Tamilnadu politics is a joke; politicians are jokers

By Priya Ramakrishnan

(April 21, New Delhi,Sri Lanka Guardian) Dominated wholly by the film community that far too often produces substandard movies, the worst on the subcontinent and an insult to a country that is known for great success in this industry, Tamilnadu politicians have been cheating the masses outright for decades now.

No voter in Tamilnadu whether at election time or otherwise knows what the various Tamilnadu parties stand for and what kind of political ideology they propagate in the state. One day one party is with another and another day the same party is with the other and how do the voters reckon or identify their policies?

It is like shuffling a pack of aces and knaves with a lot of twos and threes according to the winds that blow across the state. When it comes to federal elections, how Delhi will meet their personal ambitions is all that matters to these politicians. This amounts to a kind of political crime of cheating the voters.

Politics is managed in the state with a great deal of arrogance and misuse of public places thereby expressing a terrible lack of aesthetic appreciation and concern for the environment. The political expressions via slogans and rabid praises are indicated by gaudy and garish graffiti by abusing walls and all available space that could treated with paint.

Is there no sense of respect and consideration for the property of people and for order and neatness of streets, avenues and roads? Has everything got to be loud and dirty?

The leaders of the two major political parties DMK and AIDMK are ex-film star Jayalalitha and ex-script writer Karunanidhi. But both need smaller parties for their survival or to capture power. When election time comes the bid for coalitions becomes terse and tense. The voters have no say and those who are bought make a lot of noise. Policies do not matter. The leaders make craven and gutless statements fearing that any courageous stand would affect their chances. This is no leadership.

If Vaiko was with one at the last call, he could be with another in the next one and that applies to all the minor parties. They are supposed to represent some groups or have some policies but all these are treated with scant respect; only the personal whims and fancies of the individual matters.

Amidst this, past-the-prime Tamilnadu Chief Minister came out with a shocker and said Prabhakaran is not a terrorist and that he is his friend. This was a response to Jayalalitha having said that she supports the Tamils for an independent state. Karunanidhi wanted to bowl her over not knowing whether to spin or googly her; and what a farce or faux pas it turned out to be and more than that, it was an insult to the Congress Party.

Karunanidhi is certainly past his prime but he is determined to have one of his two gangster sons to take his place and if that does not work, his daughter.

Ideally Tamilnadu must keep to Tamilnadu and federal politics. They have no business to interfere with Sri Lanka and its sovereignty. If India respects Sri Lanka’s sovereignty then there can be bilateral cooperation between the two countries. But Tamilnadu politicians interfering with Sri Lanka’s internal matters is not acceptable. Even more, by being involved in it, they now run the risk of giving safe haven for Tiger terrorists.

After all Tamilnadu politicians Gopalaswamy and Nedumaran were regular illegal visitors to Prabhakaran defying border authorities of both countries during the time India’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in Tamilnadu. This is a serious matter and India must reopen the Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Inquiry to investigate whether both these politicians had anything to do with this dastardly crime.

These Tamilnadu politicians should be told to stay clear of Sri Lanka. This is a matter Sri Lanka should take up with New Delhi and make Gopalaswamy, Thirumavalavan, Ramadoss, Nedumaran and a few others including Karunanidhi persona non grata in Sri Lanka.

It is better for them to take care of their own people. Too many Tamilnadu lower rung workers cannot find proper employment in Tamilnadu and are forced to do coolie work in the neighbouring states. The health and sanitary facilities in the state are atrocious and disgraceful. Colour TVs are not the priority for free distribution; toilets must be the top priority.

Tamilnadu politics stinks and Tamilnadu politicians are jokers.

-Sri Lanka Guardian