflict, affecting an estimated 230,000 Sri Lankan Tamils. The right response for the Government of India and the people of Tamil Nadu would be to offer food, clothing, medicines, fuel and other essential goods as well as the logistical facilities required to reach them to the people through the Sri Lankan government whose President Mahinda Rajapakse has declared his commitment to bring their hardship to an end “in a short time.” Meanwhile, there is cause for concern over the activities of some fringe groups in Tamil Nadu who have let their sympathy for a foreign terrorist organisation overwhelm their commitment to India’s own integrity and have indulged in violent acts including against the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commission and the railways. The action against Mr. Vaiko will send a message to these groups that the State government is firm in its resolve to contain such dangerous tendencies.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/25/stories/2008102556231000.htm
Subramanian Swamy’s office ransacked
— Photo: G. Moorthy Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s office in Madurai, which was targeted by a mob on Friday. MADURAI: A mob, claiming to represent Tamil Vazhakkaringar Koottamaippu (Federation of Tamil Advocates) and Puratchigara Ilaignar Munnani (Revolutionary Youth Front), on Friday ransacked the office of Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Lal Bahadur Shastri Road here.
According to eyewitnesses, the mob, carrying placards and sticks, came in a procession to the office and raised slogans against Dr. Swamy for his stand on the Sri Lankan issue. While a few entered the twin-building office premises through the gate, others scaled the wall. They stoned the building and damaged the lights, nameplate and flag mast. On entering the office, they pulled down the chairs, almirah and telephone, and attacked the Madurai rural district president of the party, S. Purushothaman.
“They were carrying footwear and broomsticks. I was attacked with sticks. Some of them were wearing white shirt and black trousers,” said Mr. Purushothaman. The mob also damaged a two-wheeler parked outside the office. A mobile phone and Rs.3000 kept at the office were missing.
One of the two buildings is used as residence by Dr. Swamy. This building, on the left side, was not targeted. Two persons, including the watchman, sustained injuries in the attack.
The police said the mob had earlier participated in a demonstration at Tallakulam where slogans were shouted against those who opposed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The demonstration was organised by Tamil groups in protest against the military action in Sri Lanka.
The Tallakulam police arrested Pandi (58) of Tamil Desiya Iyakkam, Velmurugan and Mayalagu, students of law, in connection with the incident. Cases were filed under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 355 (assault), 379 (theft), 452 (trespass) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code along with provisions of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Dr. Swamy said he would file a petition in the Madras High Court on Saturday seeking attachment of properties of the Dravidar Kazhagam till the damage was recovered. “I will also demand dismissal of the State government,” he said, while calling his office from New Delhi over phone.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/25/stories/2008102561260800.htm
— Photo: G. Moorthy Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy’s office in Madurai, which was targeted by a mob on Friday. MADURAI: A mob, claiming to represent Tamil Vazhakkaringar Koottamaippu (Federation of Tamil Advocates) and Puratchigara Ilaignar Munnani (Revolutionary Youth Front), on Friday ransacked the office of Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy on Lal Bahadur Shastri Road here.
According to eyewitnesses, the mob, carrying placards and sticks, came in a procession to the office and raised slogans against Dr. Swamy for his stand on the Sri Lankan issue. While a few entered the twin-building office premises through the gate, others scaled the wall. They stoned the building and damaged the lights, nameplate and flag mast. On entering the office, they pulled down the chairs, almirah and telephone, and attacked the Madurai rural district president of the party, S. Purushothaman.
“They were carrying footwear and broomsticks. I was attacked with sticks. Some of them were wearing white shirt and black trousers,” said Mr. Purushothaman. The mob also damaged a two-wheeler parked outside the office. A mobile phone and Rs.3000 kept at the office were missing.
One of the two buildings is used as residence by Dr. Swamy. This building, on the left side, was not targeted. Two persons, including the watchman, sustained injuries in the attack.
The police said the mob had earlier participated in a demonstration at Tallakulam where slogans were shouted against those who opposed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The demonstration was organised by Tamil groups in protest against the military action in Sri Lanka.
The Tallakulam police arrested Pandi (58) of Tamil Desiya Iyakkam, Velmurugan and Mayalagu, students of law, in connection with the incident. Cases were filed under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 355 (assault), 379 (theft), 452 (trespass) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code along with provisions of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
Dr. Swamy said he would file a petition in the Madras High Court on Saturday seeking attachment of properties of the Dravidar Kazhagam till the damage was recovered. “I will also demand dismissal of the State government,” he said, while calling his office from New Delhi over phone.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/25/stories/2008102561260800.htm
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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!
