TN parties shift focus over Lankan issue

(February 10, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Volumes have been spoken by political parties in Tamilnadu requesting the Centre to stop the war in Sri Lanka. Now that reports from the island nation claiming that the government forces are on the verge of ‘finishing off’ the LTTE with ‘the support of India’, it seems that there is a ‘sudden vacuum’ over the issue in the State.

Now, the focus is turned on saving the lives of people, who are caught in the crossfire between the army and LTTE, rather than projecting the Tigers as the ultimate protectors of Lankan Tamils and urging the government to invite them for talks.

Even parties like the AIADMK, which differed from others over the issue, have expressed keen interest in saving the lives of Tamils.

AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa in a recent statement said, ‘I will not celebrate my birthday this year in view of the untold miseries the Sri Lankan Tamils are facing.’

She, however, said, ‘The LTTE killed Tamil leaders including Amirthalingam, Yogeswaran, Sivachidambaram, Padmanabha, Yogasankarai, Uma Maheswaran and Sabaratnam.

The people of Tamilnadu had taken an anti-LTTE stand after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and the AIADMK took a similar line. We will never support the LTTE.’

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi too is no exception in taking a stand of not backing the Tigers. The senior politician of the State, who had even penned an eulogy when LTTE leader Tamilselvan was killed, said at the executive committee meeting of DMK, last week that, ‘The LTTE had lost the sympathies of our party way back in 1987 itself as its chief Prabhakaran was planning to adopt a dictatorial form of government in Tamil Eelam for which they were fighting.’

Recalling the ‘sibling rivalry’ indulged in by the Tigers, killing senior leaders of other groups which were working for the Tamils’ cause, Karunanidhi referred to an interview given by Prabhakaran to a magazine in 1987 wherein he had favoured a dictatorial rule for Tamil Eelam.

‘I was shocked to read the reply of Prabhakaran. From then on, I became sick of the Tigers’ war... later, many people were killed by the LTTE and the sympathy towards that movement was dwindling gradually and at one point, it completely vanished,’ he said.

As the LTTE is banned in India and supporting it in open would earn the wrath of its alliance partner Congress, the PMK too is voicing for the cause of Tamils, even as the party is known for its pro-LTTE stand.

The MDMK, an alliance partner of the AIADMK and a staunch supporter of Tigers, is in a catch-22 situation, one has to say, and the case is almost similar when it comes to the Communists.

The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, whose leader Thol Thirumavalavan went on a fast protest recently, too is expressing his sympathy for Tamils, rather than backing the LTTE. Interestingly, he named his party inspired by the LTTE, who are called in Tamil as Viduthalai Puligal.

-Sri Lanka Guardian