Competitive Politics
Sri Lankan Tamils have become a pawn in the hands of politicians for competitive politics. CM Jayalalitha used her Independence Day address to make an appeal on behalf of Sri Lankan Tamils. “We are celebrating the independence of the country and at least now India should prevail upon the Sri Lankan government to ensure that our Tamil brethren living in camps are rehabilitated in their own places and secure rights on a par with the Sinhalese,” she said. The operative phrase (“at least now”) she used was curious. Was she adding her voice to former CM Karunanidhi's, who organised the TESO conference (that her government put spokes in the wheel of, but was compelled to allow by the Madras High Court), where one of the resolutions passed was to rehabilitate displaced Sri Lankan Tamils? Or was she insecure that after the last few years, he has made a beginning to recover the image of protector of Tamils that he once enjoyed but lost as people, the Tamil diaspora and Tamil groups began to see him as a “betrayer” and that his motives were cynical and aimed at electoral benefits? The twitter account that this octogenarian began two days after conducting the conference proved that he has a long way to go to win over critics. His first two tweets were about the TESO conference and the responses were not all rah rah. Though actress Khushboo, also a prominent face of the DMK, gushed in her tweet: “Welcome Thalaivare.”
Degrees of Separation
Karunanidhi at least will now know firsthand what people think of him. CM Jayalalitha still has multiple degrees of separation from the people. But interestingly, Karunanidhi too seems to have taken this step two days after Jayalalitha embraced high tech to plug into people’s grievances faster. She inaugurated a new website (http://tn.com.gov.in) to which complaints can be sent directly. At the moment, the CM’s cell gets 3,500 complaints every day through snail mail, courier and other modes. The new facility will aid those outside Chennai not only to send their complaints but also get an instant acknowledgement. Since she assumed power last May, the cell has received about five lakh complaints from across the state. The inauguration of the cell showed that apart from livelihood issues, many women approach the CM to solve their marital problems, complain of domestic violence and about dowry demands. One of the problems these women face is that cops are reluctant to get involved. “The police in some stations are reluctant to register marital discord cases since they have to solve the issue once a FIR (first information report) is lodged. These women know once they complain to the CM cell, they will get justice.” says one of the 50 officials in the CM’s cell.