(October 24, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) At a time when many are facing allegations for their ‘pro-LTTE speeches’, MDMK general secretary Vaiko was arrested for making a speech in support of the banned group.
For the second time since he floated the MDMK in 1993, Vaiko was put behind the bars over the same issue.
This time, he was charged with sections of the IPC and Unlawful Prevention Act and remanded to 14 days judicial custody. He was later taken to the Central prison near here.
Former Union Minister and MDMK presidium chairman M Kannappan was also arrested under the same sections at his native village in Negamam in Coimbatore district, police said.
The MLA would be produced before a Magistrate in Chennai. Vaiko was arrested in 2002 under POTA by the then Jayalalithaa government for his speech at an MDMK meeting supporting the LTTE. He was in the high security Vellore prison for 17 months.
Vaiko, who had even reportedly made a clandestine visit to LTTE- held areas in 1990, was vocal in his support for the cause of a separate homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils. At a public meeting here on Tuesday, Vaiko said he would not hesitate to lead an armed struggle for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils and a separate homeland was the only solution to the ethnic strife in the island republic.
He came down heavily on the UPA government for what he termed ‘supply of arms and ammunition and logistics support to the Sri Lankan government to wage a war against Tamils’. Taking to reporters soon after his arrest, he said the UPA government had ‘betrayed’ the Sri Lankan Tamils. The AIADMK and the Congress had been demanding arrest of those supporting the LTTE in Tamilnadu.
The government’s move is apparently seen as a step to counter AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa’s criticism that the DMK government was ‘soft’ on LTTE supporters, sources said. At a public meeting here on Tuesday, Vaiko had said that a separate Tamil State under the leadership of LTTE chief Prabhakaran would come into existence in Lanka soon.
‘LTTE and Sri Lankan Tamils cannot be separated. Though we are against any violence we should differentiate between violence and rights. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had assured me that no military aid would be supplied to Sri Lanka, had gone back on his word,’ he said.
Alleging that the UPA government and its constituents were responsible for every drop of blood shed by Lankan Tamils, he said ‘If the need arises, I will be the first man to take up arms in support of Sri Lankan Tamils. I will gather youth all over the country for this purpose.’
Kannappan had said at that meeting that time would come to demand for a separate Tamilnadu. In that meeting, a two-hour film on the Sri Lankan Army’s alleged atrocities against Tamils was screened.
In a statement Wednesday, Jayalalithaa had demanded that all LTTE supporters be booked. Vaiko, now an ally of Jayalalithaa, was detained under POTA by her government on his arrival from the US, after he had made a pro-LTTE speech at a public meeting in Tirumangalam in Madurai. DMK chief M Karunanidhi had condemned Vaiko’s arrest then.
CM points finger at law
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday night said that law would take its course on the issue over the arrest of MDMK leader Vaiko.
‘The law has taken its due course’, he told reporters in Chennai. He declined to answer when asked whether there would be any more arrests, in an apparent reference to some reported pro-LTTE remarks made by Tamil cinema directors Bharathiraja, Seeman and Ameer at a protest rally in Rameswaram on Sunday.
To a question on removing the ban on LTTE, Karunanidhi said the Centre had to decide on it. Meanwhile, reports have it that film director Bharathiraja called on the Chief Minister on Thursday.
Arrest film directors: Jaya
Describing MDMK leader and her ally Vaiko’s arrest as ‘politically motivated,’ AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa last night questioned the rationale behind the arrest by asking why were other leaders and some Tamil film directors who had made speeches supporting the LTTE were left ‘scot-free’ while Vaiko was not.
In a statement, she also questioned the locus standi of DMK government for ordering arrest of Vaiko citing the eulogy penned by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on the death of ‘members of the banned organisation,’ in an apparent reference to S P Tamilselvan, the then political advisor of the LTTE, who was killed in a Sri Lankan air raid last year.
‘By penning a poem and eulogising the dead leaders of banned organisation, Karunanidhi should be arrested under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and his government must be dismissed,’ she told the Central government.
She asked as to why there was no police action against some Tamil cinema directors, who had made ‘inflammatory remarks’ at the Rameswaram protest rally. ‘These persons had made anti-national and secessionist remarks (of demanding a separate Tamilnadu) even before Vaiko and M Kannappan had spoken anything,’ she said.
Describing the action against Vaiko as ‘half-baked’, she said the law of the land should be applied to all and demanded action against the film directors Bharathiraja, Seeman and Ameer.