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!
Hindu Munnani’s call to save TN from separatists
Thu, 23 Oct, 2008,02:50 PM.
Hindu Munnani founder-organiser Rama Gopalan has demanded invoking POTA to save Tamilnadu from separatists who were trying to bifurcate the State from the Indian Union.
An MDMK leader had said at a seminar that the LTTE should not have been branded terrorists or enemies of Tamilians, Since, the cadre have taken to arms and not adopted non-violence, they were labelled so.
Not only Tamil Eelam but also a separate Tamilnadu would be born, the MDMK leader had said. A two-hour video show supporting the Tigers was also screened at the meet.
Above all, MDMK founder Vaiko had said Tigers and Tamils were one. Though he does not approve of violence against Lankan Tamils, he had said he was ready to take to arms.
‘ It could not be called violence, it was their rights,’ was what the party leader had wished to convey. And he had called upon the youth of the country to punish anti-Tamils and work for a Tamil Eelam. When film personalities protested at Rameswaram, directors Seeman and Amir spoke on separatism and terrorism and the Centre and the State remained mute spectators.
There is no difference of opinion that Sri Lankan Tamil should lead a life with self-respect and protection. But Tamil Eelam would come and later separate Tamilnadu would be born, Rama Gopalan apprehended.
He said that its was appreciable that a section of the Congressmen had opposed such designs. These separatists are under the impression that Tamilnadu was the Tiger’s headquarters wherefrom they could operate, he added.
In each village there were non-party partisan youth. And that Tamilnadu belonged to the nation, this truth would be proved once again as before, the Munnani leader said.
He also said Lankan Tamilans were killed more by the LTTE than the Sri Lankan military, this cannot be refuted.
As the Hindraf in Malaysia took to non-violence in support of Tamil Eelam they were behind the bars. Where then were a human chain or film personalities rally, he wondered. The Hindraf is full of Tamilians, then why has not the blood of political parties in Tamilnadu boil for their sake, he wanted to know.
The DMK government would not take action on those who support Tigers. It was obvious when the Chief Minister wrote eulogy when the LTTE cadre Tamilselvan died.
Some months back MDMK Velachery Manimaran said he would take to arms for Tamil Tigers and was arrested. But Tamilnadu government released him saying he had become emotional.
Viduthalai Chiruthai activist Vanni Arasu who shipped raw materials for arms- manufacture to the banned Tigers was arrested for it and was released the same day, why all this, Rama Gopalan wondered.
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=11681%20&%20section=6
Hindu Munnani founder-organiser Rama Gopalan has demanded invoking POTA to save Tamilnadu from separatists who were trying to bifurcate the State from the Indian Union.
An MDMK leader had said at a seminar that the LTTE should not have been branded terrorists or enemies of Tamilians, Since, the cadre have taken to arms and not adopted non-violence, they were labelled so.
Not only Tamil Eelam but also a separate Tamilnadu would be born, the MDMK leader had said. A two-hour video show supporting the Tigers was also screened at the meet.
Above all, MDMK founder Vaiko had said Tigers and Tamils were one. Though he does not approve of violence against Lankan Tamils, he had said he was ready to take to arms.
‘ It could not be called violence, it was their rights,’ was what the party leader had wished to convey. And he had called upon the youth of the country to punish anti-Tamils and work for a Tamil Eelam. When film personalities protested at Rameswaram, directors Seeman and Amir spoke on separatism and terrorism and the Centre and the State remained mute spectators.
There is no difference of opinion that Sri Lankan Tamil should lead a life with self-respect and protection. But Tamil Eelam would come and later separate Tamilnadu would be born, Rama Gopalan apprehended.
He said that its was appreciable that a section of the Congressmen had opposed such designs. These separatists are under the impression that Tamilnadu was the Tiger’s headquarters wherefrom they could operate, he added.
In each village there were non-party partisan youth. And that Tamilnadu belonged to the nation, this truth would be proved once again as before, the Munnani leader said.
He also said Lankan Tamilans were killed more by the LTTE than the Sri Lankan military, this cannot be refuted.
