The first political reaction that played out on TV screens after the Supreme Court commuted death sentences of three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case on Wednesday was from Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Vaiko. “This is a great victory and we now appeal for the release of those in jail,” declared the former Member of Parliament, who has been closely involved in the case. Even though the death penalties had been commuted only because of an "inordinate delay" in carrying out the executions, the Tamil politician seemed to portray the verdict as an exoneration of sorts.
The next morning, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party announced that all seven convicts serving a life term in the case would be released.
The political agenda is obvious for Vaiko, Jayalalithaa, DMK chief M Karunanidhi and every other Tamil politician aspiring to be the champion of the Tamil cause. In that quest, it does not seem to matter that these seven people had links to the deadly Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and were convicted in a monstrous crime. It was as if their crime was somehow less horrific than those committed by the 96 other convicts in jails across the Tamil Nadu who are serving life sentences for over 20 years.
What has happened in Tamil Nadu over the last five years that such demands are seen as the “unanimous wish” of the state’s political forces? Why is carrying out an execution in such an enormous case so difficult and why should this be any different from the case of, for instance, the alleged Kashmiri militant Afzal Guru?
A decade ago, in 2002, Jayalalithaa’s government arrested Vaiko under the Prevention of Terrorist Act for making pro-LTTE speeches. He spent over a year in jail. In 2008, he was arrested again on charges of sedition by the DMK government. Several others who supported the LTTE were also arrested and kept in prison for prolonged periods. Despite their ostensible commitment to the Sri Lankan Tamil cause, ruling parties in Tamil Nadu acted against those who offered support to the LTTE. At that time, there was a well-demarcated line separating support for the terrorist outfit and sympathy for the Tamil cause. It did not matter that the LTTE was the principal voice of the Sri Lankan Tamils: it was a terrorist outfit and support for it was illegal in India.
That distinction was also the cornerstone of India’s foreign policy regarding Sri Lanka. While extending humanitarian assistance and support for a political solution to the conflict, India was firmly opposed to the LTTE. Several Sri Lankan diplomats, on condition of anonymity, have repeatedly insisted that “India’s categorical support was of great importance to Colombo in eliminating the LTTE”. Though India abetted the creation of the LTTE in the late 1970s and ’80s, its association with the outfit was complicated. Many hard-line Tamil activists in Tamil Nadu shared a deep emotional connection with the LTTE even after the Rajiv Gandhi assassination in 1991. But they dictated neither mainstream politics nor foreign policy.
Things began to change in 2009. As India faced a general election, the LTTE was in the last stages of a bloody annihilation by the Sri Lankan army. The DMK was a part of the UPA and its chief Karunanidhi, on the eve of an election, was under pressure to show that he was not a mute spectator to the war in Sri Lanka.
In this backdrop, in an interview to NDTV, Karunanidhi called LTTE chief V Prabhakaran a “good friend”. It raised several eye brows as Karunanidhi was in an alliance with the Congress. He also went on a sudden fast in Chennai. It was clear that the DMK had maintained a dubious impression of sympathy for the LTTE since 1991 but were constrained by the fact that it was unacceptable to be seen as encouraging a terrorist group.
Almost as soon as the Indian election results were declared on May 15, 2009, news began to emerge from Sri Lanka of Prabhakaran's death. Since then, it has become perfectly acceptable in Tamil Nadu to talk about the “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” by the Sri Lankan forces. Pictures of the LTTE chief's son Balachandran being shot in cold blood and those of atrocities committed by Sri Lankan forces became a huge rallying point.
As the sentiment grew strong and horrible details of the war became clearer, there was genuine sympathy for the Tamil plight. Jayalalithaa, who had taken a strong anti-LTTE stance till then, decided to jump on the bandwagon. After she came to power in 2011, she blocked Sri Lankan cricketers from playing in Chennai during the Indian Premier League, ensured the film Madras Café was not released in Tamil Nadu because it portrayed the LTTE as terrorists, and played along with the demand for the release of the seven people convicted for Rajiv Gandhi’s murder. It was, an AIADMK leader said, a way of ensuring that her rivals in the DMK, could not make the same demand.
With the two main Dravidian parties engaged in a race, a strand of opinion that had once been held only by fringe groups had become dangerous and loud. The DMK was part of the UPA and began exerting pressure on India’s foreign policy. India’s vote against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 2013 and subsequent cancellation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Colombo for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting were all indications of domestic political pressure on India’s foreign policy.
The dangerous repercussions of this situation must not be ignored. There is an attempt to distort facts and history. While commuting the death penalties of the seven killers shows the humanitarian side of the Indian state, making that the platform for the release of the convicts is unacceptable. The onus is on Tamil Nadu’s main political parties to re-establish the line between supporting Sri Lankan Tamils and idolising a terrorist act.
