Entire South Asia is under threat of terrorism

Clandestine visits of Tamilnadu politicians to Prabhakaran foreshadowed sinister signs

By Durga Velautham from New Delhi

(March 06, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Tamil film writers fantasize many dreadful dimensions of violence, far too many of them too far-fetched to be realistic, even absurd. But this has a ready market in Tamilnadu, a kind of emotional addiction that makes films of exceptional and meaningless violence box office hits. Once the violence sequences are designed and professional film hit and stunt men consulted, the hero is chosen to be able to deal with the violent scenes. He may have to take in at times fifteen or twenty men or even more single-handed often with his friends watching from the sideline without offering any help. This is a hero monopoly.

Only rarely a joker or two will be implanted to provide some funny sequences in an otherwise, what is intended as a deadly encounter. The stature of the hero is reckoned by the kind of violence he could overcome and in the minds of the filmgoers, he becomes a candidate for a future chief minister of Tamilnadu, QED.

Such violence and emotional-feed is commonplace in Tamil cinema, the primary form of entertainment for the people of Tamilnadu. But for this M G Ramachandran who began his movie career sword fighting against extreme odds, would never have become chief minister. The film idols dominate the politics of the state and their fans have a vicarious bind on them. The last four chief ministers of Tamilnadu have been film people and two of them together as hero and heroine in scores of films. Two more film people today are aspiring to become chief ministers.

In contrast to Tamilnadu, Malayala movie idols do not end up as chief ministers of Kerala. Most of Kerala’s successful movies are low budget efforts and much attention in them would be given to the story and that has to be realistic, excellence in character portraying and reflective of whatever is real and natural to the society. But Tamilnadu tends to concentrate on highly mind-polluting movies that over-sow the fields of fertile minds with violence. Outrageous giant posters stand brashly and brazenly promoting thugs for political leadership along urban streets.

While the state’s politics is film-crazed and the people numbed into the world of fantasy there is something snaking with sneaking terror in this southern Indian state. It has already gathered roots especially ever since Vaiko Gopalaswamy began clandestinely visiting Velupillai Prabhakaran in overnight smuggler boats to receive lessons in terrorism and how he could help the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam from the Indian subcontinent. The other Tamilnadu politician to do that is P Nedumaran which is a real pity.

The latter unlike Vaiko Gopalaswamy enjoyed a national stature and his loyalty to India was never in doubt; at least until he became a close ally of Prabhakaran. Gopalaswamy, a Telugu-speaking Indian who opted to be more a Tamil, had no such qualms about being an Indian national and for almost two decades have had his loyalty to Prabhakaran while his politics in Tamilnadu is slapdash and haphazard. In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu state, Gopalaswamy would never have gone even an inch forward with his political ambitions. No one can ever guess whether he would be with the Congress or the BJP, or more precisely with Karunanidhi or Jayalalitha. His stamp of loyalty is firmly placed on Prabhakaran and everything else about him is foul and fetid political opportunism.

Nedumaran knew Prabhakaran for at least ten years earlier than Gopalaswamy but it was the latter who became the soul brother to the LTTE terror chief. The question often has been whether either Nedumaran or Gopalaswamy or both were privy to Prabhakaran’s plans to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi. At least in some circles, there must have been information shared of the plans to eliminate Rajiv Gandhi and this may be the reason why some prominent politicians were not around Rajiv Gandhi when the foul deed was executed by the LTTE suicide bomber.

In his extreme exclusive existence, Prabhakaran must have seen certain advantages especially to have Gopalaswamy as his guest on one occasion for almost a month. This was prior to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. This was also the time Prabhakaran was seething with anger against Rajiv Gandhi and with Gopalaswamy in his immediate presence, there were two anti-Gandhi bitter men.

Some of the speeches made by Gopalaswamy following the presence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka were virulent attack on Rajiv Gandhi; equally he placed Prabhakaran on the pedestal as the saviour of the Tamil nation. This petty Tamilnadu politician could not appreciate that the agreement that Rajiv Gandhi wrenched out of President Junius Jayawardene was a very favourable one to the Tamils especially because it recognized the northern and eastern provinces as the traditional homelands of the Tamils.

It is now known that when Indian soldiers were battling with the Tigers, Gopalaswamy stayed with Prabhakaran for about a month. Nedumaran too has visited him for such a length of time a little afterwards. Some documentation recently recovered from LTTE bunkers in Wanni show Gopalaswamy in LTTE fatigue and delivering powerful speeches of terror indoctrination to the LTTE cadres and even sharing firing range comradeship with Prabhakaran.

There is hardly any doubt the covert and clandestine visits to Wanni were to develop a grand alliance of some Tamilnadu politicians and the LTTE with a view to set up a powerful Tamil state in South Asia with Prabhakaran as the logical head. In fact a few years earlier, Nedumaran and Prabhakaran entertained a future Chola-type empire that existed in the Second Century AD which had the Tiger Flag depicting its empire.

The name New Tigers coined by Prabhakaran was a reference to the empire of Karikala Cholan that existed at that time and now they have a fresh idea to set up one similar to it; and Eelam encompasses entire Sri Lanka. Prabhakaran’s movement name is Karikalan which explains the kind of ideas that Prabhakaran and Nedumaran and Gopalaswamy too entertained.

Based on the kind of clandestine visits and discussions that were held with Prabhakaran most possibly in Wanni and perhaps in other places too, a reasonable conclusion should surely be that the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi would not have come as a surprise to Nedumaran and Gopalaswamy. Had they suspected that something like this was in the offing, they should have alerted the Indian intelligence services.

Why didn’t they? Did they ever disclose to Indian authorities, soon after Gandhi’s assassination that they were having traitorous and possibly treasonable and subversive surreptitious relationships with Prabhakaran? Why did they have such a relationship that was not in the interests and well being of India? How can such people who would betray India so easily seek elections to the state and national legislatures which demands utmost service to the country?

It can be construed that the role that are being played by Vaiko Gopalaswamy, Nedumaran, Ramdoss and Thirumavalan And others no doubt in the pay of the LTTE is to bring about chaos and anarchy in South India and Sri Lanka and seek the evil dream of a state that will be under a dictator mafia-style. India should have woken to this danger soon after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated if not earlier.

It would also be in the interests of the region to reopen the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case before a commission of inquiry to examine whether Gopalaswamy, Nedumaran and others from Tamilnadu had any role to play in this dastardly murder. The Sri Lankan pro-Tamil Diaspora can buy these politicians with terror millions easily. They have amassed these in such countries as Canada, US, UK, France and Switzerland. Furthermore, there is a general suspicion that some of the LTTE leaders may have already escaped from Wanni and may have found safe havens in Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka.

Such a flight would be complete when Prabhakaran is successfully transported if not already. This is the very reason why hundreds are held hostage by the LTTE.

Finally, the countries in the region such as Malyasia, Singapore, Indonesia, Burma, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives and the Seychelles must set up a commission to inquire the possibilities of terrorism developing as a perpetual scourge in this region. -Sri Lanka Guardian