As the Hindraf in Malaysia took to non-violence in support of Tamil Eelam they were behind the bars. Where then were a human chain or film personalities rally, he wondered. The Hindraf is full of Tamilians, then why has not the blood of political parties in Tamilnadu boil for their sake, he wanted to know.
The DMK government would not take action on those who support Tigers. It was obvious when the Chief Minister wrote eulogy when the LTTE cadre Tamilselvan died.
Some months back MDMK Velachery Manimaran said he would take to arms for Tamil Tigers and was arrested. But Tamilnadu government released him saying he had become emotional.
Viduthalai Chiruthai activist Vanni Arasu who shipped raw materials for arms- manufacture to the banned Tigers was arrested for it and was released the same day, why all this, Rama Gopalan wondered.
http://newstodaynet.com/newsindex.php?id=11681%20&%20section=6
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, October 20, 2008
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
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
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Congress in the dark on latest Ram Sethu affidavit in court
October 20, 2008
K.P. Narayana Kumar and Malathi Nayak
New Delhi: The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, or UPA, has again been blindsided, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) representative in the Union cabinet, T.R. Baalu, failing to inform either the Union cabinet or the coordinator for the legal defence of the government in the controversial Sethusamudram project, prior to filing a crucial affidavit in the Supreme Court.The submission, among other things, states that the Ram Sethu was destroyed by Ram himself, and that it was not proved by the petitioners that the structure was integral to Hinduism.Controversial topic: A Nasa photo of the Ram Sethu. Many Hindus believe the god-king, Ram, built this bridge to rescue his wife, Sita, from the clutches of demon-king Ravana. Others say it is a coral walkway.It is a politically explosive argument with elections for six states in the next three months announced, including in four north Indian states where the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, has significant strength. The BJP has consistently opposed the project, using it to score political points.The filing, while in line with the DMK’s own position on the issue, could quickly emerge as a political problem for the Congress party, which is already being subjected to the charge that it is soft on minorities at the expense of India’s Hindu majority.The Sethusamudram project began in 2004 and proposed to create a shipping channel by dredging a walkway connecting India and Sri Lanka. Many Hindus believe the god-king, Ram, built this bridge with an army of monkeys to rescue his wife, Sita, from the clutches of demon-king Ravana. Others say it is a coral walkway.A senior minister in the UPA government, who was tasked with coordinating the legal challenge on the channel project but didn’t want to be named, concedes: “I do not know how or why that submission was filed before the court. I am yet to see the document. This was not discussed during cabinet meetings either.”When the case proceedings ended on 30 July, the court, while reserving judgment, had asked the parties to submit written arguments, including new contentions.The written document submitted by the government on 14 October is dubbed a “Brief written Note by Counsel for the Union of India submitted after the close of oral arguments on 30 July 2008”. It has excerpts from religious texts including the Kamba Ramayanam and Padma Purana.The document states that “it has not been proved (by the petitioners) undoubtedly to the belief of the Hindu community—that Lord did not himself break the bridge”. Quoting the religious texts, it argued that the “petitioners have not alleged much less proved that Rama Sethu forms an integral part of the Hindu religion”.Moreover, it describes the petitions as “politically motivated” and goes on to say that the pleas of the petitioners smack of “a lack of bona fide”.An officer in the culture ministry, who is in charge of the department that deals with the channel project, also said they weren’t consulted nor were they informed after the submission by the shipping and road transport ministry.“I read about the submission in the next day’s papers. We were not informed,” said this officer who, too, didn’t want to be named.Another senior official, who is in the shipping and road transport ministry and similarly didn’t want his name used, said “the minister has been directly dealing with the matter himself”, indicating that even relevant ministry officials were not briefed about the filing of the submission.Calls to Baalu’s office weren’t returned. Fali S. Nariman, the government counsel on the case, too, was unavailable for comment. Additional solicitor general R. Mohan, who was handling the shipping ministry’s brief, declined to comment.Commentator Cho Ramaswamy says Baalu and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunandhi’s family are very keen on the Sethusamudram project proceeding. “However, this (the Sethusamudram controversy) is not an issue that will benefit any political party when it comes to the elections,” he added.DMK spokesperson Ilangovan, who uses only one name, said: “We will invoke Sethusamudram during the polls to highlight how the BJP has deprived the benefits of such a good project to Tamil Nadu.” He refused to comment further.On his part, Arun Kumar, a Congress party secretary who is in charge of the Tamil Nadu unit, said he will study the affidavit in detail before reacting to it.BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said: “The government is not only indulging in interpreting religion but is also giving a new twist to Ram katha itself. In the first affidavit, the government said there is no proof of Ram’s existence. Then there was widespread anger and it withdrew the affidavit. In the next one, it said it was a matter of faith and was up to the court to decide. Now they are saying that Ram himself destroyed the Ram Sethu, which means they are admitting that Ram existed.”The government on 30 July told the court it would set up a committee headed by R.K. Pachauri, director general of The Energy and Resourses Institute, to look at an alternative route for the project, one that possibly doesn’t cut across the Ram Sethu. The committee was meant to examine alternative routes and submit a report before the court. The report is yet to be submitted.Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, the chief petitioner in the case related to the Sethusamudram project, moved the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the submissions made by the Centre. The court has permitted him to file submissions to rebut the Centre’s new arguments.“The Centre has made some new points almost two and a half months after the court reserved its judgement,” said Swamy. “It is quite clear that the written submissions were filed primarily to intimidate and influence the Pachauri committee which consists of government officials.”