TM Veeraraghav is an independent journalist.
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The next morning, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party announced that all seven convicts serving a life term in the case would be released.
The political agenda is obvious for Vaiko, Jayalalithaa, DMK chief M Karunanidhi and every other Tamil politician aspiring to be the champion of the Tamil cause. In that quest, it does not seem to matter that these seven people had links to the deadly Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and were convicted in a monstrous crime. It was as if their crime was somehow less horrific than those committed by the 96 other convicts in jails across the Tamil Nadu who are serving life sentences for over 20 years.
What has happened in Tamil Nadu over the last five years that such demands are seen as the “unanimous wish” of the state’s political forces? Why is carrying out an execution in such an enormous case so difficult and why should this be any different from the case of, for instance, the alleged Kashmiri militant Afzal Guru?
A decade ago, in 2002, Jayalalithaa’s government arrested Vaiko under the Prevention of Terrorist Act for making pro-LTTE speeches. He spent over a year in jail. In 2008, he was arrested again on charges of sedition by the DMK government. Several others who supported the LTTE were also arrested and kept in prison for prolonged periods. Despite their ostensible commitment to the Sri Lankan Tamil cause, ruling parties in Tamil Nadu acted against those who offered support to the LTTE. At that time, there was a well-demarcated line separating support for the terrorist outfit and sympathy for the Tamil cause. It did not matter that the LTTE was the principal voice of the Sri Lankan Tamils: it was a terrorist outfit and support for it was illegal in India.
That distinction was also the cornerstone of India’s foreign policy regarding Sri Lanka. While extending humanitarian assistance and support for a political solution to the conflict, India was firmly opposed to the LTTE. Several Sri Lankan diplomats, on condition of anonymity, have repeatedly insisted that “India’s categorical support was of great importance to Colombo in eliminating the LTTE”. Though India abetted the creation of the LTTE in the late 1970s and ’80s, its association with the outfit was complicated. Many hard-line Tamil activists in Tamil Nadu shared a deep emotional connection with the LTTE even after the Rajiv Gandhi assassination in 1991. But they dictated neither mainstream politics nor foreign policy.
Things began to change in 2009. As India faced a general election, the LTTE was in the last stages of a bloody annihilation by the Sri Lankan army. The DMK was a part of the UPA and its chief Karunanidhi, on the eve of an election, was under pressure to show that he was not a mute spectator to the war in Sri Lanka.
In this backdrop, in an interview to NDTV, Karunanidhi called LTTE chief V Prabhakaran a “good friend”. It raised several eye brows as Karunanidhi was in an alliance with the Congress. He also went on a sudden fast in Chennai. It was clear that the DMK had maintained a dubious impression of sympathy for the LTTE since 1991 but were constrained by the fact that it was unacceptable to be seen as encouraging a terrorist group.
Almost as soon as the Indian election results were declared on May 15, 2009, news began to emerge from Sri Lanka of Prabhakaran's death. Since then, it has become perfectly acceptable in Tamil Nadu to talk about the “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” by the Sri Lankan forces. Pictures of the LTTE chief's son Balachandran being shot in cold blood and those of atrocities committed by Sri Lankan forces became a huge rallying point.
As the sentiment grew strong and horrible details of the war became clearer, there was genuine sympathy for the Tamil plight. Jayalalithaa, who had taken a strong anti-LTTE stance till then, decided to jump on the bandwagon. After she came to power in 2011, she blocked Sri Lankan cricketers from playing in Chennai during the Indian Premier League, ensured the film Madras Café was not released in Tamil Nadu because it portrayed the LTTE as terrorists, and played along with the demand for the release of the seven people convicted for Rajiv Gandhi’s murder. It was, an AIADMK leader said, a way of ensuring that her rivals in the DMK, could not make the same demand.
With the two main Dravidian parties engaged in a race, a strand of opinion that had once been held only by fringe groups had become dangerous and loud. The DMK was part of the UPA and began exerting pressure on India’s foreign policy. India’s vote against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 2013 and subsequent cancellation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Colombo for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting were all indications of domestic political pressure on India’s foreign policy.
The dangerous repercussions of this situation must not be ignored. There is an attempt to distort facts and history. While commuting the death penalties of the seven killers shows the humanitarian side of the Indian state, making that the platform for the release of the convicts is unacceptable. The onus is on Tamil Nadu’s main political parties to re-establish the line between supporting Sri Lankan Tamils and idolising a terrorist act.
TM Veeraraghav is an independent journalist.