samv
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2009
- Messages
- 3,059
- Reaction score
- -24
How DMK & Vaiko used Eelam for their own political ends
R Jagannathan May 23, 2011
One of the most sordid truths to emerge from the first interview given by Selvarasa Pathmanathan, alias Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), the LTTE leader now in Sri Lankan custody after the war, is the negative roles played by politicians in Tamil Nadu while backing the Eelam cause.
KP wants Vaiko to come to Sri Lanka and do something to improve the condition of the war-ravaged Tamil population.
Most leaders apparently used the Sri Lankan Tamil issue to buttress their own political claims in the state, where there was sympathy for their suffering brethren across the Palk Straits.
Whether it was DMK leader M Karunanidhi or V Gopalswamy (Vaiko), who heads the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), all of them used the Lankan Tamils card when it suited them. In an interview to VK Shashikumar of Mediagrove, his first since the war ended in May 2009, KP says: Vaiko, some DMK MPs and MLAs were very close to us. Karunanidhi is a senior politician but he also used this (LTTE) card from time to time (he wanted to say) I am close to Prabhakaran because that will get him the vote. They are a well off party, but they only need votes.
In the initial stages, the militant groups fighting the Sri Lankans did not have much need to engage with Tamil Nadu politicians, but once Prabhakaran and another extremist leader Uma Maheswaran fought each other in public on Indian soil and went to jail, they needed political help. Says KP: When we started our struggle, it was very clean. We did not involve Indian politicians The problem was when we first met politicians in Tamil Nadu for example when (LTTE chief) Prabhakaran and Uma Maheswaran fought on the streets of Tamil Nadu and were put in jail we sought the help of politicians to get bail. That was the start of Tamil Nadu political influence
Why did Vaiko suddenly land up at Prabhakarans lair in Sri Lanka during the war? KPs answer: He came with a personal agenda. Vaiko wanted to succeed Karunanidhi as DMK head, but the latters son Stalin was also in contention. To establish his own space, Vaiko wanted to gain popularity on the basis of LTTE He wanted the LTTEs support, since Tamil Nadu people are emotional, and they were behind the LTTE He (Vaiko) even violated the law and came here and met Prabhakaran.
KP says that Prabhakaran was surprised that Vaiko came to meet him without Karunanidhis knowledge.
On Jayalalithaa, KP spoke diplomatically about her saying she was a smart lady who knew her mind. Jayalalithaa gets Z category security in Tamil Nadu apparently because the LTTE wanted to get her at some point of time. Was this true? KP seemed to suggest that she could have been a target because she was no friend of the LTTE. She feels that (she was on the hit-list). Maybe if the LTTE got the chance they may have tried (to kill her), because she was always against LTTE she always took action against the LTTE.
So what are KPs current expectations from the politicians of Tamil Nadu. His basic message: keep politics out, and focus on lending a helping hand to feed the poor among Sri Lankan Tamils. He wants Jayalalithaa to get industry to create factories and jobs in northern Sri Lanka, where the Tamil population is concentrated.
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/how-dmk-vaiko-used-eelam-for-their-own-political-ends-13924.html
R Jagannathan May 23, 2011
One of the most sordid truths to emerge from the first interview given by Selvarasa Pathmanathan, alias Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP), the LTTE leader now in Sri Lankan custody after the war, is the negative roles played by politicians in Tamil Nadu while backing the Eelam cause.
KP wants Vaiko to come to Sri Lanka and do something to improve the condition of the war-ravaged Tamil population.
Most leaders apparently used the Sri Lankan Tamil issue to buttress their own political claims in the state, where there was sympathy for their suffering brethren across the Palk Straits.
Whether it was DMK leader M Karunanidhi or V Gopalswamy (Vaiko), who heads the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), all of them used the Lankan Tamils card when it suited them. In an interview to VK Shashikumar of Mediagrove, his first since the war ended in May 2009, KP says: Vaiko, some DMK MPs and MLAs were very close to us. Karunanidhi is a senior politician but he also used this (LTTE) card from time to time (he wanted to say) I am close to Prabhakaran because that will get him the vote. They are a well off party, but they only need votes.
In the initial stages, the militant groups fighting the Sri Lankans did not have much need to engage with Tamil Nadu politicians, but once Prabhakaran and another extremist leader Uma Maheswaran fought each other in public on Indian soil and went to jail, they needed political help. Says KP: When we started our struggle, it was very clean. We did not involve Indian politicians The problem was when we first met politicians in Tamil Nadu for example when (LTTE chief) Prabhakaran and Uma Maheswaran fought on the streets of Tamil Nadu and were put in jail we sought the help of politicians to get bail. That was the start of Tamil Nadu political influence
Why did Vaiko suddenly land up at Prabhakarans lair in Sri Lanka during the war? KPs answer: He came with a personal agenda. Vaiko wanted to succeed Karunanidhi as DMK head, but the latters son Stalin was also in contention. To establish his own space, Vaiko wanted to gain popularity on the basis of LTTE He wanted the LTTEs support, since Tamil Nadu people are emotional, and they were behind the LTTE He (Vaiko) even violated the law and came here and met Prabhakaran.
KP says that Prabhakaran was surprised that Vaiko came to meet him without Karunanidhis knowledge.
On Jayalalithaa, KP spoke diplomatically about her saying she was a smart lady who knew her mind. Jayalalithaa gets Z category security in Tamil Nadu apparently because the LTTE wanted to get her at some point of time. Was this true? KP seemed to suggest that she could have been a target because she was no friend of the LTTE. She feels that (she was on the hit-list). Maybe if the LTTE got the chance they may have tried (to kill her), because she was always against LTTE she always took action against the LTTE.
So what are KPs current expectations from the politicians of Tamil Nadu. His basic message: keep politics out, and focus on lending a helping hand to feed the poor among Sri Lankan Tamils. He wants Jayalalithaa to get industry to create factories and jobs in northern Sri Lanka, where the Tamil population is concentrated.
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/how-dmk-vaiko-used-eelam-for-their-own-political-ends-13924.html
