A major shift against the LTTE in Tamilnadu

"Thirumavalavan did not also hesitate to give a communal twist by stating that it was his strong belief and that of the Freedom Leopards that some communal forces are behind mainly due to the stand taken by them over the Sethusamudram Project in the Palk Straits."

By Satchi Sithananthan, Consulting Editor, Sri Lanka Guardian

(October, 17, Frankfurt, Sri Lanka Guardian) Tamilnadu Dalit leader Thol Thirumavalavan’s statement that his party, the Freedom Leopards (Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi) only extended moral and ideological support to the LTTE in the light of the arrest of a party functionary Vanni Arasu on charges of having dealings with the LTTE, has a greater significance than just rushing to help an arrested and charged colleague.

He also wants to make much mileage out of this incident to state that his party is emerging as one of the largest dalit political parties, not just in Tamilnadu only but in the entire country. According to Thirumavalavan, the arrest was a conspiracy hatched by the country’s Intelligence Bureau (IB) to stem the growing popularity of the Freedom Leopards and towards this Vanni Arasu was victimized with the allegation that he was an active LTTE agent in India, especially Tamilnadu.

Thirumavalavan did not also hesitate to give a communal twist by stating that it was his strong belief and that of the Freedom Leopards that some communal forces are behind mainly due to the stand taken by them over the Sethusamudram Project in the Palk Straits.

Evidently some suspect parcels have been seized from Vanni Arasu and Thirumavalavan claims he was not even shown the contents of these packets. He added that the charges against Vanni Arasu were false and baseless. He had already taken up this matter with Chief Minister Muthiah Karunanidhi and said that if any of his party’s cadre had committed an illegal act, then he or she will have to face the consequences and that his party will not oppose it.

Although on the face of it, this stand of Thirumavalavan appears to be an expression of support to his party colleague Vanni Arasu, he has also purposely chosen this occasion to express the growing distance of some of the Tamilnadu politicians to the Tigers. There is a marked increase of concern and apprehension against the Tigers in Tamilnadu. There is also a realization that the Tigers as a force to reckon with is sliding downhill. The people at large in Tamilnadu are simply fed up using terrorism as a means to an end.

Parties like Freedom Fighters and the kind of irresponsible leadership Vaiko, Nedumaran and other discredited time-worn senile politicians provide for the people willing probably even to stir up violence has become a matter a serious concern in the state. In this situation Thirumavalavan would love to distance himself from the LTTE and also an added factor is that he cannot hope for the kind of largesse he was getting from the LTTE Diaspora in England, France and more especially in Canada. Inquiries reveal that these have virtually stopped and even the LTTE fund collectors in these countries have gone underground.

As a former LTTE supporter in Germany recently said, many fund collectors are now hoping for the quick demise of the LTTE so that they can keep all the funds collected in the name of the Tigers for themselves. This happened on a much smaller scale in 1983 when fund collectors for the different groups of Tamil activists disappeared in Sri Lanka and after several months emerged in the countries where they sought refuge and used the funds to start their own private enterprises.

This could soon happen again but on a much larger scale.

Below News Story

We lend only moral support to LTTE: Thirumavalavan

(October, 16, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK) general secretary Thol Thirumavalavan on Monday said that his party was only giving 'moral and ideological support' to the banned LTTE and not material assistance.

According to him, the recent arrest of his party functionary Vanni Arasu on charges of having connections with the LTTE was an act of 'conspiracy' by some officials in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) to scuttle the growth of the VCK as 'it is emerging as one of the largest dalit parties in the country'.

"The charges levelled against Vanni Arasu are completely false and baseless. We strongly believe that it is because of the instigation of communal forces working against us mainly due to our strong opposition to the recent controversy over the Sethusamudram project," he said. Vanni Arasu has not even been shown the contents of the parcel till now, he added.

Replying to a query, Thirumavalavan said he took up the issue with the Chief Minister and explained to him that Vanni Arasu was innocent. "Let the officials take action if any of our party cadre committed anything illegal and we will not oppose it," the VCK leader added.