The Bandit As A Political Radical

The forest brigand has made his intentions clear in the cassette he has sent to the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. "Earlier, I wanted your support. I wanted amnesty. I wanted to lead a normal life. Now, I am not interested in any of those. I am not an individual any longer. We are functioning as a movement. We have our objectives and (must) see that those objectives are fulfilled," he said. The "we" that Veerappan is referring to is the faction of the Tamil National Liberation Army (tnla) headed by Maran, who has become his philosopher, friend and guide. It is Maran who has played a crucial role in moulding Veerappan’s political perceptions and has succeeded in propagating the idea that Veerappan is a something of a combination of ltte supremo Prabakaran, the legendary Che, Naxal leader Charu Mazumdar and Robin Hood. Maran’s lesson for Veerappan: "There is no need for surrender. You are right and the government is wrong. You have survived for such a long time; you can survive forever. Use your skills to generate resources and let’s fight for Tamil Nadu’s freedom." Whatever course the sandalwood smuggler’s new-found political ambitions take, and however the two states respond to the new August 19 deadline, it seems clear that in his new avatar Veerappan will continue to haunt the two state governments.

Veerappan’s Demands

The Maran factor explains the strange nature of Veerappan’s demands. When Kannada superstar Rajkumar was kidnapped, it was thought that the brigand would demand amnesty for himself - in addition to a huge ransom. But Veerappan proved the pundits’ predictions wrong. He seems to have erased ‘amnesty’ and ‘ransom money’ from his vocabulary. Instead, his demands were stridently political and pro-Tamil, reflecting his real future plans. There seems to be no doubt that Veerappan enjoys political equity. That’s the reason why the PMK and the PT have both been making pro-Veerappan noises and demanding that he be given general amnesty. Obviously, such sentiments are not without political motives. Veerappan is known to wield considerable influence on the crucial Vanniyar vote, a fact any Dravidian party would like to cash in on.

It is imperative to locate Veerappan in the caste dynamics of Tamil Nadu politics. The late ‘80s witnessed the mobilisation of Vanniyars, one of the dominant mbcs (Most Backward Caste) spread over seven districts in north Tamil Nadu. The PMK founder-chief, Dr Ramdoss, established the Vanniyar Sangam - which later became the PMK - and coined the slogan of Vanniyar Vottu Anniyarkku Illai (Vanniyar’s vote is not for others). In his early days, Ramdoss tried to rope in all the Vanniyars to support his cause. This included the then tncc president Vazhapadi Ramamurthy, erstwhile member of MGR’s cabinet Panruti S. Ramachandran, dmk leader Nellikuppam Krishnamurthy from mainstream politics and a host of marginal Tamil radicals who were agitated over the nationality question and demanded the right for self-determination. It was during this period that the politicians reinvented Veerappan, a Vanniyar. From being a forest brigand, he was elevated to the level of a local Robin Hood. The PMK functionaries were keen on appropriating Veerappan into their fold because of the "goodwill" he enjoyed with the oppressed section.

Today, Vazhapadi Ramamurthy points an accusing finger at the Veerappan-PMK link. "Veerappan has funded the PMK during the last two elections. tnla member Maran and the PMK leader Kaduvetti Guru are friends. The present demands of Veerappan and the pmk’s policy statement, which was released a month ago, reads alike and even the wordings are remarkably similar," he says. However PMK chief Ramdoss denies the charges but says he wants general amnesty to be granted to the brigand in order to end the menace permanently.

Since 1995 though, there has been a steady attempt to bring Veerappan into mainstream politics. As the first step towards rehabilitating Veerappan, the idea of a general amnesty was mooted. The ideologues of the PMK and other radical groups selectively retrieved historical instances in order to mould public opinion in favour of a general amnesty. The campaign of Jayaprakrash Narayan on behalf of the Chambal Valley dacoits, the surrender and rehabilitation of Mumbai-based Tamil smuggler Haji Mastan and the case of Phoolan Devi’s surrender were carefully calibrated to work out a rehabilitation package. However, Veerappan’s intransigence, and the inability of the two state governments to evolve a mutually acceptable formula for his surrender in 1997, sealed the question of general amnesty. Following the futile attempt in 1997 to work out an "honourable surrender" for him, Veerappan’s attitude changed. Convinced that the two state governments would never treat him the way he wanted, Veerappan stopped responding to feelers from the media for interviews.

Veerappan’s new radical Left-wing politics is bound to have an impact on Tamil Nadu. His demand for higher wages for the Manjolai Tea estate workers is aimed at securing the support of the Pudiya Tamizhagam, a Dalit party that has a sizeable presence in the southern districts. His demand of the release of five prisoners from Tamil Nadu jails is aimed at strengthening his control over the tnla. All the five members of the tnla were involved in crimes which are deemed seditious and separatist in nature.

Now, there seem to be two choices before Veerappan. Either he joins mainstream politics or radicalises existing smaller Dravidian parties like the PMK and the PT. But all told, Veerappan has become quite a tricky issue for Karunanidhi, what with the PT being a bitter rival. It’s a tangle that might not be unravelled for a long time to come.