End of a warlord & zealot?

Disclaimer* I am not pro-LTTE or pro-Sri Lankan Army, but recent events have made me break my self-imposed hiatus and state my views.

Now that LTTE Prabhakharan is dead and the Sri Lankan Army has triumphed every mainstream media channel is quick to dub him a “fascist, terrorist, warlord, zealot, etc.”  The same media which pronounces him a ruthless and dreaded terrorist, is however not interested in asking questions like “Who was funding him?” If Prabhakharan is to be called a terrorist, what about all the Indian politicians from MGR, Vaiko to Karunanidhi who initially supported him? Only after the political weather turned rough post-Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination did TN politicians deem it wise to  maintain a safe distance from the LTTE. What happened to Karunanidhi’s fond reference to the LTTE supremo as “Thambi (brother) Prabhakharan.”

Who gave military training to the LTTE? Would the LTTE have grown to this stature had it not been for India’s overt and covert support? What about the Indian Army, RAW and other Indian intelligence agencies which trained the LTTE on Indian soil? Who gave the LTTE its guns? How did the LTTE develop from a small guerrilla force into a formidable army with a  sea wing, air force, police force, a border security force and home guards? Where did the money come from?

What about the IPKF’s involvement in the atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamils? Every media organisation is so quick to take a one-sided approach to issues. It was a war zone out in Sri Lanka! When the media can talk about Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, why is it not talking about the events (IPKF atrocities) that led up to the assassination?

When the media can talk about how the LTTE emerged as the only-Sri Lankan Tamil support organisation by killing leaders from other Tamil groups like TELO, PLOTE , why is it not talking about the Sri Lankan Army’s atrocities against Tamil civilians?If the Sri Lankan govt had never oppressed the Tamils, where is the need for the LTTE?

If the LTTE committed atrocities and violated human rights, it must be remembered that the Sri Lankan Army’s record and the Indian Army’s record is worse. The IPKF raped Tamil women in Sri Lanka. The Indian Army continues to violate human rights in J&K and in the North-East.  How can one ever forget this picture of women protesting naked in Imphal, cyring out “Indian Army men rape us”?

(Naked women protestors shout slogans against the alleged rape, torture and murder of Thangjam Manorama by paramilitary soldiers in Imphal, capital of northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Thursday, July 15, 2004. In a highly unusual protest, some 40 women stripped naked and staged an angry demonstration outside the Assam Rifles base to protest the death in custody of 32-year old Manorama)

And India’s involvement even till date seems to be huge in the whole affair. Rajapaksa’s announced that the “LTTE has been defeated” right after the Indian Parliament election results were announced – Prabhakharan’s death was announced soon after – it is too fishy and doesn’t strike one as an accidental coincidence. It looks like they were biding their time for the announcement…..

One leading newspaper writes: “Prabhakharan ironically remains an inspirational symbol to thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils”…… after calling him a “Nazi-type dictator.” Why is it ironical?

If the Sri Lankan govt had never oppressed the Tamils, where is the need for the LTTE?

On the very same page in that newspaper there are pictures of Vellupillai Prabhakharan meeting MGR, Karunanidhi and the Editor of that newspaper. Why did someone who was feted and dined by Indian politicians and the press suddenly be labelled the “bad guy”?

The political opportunism that surrounds the sad, brutal tale of the LTTE is sickening to observe!

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Fanaticism; its diff slogans

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Fanaticism is something, I abore! And religious fanaticism is something unpalatable.

Events like Godhra, Ayodhya, the Gujarat riots or the atrocities against Christians in Orissa are something I find hard to digest.

Violence against minorities has become a trump card for many right-wing politicians. Since, no politician can deliver things like good roads, quality education and health care, regular supply of electricity or drinking water, they use diversionary tactics. One of the most successful diversionary tactic is to blame it all on the minorities.

So you can hear politicians say things like: “Hum panch, hamara panch,” “Muslims breed too much,” “Christians get funding from the US, they are George Bush’s stooges,” “India is for Hindus; out with the minorities,” “If you become a Hindu you can stay in India or else leave for Pakistan,” “Christian women are immoral and ape the West,” and “Valentine’s Day is against India’s culture.”

An extension of this is the regional separatist movements, in which to hide their inefficiency, politicians come up with slogans like, “Cauvery water is only for Karnataka,” or “Cauvery is only for Tamil Nadu,” “Mumbai is only for Marathis,” “Punjab must be a separate state,” “Be proud to be a Tamilan,” “Ban Tamil films, only Kannada films in Karnataka,” “Kashmir is part of India,” & “Only Biharis should get jobs in Bihar.”

Some Indian politicians take diversionary tactics to international levels, they say, “Kill every Pakistani,” or “Support the LTTE,” “Ban the LTTE,” “No more refugees from Bangladesh, let them go to Pakistan,” “Every Muslim is a terrorist, destroy the Taliban,” “Support Israel’s war against Muslim terrorism,” or “Support the Palestinian war against Christian, Jewish terrorism.”

I’m going to come up with my own slogans, “Ban the Left in Nandigram, Singur,” “Ban the right in Orissa, Gujarat,” “Stop the Indo-US nuke deal,” “Third World countries don’t need second-hand goods, outdated technology and scrap material from the West,” “Stop religious competitiveness,” & “Stop hate-mail on the net.”

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Vaiko cooling his heels in prison: diff govts but same treatment

MDMK Vaiko has got arrested for supporting the LTTE the second time around; opening up great possibilities for the media.

The last time he got arrested he put his jail experience to good use and got a fair amount of political mileage out of it. He even authored a book, “From the portals of prison” and got PM Manmohan Singh to release it.

And since the book trick worked once, he’s now authored another one called “Yes, We Can” on Obama, US presidential candidate. In July, he managed to meet Obama on the strength of it (personally I think he would be playing it extra safe if he waited for the results of the US elections before getting into all the bother of writing a sweetening-up book.)

The last time Vaiko got arrested, his arrest was condemned by DMK president M Karunanidhi, S.R. Balasubramaniam of the Congress, PMK S Ramadoss, CPI R Nallakannu & DK Veeramani. This time only PMK Ramadoss & DK Veeramani might actually come around to condemning the arrest….Eagerly awaiting AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa’s take on it as she put him in the coop for the very same reason last time.

MDMK Vaiko has always caught my imagination ever since he changed his name from V Gopalasamy to Vaiko. He provides a lot of colour and fun in an otherwise dull political spectrum with his black shawls (superstition or Periyar leanings?), fiery speeches on “Tamil nationalism” and his frequent shifting of loyalties between the Dravidian parties and national parties.

He fwas groomed DMK chief M Karunanidhi. But once he realized he would have to contend himself with joining the second-power rung of K Anbazhagan, T R Baalu & Co as the top-posts were reserved for MK’s kith and kin, he rebelled….That is of course taking a simplistic view of things, but MK’s curbing his growth in the party was definitely an issue. He was expelled and formed the MDMK in 1993.

But unlike Karunanidhi, Vaiko never knew when to play it safe. Karununaidhi stopped referring to the LTTE chief as thambi Prabhakaran after the PM’s assassination. But Vaiko went ahead with unequivocally supporting the LTTE, which gave AIADMK chief Jaya, who was then the CM, a plum opportunity to get him arrested under POTA.

He then shifted from the BJP to the Congress. The minute he got released, he must have had amnesia, because he conveniently forgot that Jaya got him arrested and joined hands with her.

But poor guy, it turned to be a squib, as he lost the elections and the little amount of respect voters might have had for him.

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