narayana.k@livemint.comKrisnamurthy Ramasubbu and Liz Mathew contributed to this story.
http://www.livemint.com/2008/10/19225340/Congress-in-the-dark-on-latest.html?h=B
K.P. Narayana Kumar and Malathi Nayak
New Delhi: The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, or UPA, has again been blindsided, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) representative in the Union cabinet, T.R. Baalu, failing to inform either the Union cabinet or the coordinator for the legal defence of the government in the controversial Sethusamudram project, prior to filing a crucial affidavit in the Supreme Court.The submission, among other things, states that the Ram Sethu was destroyed by Ram himself, and that it was not proved by the petitioners that the structure was integral to Hinduism.Controversial topic: A Nasa photo of the Ram Sethu. Many Hindus believe the god-king, Ram, built this bridge to rescue his wife, Sita, from the clutches of demon-king Ravana. Others say it is a coral walkway.It is a politically explosive argument with elections for six states in the next three months announced, including in four north Indian states where the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, has significant strength. The BJP has consistently opposed the project, using it to score political points.The filing, while in line with the DMK’s own position on the issue, could quickly emerge as a political problem for the Congress party, which is already being subjected to the charge that it is soft on minorities at the expense of India’s Hindu majority.The Sethusamudram project began in 2004 and proposed to create a shipping channel by dredging a walkway connecting India and Sri Lanka. Many Hindus believe the god-king, Ram, built this bridge with an army of monkeys to rescue his wife, Sita, from the clutches of demon-king Ravana. Others say it is a coral walkway.A senior minister in the UPA government, who was tasked with coordinating the legal challenge on the channel project but didn’t want to be named, concedes: “I do not know how or why that submission was filed before the court. I am yet to see the document. This was not discussed during cabinet meetings either.”When the case proceedings ended on 30 July, the court, while reserving judgment, had asked the parties to submit written arguments, including new contentions.The written document submitted by the government on 14 October is dubbed a “Brief written Note by Counsel for the Union of India submitted after the close of oral arguments on 30 July 2008”. It has excerpts from religious texts including the Kamba Ramayanam and Padma Purana.The document states that “it has not been proved (by the petitioners) undoubtedly to the belief of the Hindu community—that Lord did not himself break the bridge”. Quoting the religious texts, it argued that the “petitioners have not alleged much less proved that Rama Sethu forms an integral part of the Hindu religion”.Moreover, it describes the petitions as “politically motivated” and goes on to say that the pleas of the petitioners smack of “a lack of bona fide”.An officer in the culture ministry, who is in charge of the department that deals with the channel project, also said they weren’t consulted nor were they informed after the submission by the shipping and road transport ministry.“I read about the submission in the next day’s papers. We were not informed,” said this officer who, too, didn’t want to be named.Another senior official, who is in the shipping and road transport ministry and similarly didn’t want his name used, said “the minister has been directly dealing with the matter himself”, indicating that even relevant ministry officials were not briefed about the filing of the submission.Calls to Baalu’s office weren’t returned. Fali S. Nariman, the government counsel on the case, too, was unavailable for comment. Additional solicitor general R. Mohan, who was handling the shipping ministry’s brief, declined to comment.Commentator Cho Ramaswamy says Baalu and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunandhi’s family are very keen on the Sethusamudram project proceeding. “However, this (the Sethusamudram controversy) is not an issue that will benefit any political party when it comes to the elections,” he added.DMK spokesperson Ilangovan, who uses only one name, said: “We will invoke Sethusamudram during the polls to highlight how the BJP has deprived the benefits of such a good project to Tamil Nadu.” He refused to comment further.On his part, Arun Kumar, a Congress party secretary who is in charge of the Tamil Nadu unit, said he will study the affidavit in detail before reacting to it.BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said: “The government is not only indulging in interpreting religion but is also giving