Who is Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi ?

by Charles.S.perera

(November 14, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi has moved a resolution in the Legislative Assembly, which is an insult to democracy, displaying his ignorance of correct political approach in dealing with other sovereign states.

What right has Karunanidhi to move this resolution , which is a damning proof of his links with the terrorists ? This also proves his past involvements with the Sri Lanka terrorists, and the part he played in 1991, in which year the most promising young Rajiv Gandhi who was present for his last public meeting in the elections campaign at Sriperumbudur, in Tamil Nadu, was assassinated by Dhanu LTTE Black tigeress who detonated the bomb she was wearing under her blouse ?

In asking the Sri Lanka Government to agree to a cease fire with the terrorists, he put the central government of India in to an embarrassing situation. However, it should be rememeberd that, this is not the first time Karunanidhi had embarrassed the Central Government of India.

Karunanidhi's tilt towards the terrorists is well known. His support of LTTE terrorists has a long history. After he became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in January,1989, he continued to extend his support to the LTTE terrorists group.

On 21st May 1991 Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. Karunanidhi who was talked of as being involved in the assassination of the EPRLF leader Padmanabha by the LTTE hit squad, was also suspected to have had his hand in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

The UF government of I.K.Gujral, immediately after the assassination of Rajive Gandhi commissioned Justice Milap Chand Jain to inquire into the circumstances leading to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, and submit a report. Justice Jain took 66 months to submit an interim report, for the preparation of which he had examined 110 witnesses, including politicians, bureaucrat, terrorists and even cranks as he had said. Presenting the interim report he said,"I am fully satisfied with my interim report and what it contains. Each one of my conclusions and observations is based on documents on record with the commission."

The 17 volumes of the Interim report of the Jain Commission presented to the cabinet for discussion was like a "live bomb", and every one tried to disassociate from it. Some even suggested putting off discussing it.

The 5280 pages of the 17 volume Jain report had accused the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and his DMK responsible for abetting Rajiv Gandhi's murderers. It also blamed two former prime ministers, V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar, for their laxity in assessing the threat to Rajiv. http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/india/rajiv/97chawlaonjain.htm

In the Interim Report, Jain holds the DMK guilty of encouraging and assisting the LTTE even after the Indo-Sri Lankan accord of 1987 pitted the Indian Army against the Tigers. And adds, "Under the changed scenario, the LTTE made a strategic shift in their political alignments. They sent personal emissaries to Karunanidhi for seeking his active support in their battle against the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).

These overtures of the LTTE towards the DMK started a chain of events which led to LTTE's survival and growth in Tamil Nadu even after the attitude of the Government of India had changed towards the LTTE after the hostilities between the IPKF and LTTE in Sri Lanka." The Jain report also concludes that the LTTE was getting its supplies, including arms, ammunition, explosives, fuel and other essential items for its war against the IPKF from Tamil Nadu. That too with the support of the Tamil Nadu government and the connivance of the law enforcement authorities".

Karunanidhi who now leads the Tamils of Tamil Nadu taking them by their nose have not explained to them his involvement not with the Tamils of Sri Lanka, but with the LTTE terrorists of Sri Lank. Karunanidhi protected the LTTE terrorists in every way possible when they were in Tamil Nadu. He did not allow the Tamil Nadu police to go into areas where the Sri Lanka terrorists were in hiding.

Jain report further says, "The fact that Anandan was released is not disputed by anyone. An impression is created by the different versions that the entire state machinery was, in one way or the other, involved in supporting the LTTE at that time. Evidently, the police was not given a free hand to deal with the LTTE.

Indeed, the Jain Commission report has raised doubts over the DMK's committment to the Centrally-sponsored action plan for handling the LTTE. It has alleged that even coded messages between the Centre and the state government were promptly relayed to the LTTE leaders in Jaffna. "There is evidence to show that, during this period, some of the most vital wireless messages were passed between the LTTE operatives based in Tamil Nadu and Jaffna. These messages, which were decoded later, are directly related to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.''

This is the man Karunanidhi who had been pointed out in the Interim Report of the Jain Commission as responsible for the assassination of Rajiv Ghndhi, who is now pontificating what Sri Lanka government should do vis à vis the terrorists in Sri Lanka.

This article was prepared based on information in India & the Struggle for Tamil Eelam, Prabhu Chawla on Jain Commission Report India Today, 17 November 1997 found in websit: Tamilnation .org: http://www.tamilnation.org/intframe/india/rajiv/97chawlaonjain.htm - Sri Lanka Guardian