It will remain one of the enduring mysteries of Tamil Nadu politics how political parties across the Dravidian spectrum believe the Sri Lankan Tamil issue to be a vote catcher despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Recently, as the convicted assassins of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi walked out of jail following the Supreme Court ordering their release 31 years after incarceration, the scenes that played out in Tamil Nadu gave plenty of room for worry.
When one of the killers, Perarivalan was released a few months earlier, he was greeted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin with a hug and welcomed with a shawl. Despite the fact that this did not go down well with almost all parties opposed to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), neither Stalin nor the ruling party showed remorse. This time too he released a statement hailing their release, and pointing out the efforts taken by his party to secure their freedom. One of his alliance partners went a step further greeting Nalini, one of the released convicts with sweets.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance partner the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), whose leader the late J Jayalalithaa had initiated the process for their release, stayed mostly silent bar the odd perfunctory statement. The state unit of the Congress only made a few statements of protest, that too from one section of the party. However, the reception given to the convicts forced even Congressmen aligned strongly to the DMK to voice their protest.
Tamil Nadu has several small parties that have/continue to openly espouse the cause of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) has the image of late LTTE leader V Prabhakaran on its backdrop in several meetings. MDMK leader Vaiko has been one of the staunchest supporters of the LTTE. Yet these parties remain on the fringes of Tamil Nadu politics, never really able to gain political momentum.
Still the big parties, such as the AIADMK and the DMK, persist in pushing the Sri Lankan Tamil issue believing it to give political dividends. Also very few parties have made the distinction between supporting the LTTE and offering support to the cause of Sri Lanklan Tamils. Jayalalithaa was staunchly anti-LTTE, but in 2014, after the apex court commuted their death sentence to life, she passed a resolution for the release of Rajiv Gandhi’s killers.
The assassins themselves were not averse to facing the media after their release. Embarrassingly for the Supreme Court and both the Union and state governments some like Nalini and Ravichandran loudly claimed to be innocent with the latter going as far as to say he was framed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The four Sri Lankans released maintained a low profile even as they were moved to a refugee camp.
That the Narendra Modi government did not oppose the release of the convicts as vigorously as it did in 2018 was clear. After stating to the Supreme Court then that it strongly opposed the release, the Centre now told the court that the matter was left to the Tamil Nadu Governor to decide. As the Tamil Nadu Governor had not acted upon the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly asking for their release for an inordinate length of time, the apex court ordered their release on the grounds of mercy and good behaviour under its special powers.
The worry in Tamil Nadu is that the assassins' release will again fan the flames of separatism that have over the decades, been more or less extinguished in the state. The DMK once called for a separate Dravida Nadu, but gave up the demand decades ago. Its alliance partners like the VCK and the MDMK even now refuse to admit that the convicts were guilty, and have been released on the grounds of mercy instead, hailing the verdict as justice being done. Even spokespersons of the ruling DMK were reluctant to go into the matter of their guilt only stating that the court had convicted them.
With the recent car explosion in Coimbatore, which took place in front of a temple just before Deepavali, raising fears of extremist elements gaining a foothold in Tamil Nadu, the perceived soft approach taken by the ruling party and indeed the main opposition party to the assassins also raises concerns.
The overwhelming majority of the people of Tamil Nadu want no truck with extremism of any kind. Both the Centre and the state governments would do well to tell the released convicts to maintain a low profile, and avoid the media glare. It is morally repugnant to greet the killers of 14 innocents besides Rajiv Gandhi (mostly Tamils and several policemen too) in the manner that has been seen. The State would do well to remember that even a perceived soft approach to terrorists and extremism can have serious implications for India.
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