Recalling a Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi conference in Januray this year, Jayalalithaa said pro-LTTE remarks were openly made by party founder Thol Thirumalavan, a DMK ally, and wondered why no action had been taken on him so far. - Sri Lanka Guardian
Former Union Minister and MDMK presidium chairman M Kannappan was also arrested under the same sections at his native village in Negamam in Coimbatore district, police said.
The MLA would be produced before a Magistrate in Chennai. Vaiko was arrested in 2002 under POTA by the then Jayalalithaa government for his speech at an MDMK meeting supporting the LTTE. He was in the high security Vellore prison for 17 months.
Vaiko, who had even reportedly made a clandestine visit to LTTE- held areas in 1990, was vocal in his support for the cause of a separate homeland for Sri Lankan Tamils. At a public meeting here on Tuesday, Vaiko said he would not hesitate to lead an armed struggle for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils and a separate homeland was the only solution to the ethnic strife in the island republic.
He came down heavily on the UPA government for what he termed ‘supply of arms and ammunition and logistics support to the Sri Lankan government to wage a war against Tamils’. Taking to reporters soon after his arrest, he said the UPA government had ‘betrayed’ the Sri Lankan Tamils. The AIADMK and the Congress had been demanding arrest of those supporting the LTTE in Tamilnadu.
The government’s move is apparently seen as a step to counter AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa’s criticism that the DMK government was ‘soft’ on LTTE supporters, sources said. At a public meeting here on Tuesday, Vaiko had said that a separate Tamil State under the leadership of LTTE chief Prabhakaran would come into existence in Lanka soon.
‘LTTE and Sri Lankan Tamils cannot be separated. Though we are against any violence we should differentiate between violence and rights. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had assured me that no military aid would be supplied to Sri Lanka, had gone back on his word,’ he said.
Alleging that the UPA government and its constituents were responsible for every drop of blood shed by Lankan Tamils, he said ‘If the need arises, I will be the first man to take up arms in support of Sri Lankan Tamils. I will gather youth all over the country for this purpose.’
Kannappan had said at that meeting that time would come to demand for a separate Tamilnadu. In that meeting, a two-hour film on the Sri Lankan Army’s alleged atrocities against Tamils was screened.
In a statement Wednesday, Jayalalithaa had demanded that all LTTE supporters be booked. Vaiko, now an ally of Jayalalithaa, was detained under POTA by her government on his arrival from the US, after he had made a pro-LTTE speech at a public meeting in Tirumangalam in Madurai. DMK chief M Karunanidhi had condemned Vaiko’s arrest then.
CM points finger at law
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday night said that law would take its course on the issue over the arrest of MDMK leader Vaiko.
‘The law has taken its due course’, he told reporters in Chennai. He declined to answer when asked whether there would be any more arrests, in an apparent reference to some reported pro-LTTE remarks made by Tamil cinema directors Bharathiraja, Seeman and Ameer at a protest rally in Rameswaram on Sunday.
To a question on removing the ban on LTTE, Karunanidhi said the Centre had to decide on it. Meanwhile, reports have it that film director Bharathiraja called on the Chief Minister on Thursday.
Arrest film directors: Jaya
Describing MDMK leader and her ally Vaiko’s arrest as ‘politically motivated,’ AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa last night questioned the rationale behind the arrest by asking why were other leaders and some Tamil film directors who had made speeches supporting the LTTE were left ‘scot-free’ while Vaiko was not.
In a statement, she also questioned the locus standi of DMK government for ordering arrest of Vaiko citing the eulogy penned by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on the death of ‘members of the banned organisation,’ in an apparent reference to S P Tamilselvan, the then political advisor of the LTTE, who was killed in a Sri Lankan air raid last year.
‘By penning a poem and eulogising the dead leaders of banned organisation, Karunanidhi should be arrested under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and his government must be dismissed,’ she told the Central government.
She asked as to why there was no police action against some Tamil cinema directors, who had made ‘inflammatory remarks’ at the Rameswaram protest rally. ‘These persons had made anti-national and secessionist remarks (of demanding a separate Tamilnadu) even before Vaiko and M Kannappan had spoken anything,’ she said.
Describing the action against Vaiko as ‘half-baked’, she said the law of the land should be applied to all and demanded action against the film directors Bharathiraja, Seeman and Ameer.
Recalling a Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi conference in Januray this year, Jayalalithaa said pro-LTTE remarks were openly made by party founder Thol Thirumalavan, a DMK ally, and wondered why no action had been taken on him so far. - Sri Lanka Guardian
 At a time when many are facing allegations for their ‘pro-LTTE speeches’, MDMK general secretary ...){kind=link}
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