Ignited minds

(January 31, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) As a mark of extreme protest against Sri Lanka’s alleged genocide of Tamils and the incapacity of the Cntral and Sate governments to ensure a ceasefire in the Island Nation, a 26-year old youth immolated himself and died in the hospital.

He had chosen ‘Shastri Bhavan’, which houses a number of Central government offices, as the venue for his protest and it is very unfortunate and sad that the onlookers from that perennially crowded place did not bother to save him from the flames.

It seems he was not in good terms with his father, and was staying with his sister and working for a Tamil women magazine owing allegiance to the PMK.

The letter, which he had left, has been addressed to the Sri Lankan Tamils and the LTTE and is full of emotional appeal to support the cause of Tamil Eelam. He has even blamed UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon in his letter apart from demanding the arrest of Douglas Devananda.

This culture of ‘self-immolation’ (or is it just suicide?) has been the hallmark of Dravidian movement, which has always brainwashed the gullible masses with demagogic and chauvinistic speeches.

The Dravidian leaders have been pastmasters in the art of kindling the emotions of youth and igniting the fire inside them through their fiery speeches.

As most of these leaders are professional writers, scriptwriters, speakers and actors, they use their profession to instigate the youth thereby achieving their self-interests.

These leaders always talk of sacrificing their lives for the sake of ‘Tamil’, ‘Tamil people’ and ‘Tamilnadu’, but never translate the words into action. But, it has always been the cadres who actually lose their lives taking the leaders’ talks in true spirit as orders.

The Dravidian History has seen scores of self-immolations during the anti-Hindi agitations. Many cadre have also attempted self-immolation during the arrests of their leaders or during the electoral defeats of their parties.

But, none of the leaders have had the sane mind to condemn and discourage such extreme steps taken by the cadre. On the contrary they have eulogised such deaths as sacrifices and martyrdom thereby motivating the cadres to indulge more in such idiotic acts.

Even in the present case, the reaction from some of the leaders goes to prove how ‘irresponsible’ and self-centered they are. MDMK leader Vaiko has hailed the dead youth as a ‘hero’, and averred that the incident would result in an ‘uprising’ of the youth.

He has also drawn a parallel to the suicides of LTTE cadres by consuming cyanide capsules. Similarly VCK leader Thirumavalavan opined that the State would witness many such incidents in future if the Centre doesn’t act against Sri Lanka.

These statements are nothing but ‘indirect instigation’ of the youth.Since last week these leaders have been prodding the student community to boycott classes and conduct protest demonstrations. They have been attending those demonstrations and giving enticing speeches pulling the youth towards their cause and later pushing them to take extreme actions.

A considerable section of the film industry and a major section of the legal fraternity are all party to such machinations. As expected the Tamilnadu Advocates’ Association and the Madras High Court Advocates’ Association have announced ‘indefinite boycott’ of all the courts, showing scant regard to the misery of their clients and litigants.

There is also a section of ‘chauvinistic’ writers who repeatedly pen about the ‘painful’ stories of Sri Lankan Tamils (read LTTE). A visit to the ‘Tamil Blogs’ will give an idea on the state of mind of the youth in Tamilnadu at present, with regard to the Sri Lankan issue.

It is also alleged that most of these self-immolations are stage-managed by the second rung leaders of the Dravidian parties and the sad fact is that the victims and their families agree to play their roles for the sake of money and ‘martyr’ card!

The family of the victims (not all) would get a one-time compensation and some landmark in the city or town, like park or bridge, would be named after the victim.

In yesterday’s case also, the letter written by the victim gives a feeling as though the event is pre-planned and hence it requires thorough investigation. The onus lies on the parents to keep their wards away from third-rate politics and the government has the responsibility to ensure such incidents do not recur.

-Editorial, the News Today, an evening paper published from Chennai - Sri Lanka Guardian