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Tamil
Nadu turns the heat on Manmohan Singh
The
Tamil Nadu branch of the Indian Communist Party will stage
a hunger strike tomorrow in Chennai and in other district
capitals in Tamil Nadu to mobilise public opinion against
Manmohan Singh Government’s handling of the Sri Lankan
ethnic issue. By noon yesterday, communists had won the backing
of most of the anti-Congress forces.
The Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhalagam (ADMK) leader Jayaram
Jayalalitha, a strong critic of the LTTE, had extended her
support for tomorrow’s agitation. In her letter to the
Indian Communist Party Tamil Nadu branch secretary T. Pandiyan,
the chief organiser of tomorrow’s hunger strike, she
conveyed her blessings and informed him that her party leaders
are to take part.
She has worded her letter carefully. She said, “I wish
the success of the hunger strike organised in support of the
problems of the Sri Lankan Tamils”
Jayalalitha, a clever political strategist, had thus plunged
herself into the rising tide of Tamil emotion. The clear line
drawn by the communists between Tamil civilians and the LTTE
has helped her to join the agitation.
Pandiyan has announced that their effort to whip up Tamil
emotion was in support of Wanni civilians who are the victims
of the escalating war. The communists have placed before the
Tamil people the slogans: The Right to Live and Right to Safety.
The Indian Communist Party, which held its annual Convention
in Hyderabad recently, had expressed its concern about the
plight of the civilians. It said that the Sri Lankan Government
has a duty to protect the people of Wanni because they are
its citizens. It criticised bombing and the use of multi-barrel
guns.
In an interview, Pandiyan explained his party’s criticism
of bombings and the use of multi-barrel guns thus: “They
are weapons of mass destruction. Whatever one may claim they
cannot be used to attack specified targets. The reports of
civilian deaths and destruction of civilian property confirms
this.”
The communists, who withdrew their support to Manmohan Singh’s
Government, after he decided to proceed with the civilian
nuclear energy agreement with the United States, are making
use of the Sri Lankan Tamil issue to corner the Indian Prime
Minister and his ally Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.
Pandiyan said, “We ask the Indian Government to pressurise
Sri Lanka to come out with its political proposals. Get Sri
Lanka to place its proposals before the world. Let it express
its willingness to establish a region for the Tamils. Let
it announce the powers it is willing to grant that region.
Let it say that it is unable to go beyond it. Sri Lanka need
not tell that to the LTTE. Let it tell it to the world. Let
the world decide about a reasonable solution.”
He added that, if the solution announced by Sri Lanka was
reasonable, the communist party would conduct a campaign to
force the LTTE to accept that.
He said the Communist Party of India has rejected Sri Lanka’s
position that it would announce its political package after
it wipes out terrorism.
Pandiyan said tomorrow’s hunger strike was the beginning
of their campaign to force the Indian Government to act. He
said the communists would continue their agitation till the
Indian Government acts. Tomorrow’s hunger strike has
generated popular emotion in support of the Tamils of Sri
Lanka. Several sections of the people, students, trade unions,
workers, writers and film stars have expressed support.
The Communist Party in a statement announced its objective
thus: “Our aim is to revive the tremendous support the
Sri Lankan Tamils once enjoyed among the Tamils in Tamil Nadu.”
The Tamil Nadu branch of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
which met at Salem on Saturday has come out in support of
the Sri Lankan Tamils. Its spokesman challenged Karunanidhi
to state his opinion. “Why are you silent?” he asked.
Popular actors are expressing support for tomorrow’s
hunger strike. Vijayakanth announced his support on Monday.
He said one of his party leaders, Panrutti Ramachandran, would
participate in tomorrow’s hunger strike in Chennai. Ramachandran
was a minister in M.G. Ramachandran’s Tamil Nadu Government
and was present when Rajiv Gandhi signed the Indo-Sri Lankan
Treaty in Colombo on July 27, 1987.
Participation of students and writers in tomorrow’s hunger
strike seems to be the prelude to the popularisation of the
agitation in support of the Sri Lankan Tamils. The popular
Forum of Creative Tamil Writers, which met in Chennai last
week, decided to campaign for effective action by India. It
passed two resolutions which demanded Delhi to stop military
and financial assistance to Sri Lanka.
With the parliamentary elections scheduled for next year,
the Indian Congress Party Government is sensitive to public
opinion in Tamil Nadu. The Congress is steadily losing support
in Northern India. It is also in trouble in Kerala, Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh. In Tamil Nadu too, Karunanidhi has lost
support of Vaikoo and Dr. Ramadoss who enjoy support in certain
areas. With Jayalalitha itching to return to power and now
hitching a ride on the back of the mounting emotional wave
in support for the Sri Lankan Tamils, Karunanidhi’s task
of retaining all the 39 seats he won in the last parliamentary
election, would be a formidable task.
Karunanidhi is silent on the Wanni situation. He is backing
Manmohan Singh to the hilt. He is being constantly briefed
by New Delhi officials on developments in the Wanni. Is he
privy to something secret?
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