One Thousand and One Ways to Embarrass the BJP Leadership. That, according to the current joke in Tamil Nadu, is the name of the 'do-it-yourself' book that eager publishers are desperately wooing AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalitha to write. After a series of demands and counter-demands, the leader of the AIADMK-led front has now raked up yet another of the one thousand and one ways—the much forgotten Sri Lankan Tamil issue.
This time, the AIADMK demand has assumed a new dangerous twist—the party wants the Vajpayee government to support the cause of the 'Hindu' Tamils in Jaffna. This marks the first time since 1956 that the ethnic issue has been painted in communal colours.
The June 10 memorandum, asking for a Parliamentary delegation from Tamil Nadu to be sent to the 'Tamil homeland' in Sri Lanka for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation, took the Centre by surprise. It referred to the Tamils of Sri Lanka as 'Hindus' and expressed anguish over the destruction of over 1,800 Hindu temples. The communal tone is a major departure from the earlier stand taken by Tamil Nadu's political parties. Previously, the state's political parties had extended their support to the resistance and struggle of the Sri Lanka's minority Tamils against the majority Sinhalese within the broader framework of the Dravidian movement. Both the Muslims of India and the Tamils of Sri Lanka (both Hindu and Muslim) were seen as victims of the majority's bigotry.
The colouring of the Lankan Tamil issue in 'Hindu' hues, according to AIADMK insiders, is part of a three-pronged strategy: to step up the pressure on the BJP by bringing up a new demand which it cannot dismiss lightly given the LTTE's violently anti-Muslim track record; to keep the Lankan Tamil-friendly parties such as the PMK and MDMK happy; and more importantly, to create confusion in Tamil Nadu should the DMK react by issuing any statement expressing support for the Tamil cause. This could later be used to create the impression that Karunanidhi is backing the Tamil Tigers.
The DMK leaders, including chief minister Karunanidhi, are keeping a carefully discreet silence. Nonetheless, eight days after issuing the pro-Sri Lankan Tamil memorandum, Jayalalitha charged the DMK with clandestinely supporting the LTTE. The Karunanidhi government's continuance in office, she stated, "would endanger national security". In effect, Jayalalitha wants the Centre to interfere, yet at the same time accuses the DMK of having a soft corner for the Jaffna movement.
The pro-LTTE/anti-LTTE face of the AIADMK is an old one. The party has always been close to friends of the LTTE such as K. Veeramani, general secretary of the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), and P. Nedumaran, president of Tamizhar Tesiya Iyakam (Nationalist Movement for the Tamils)—both have been staunch advocates of the LTTE's cause for the last 20 years. They are also strong supporters of Jayalalitha.
During 1989-91, while the DMK was in power, Jayalalitha used the duo to launch attacks against Karunanidhi. Jayalalitha and Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy then cried foul over LTTE infiltration into the state. At the same time Nedumaran and Veeramani attacked the DMK for not extending sufficient support to the armed struggle in the island nation. Karunanidhi was accused of failing to be a "global Tamil leader" and supporting "our brothers in Jaffna".
The dual attack strategy was also recently employed on the issue of militant Muslim fundamentalism in Tamil Nadu. While the DMK government tried to curb the activities of some of the Muslim groups in Coimbatore, the PMK and the DK protested that Karunanidhi was targeting the minorities. At the other end, the BJP and the AIADMK accused the DMK of allowing Muslim fundamentalism to take root in the state. The state government's crackdown on Islamic radicals has evoked talk from the DK and PMK about "the gruesome draconian law"—the DMK recently legislated to tackle extremist activity—and from the AIADMK and the BJP, charges of ISI infiltration.
In the post-Rajiv Gandhi assassination phase, the AIADMK used this dual policy vis-a-vis the Tamil Tigers to good effect.Through Veeramani and Nedumaran, lines were kept open with the LTTE. George Fernandes even gave a national flavour to the pro-LTTE campaign worked out by the duo. The PMK, an openly pro-LTTE party, also employed the AIADMK strategy. S. Ramdoss, its chief, had attended LTTE conferences abroad expressing solidarity, while back home his close ally Vazhapadi K. Ramamurthy, now the Union petroleum minister, issued statements condemning the DMK for its proximity with the militant group. In all the political crossfire, most overlooked the LTTE's anti-Muslim stance.
When it comes to minority rights, the LTTE has always refused to address the question of Muslims in Sri Lanka. As long as the Tamil leadership was linked with the democratic movement—the Federal Party and its present avatar, the Tamil United Liberation Front—politicians spoke of the Hindu and Muslim Tamils as one people united by language but divided by religion. However, by the end of the '80s, Tamil Muslims—who comprise six per cent of Sri Lanka's population—were seen as "traitors" who "collaborated with the Sinhalese enemy".
The report of the University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna, documents the deep cleavage between the two communities: "Muslims' relations with (Hindu) Tamils have been going through a tortuous course that has become increasingly tragic. The LTTE in the late '80s banned the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress and any sign of self-assertiveness on the part of Muslims was dealt with brute force."
In August 1990, nearly 300 unarmed Muslims were slaughtered by the LTTE in several incidents in Batticaloa district; the most notorious of these: the cold-blooded shooting of over 120 Muslims during prayers in a mosque. On October 22, 1990, in the streets of the Muslim settlements in the Northern Province, the LTTE announced over loudspeakers that Muslims must leave—or face death. A 48-hour ultimatum was issued. A two-hour ultimatum was announced in Jaffna town. Nearly 75,000 Muslims were forced to flee to the refugee camps near Puttalam where they still languish. It was pure ethnic cleansing, achieved without a single shot fired.
Two weeks after the forceful evacuation of the Muslims, LTTE leaders from Paris and London contacted Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and sought his support for their battle. The development went unnoticed as the nation was focused on the V.P. Singh government's controversial decision to implement the Mandal Commission report. But ever since then, the Sena chief has supported the cause of the Tigers—he declared that "it is my duty to support the struggles of a fellow Hindu".
In the early '90s the Tamil diaspora had several meetings with BJP leaders who were then travelling across Europe and the US seeking NRI support for the kar sevas and the demolition of the Babri Masjid."The focus of our discussions was that as a Hindu party it was the duty of the BJP to protect the rights of Hindu Tamils whose places of worship were being ravaged by Buddhist hooligans. We got a positive response from them. Our meeting with L.K. Advani when he was in London during 1993-94 was fruitful and he understood the mistakes committed by Rajiv Gandhi," observes a London-based LTTE spokesperson.
But the question remains: why is the AIADMK raking up this issue now? The party's leadership knows that no Indian government would want to interfere in the Lankan ethnic issue. Yet, if the BJP fails to oblige the real demand of the AIADMK—which is the dismissal of the DMK government—then the AIADMK would need an issue to pull down the Vajpayee government. The ethnic struggle in Jaffna still remains a great Tamil cause.