a new twist to Ram katha itself. In the first affidavit, the government said there is no proof of Ram’s existence. Then there was widespread anger and it withdrew the affidavit. In the next one, it said it was a matter of faith and was up to the court to decide. Now they are saying that Ram himself destroyed the Ram Sethu, which means they are admitting that Ram existed.”The government on 30 July told the court it would set up a committee headed by R.K. Pachauri, director general of The Energy and Resourses Institute, to look at an alternative route for the project, one that possibly doesn’t cut across the Ram Sethu. The committee was meant to examine alternative routes and submit a report before the court. The report is yet to be submitted.Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, the chief petitioner in the case related to the Sethusamudram project, moved the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the submissions made by the Centre. The court has permitted him to file submissions to rebut the Centre’s new arguments.“The Centre has made some new points almost two and a half months after the court reserved its judgement,” said Swamy. “It is quite clear that the written submissions were filed primarily to intimidate and influence the Pachauri committee which consists of government officials.”
narayana.k@livemint.comKrisnamurthy Ramasubbu and Liz Mathew contributed to this story.
http://www.livemint.com/2008/10/19225340/Congress-in-the-dark-on-latest.html?h=B
Saturday, October 18, 2008
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
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
Dr. Subramaninan Swamy exposes Karunanidhi
October 18, 2008
PRESS RELEASE
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr.Karunanidhi has again published a statement on the Sri Lankan issue in the press which is deliberately misleading.
In a press release issued yesterday, Mr.Karunanidhi has said that the DMK Government in 1989, to help the children of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India, had allotted reserved seats in educational institutions including medical colleges for them, but that Ms.Jayalalitha succeeding as Chief Minister had got it cancelled.
This is blatantly false, as Mr.Karunanidhi must know, on two counts. The original G.O. announcing these reservations for Sri Lankan Tamil students, was issued by the Rajiv Gandhi Government in 1988 when there was President’s Rule in the State. It was discontinued by the NDA in 2000 when DMK was a partner in the Union Government and in power in the State as well. Even after I had got a favourable order from Madras High Court, the Chief Minister has failed to act to rectify it with the Centre.
Recently I had again raised the matter with the Union Government to undo the cancellation but the Minister for State for Home has written to me declining to do so.
I now challenge Mr.Karunanidhi to prove his bonafides by resigning from the CM’s post on this issue. Just by convening a meeting of anti-national parties, he cannot help the suffering Sri Lanka Tamils. Hence, his fraud and confidence trick on the public therefore needs to be exposed.
(SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY)
PRESS RELEASE
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr.Karunanidhi has again published a statement on the Sri Lankan issue in the press which is deliberately misleading.
In a press release issued yesterday, Mr.Karunanidhi has said that the DMK Government in 1989, to help the children of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India, had allotted reserved seats in educational institutions including medical colleges for them, but that Ms.Jayalalitha succeeding as Chief Minister had got it cancelled.
This is blatantly false, as Mr.Karunanidhi must know, on two counts. The original G.O. announcing these reservations for Sri Lankan Tamil students, was issued by the Rajiv Gandhi Government in 1988 when there was President’s Rule in the State. It was discontinued by the NDA in 2000 when DMK was a partner in the Union Government and in power in the State as well. Even after I had got a favourable order from Madras High Court, the Chief Minister has failed to act to rectify it with the Centre.
Recently I had again raised the matter with the Union Government to undo the cancellation but the Minister for State for Home has written to me declining to do so.
I now challenge Mr.Karunanidhi to prove his bonafides by resigning from the CM’s post on this issue. Just by convening a meeting of anti-national parties, he cannot help the suffering Sri Lanka Tamils. Hence, his fraud and confidence trick on the public therefore needs to be exposed.
(SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY)
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