Poll fever turns villain into hero

In May 1991, in the middle of a bruising general election campaign, a foreign terrorist organisation — the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) — stunned India by assassinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

In May 1991, in the middle of a bruising general election campaign, a foreign terrorist organisation — the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) — stunned India by assassinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

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The LTTE’s most grave strategic error was Rajiv’s assassination. Other than the diehard Tiger supporter, the whole of India shunned the LTTE for years. Mainstream Tamil parties like the AIADMK and DMK were careful, indeed circumspect, in their comments on Prabhakaran and his ilk.

Eighteen years later, DMK chief Muthuvel Karunanidhi has described Prabhakaran as his “friend,” AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa wants to send the Indian Army to carve out a separate state of Tamil Eelam.

Not to be outdone, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, contesting from Sivaganga in TN, asked if India was concerned Prabhakaran’s fate, was quoted as saying in an NDTV interview: “We don’t wish Prabhakaran ill.”

“The (election) rhetoric should be put in perspective. It’s a game of competitive politics and one-upmanship,” R. Hariharan, a former colonel, who was chief of intelligence of the Indian Peace-keeping Force, told HT from Chennai.

“The people have gone beyond that (support to the Tigers). Yes, there is sympathy for Sri Lankan Tamils, but there are bigger issues on which people are going to vote. Like the issue of rising prices,” Hariharan added.

In any case, given that all political parties are falling over each other to raise the Sri Lanka issue, no one will be able to tell whether the people of Tamil Nadu “voted” because of their concern for their “brethren” across the Palk Strait.

India’s Sri Lanka policy, which has been a tightrope walk for some years, was in grave danger of unraveling till our diplomats got Colombo to announce on Monday that “combat” operations have ended.

Much discussion took place among Union Cabinet ministers before the diplomatic mission to Colombo was dispatched. Karunanidhi declared “victory” after the Sri Lankan statement — allowing him to call off his brief hunger strike.

“Prabhakaran is the antithesis of the Sri Lankan Tamil cause. He has ruined two generations of our people. He is responsible for the deaths of at least 20,000 Tamils. Supporting him in anathema for us,” a Sri Lankan Tamil leader, who preferred anonymity, said.

At the end of the day, statements made in the heat of the election campaign may not amount to much. But, still, it demonstrates that “support” for the LTTE, which also killed 1,200 Indian soldiers between 1987 and 1990, is fair game for politicians scrambling to win elections in Tamil Nadu.