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| June 19, 2000 | ||
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| TAMIL PARTIES Unczeched In a bid to outdo his rivals, Karunanidhi throws coalition caution to the wind by calling for Sri Lankan division along the lines of Czechoslovakia. By Amarnath K. Menon
If anything, the DMK chief displayed an uncanny sense of timing: the dramatic shift in his party's approach to the issue came at a rally held to mark his 77th birthday. "The ethnic problem was neither a result of an externally induced enmity nor an external aggression. It was from within the country and has so far claimed over 60,000 lives, most of Tamils," he thundered, and said Sri Lanka should either grant more rights to the Tamils to enable a "permanent solution" to the ethnic strife or agree to a "territorial separation" on the lines of the Czech and Slovak republics. Karunanidhi is finally plugging a separate Eelam like his electoral allies, the MDMK and the PMK, both of which argue it is the only feasible solution. The hardline approach from a party that is part of the ruling coalition at the Centre is at complete variance with Indian foreign policy which has been consistent in stating that Delhi is against dividing the island. Ironically, Karunanidhi's remarks came hours after MDMK General Secretary Vaiko, on the advice of the DMK supremo called off a rally in support of Eelam that was scheduled in Chennai. By citing the Czech model, Karunanidhi is clearly trying to move ahead of his allies, but the suggestion glosses over some vital differences. While in Sri Lanka, Tamils are spread over different parts of the country, in Czechoslovakia, Czech and Slovakia were two separate geographical blocks and, therefore, could be divided. Establishing the two republics was the outcome of a smooth political consensus. The constitutional dissolution of the federation was agreed upon in the early '90s only after the leading parties on both sides of the political and geographical divide tried to reach a compromise about Czechoslovakia's future. Karunanidhi's remarks created ripples in the NDA Government in which the DMK is a major constituent and demanded that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee condemn Karunanidhi's remarks and clarify the NDA's position on the issue. Vajpayee, on holiday in Manali, was quick to respond by stating that Karunanidhi's comments were "his personal views or at most, that of his party. The NDA or the Government does not share this view". Last week, Vajpayee called a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security where senior DMK leader and Union Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran was a "special invitee". After the meeting, Maran said too much was being made of the statement and that the DMK stood by the NDA and the Government. However, the attacks continued. Tamil Manila Congress leader P. Chidamabaram said the withdrawal of the statement by Karunanidhi would befit the stature of the chief minister and the NDA Government. The left parties too found his statement "unwarranted and uncalled for". By suggesting a division, virtually on ethnic lines, Karunanidhi is pitching for a capricious approach fraught with dangers if leaders in other countries make similar demands on the issue of separation of Kashmir or parts of the Northeast. Playing up the Tamil issue does not contribute to any striking electoral gains for the DMK, except in a few pockets of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu. Yet, political parties have played the card in the belief that there is wide support within Tamil Nadu for the outlawed LTTE and the creation of Eelam. Viewed in that context, the latest pitch of Karunanidhi comes more than a year ahead of the next assembly elections due next summer. Evidently, the nebulous proposals are aired not so much as to solve the island's crisis as the more basic political compulsion to show the DMK is not wanting in an espousal of the Tamil cause. Karunanidhi is banking on this doublespeak. He is justifying the Eelam demand while endorsing India's stand on an integral Lanka, to take the wind out of the sails of the more aggressive campaign of the MDMK, PMK and the Puthiya Thamilagam. And, at the same time, reassure DMK cadres that the party's opposition to the LTTE does not mean a dilution of the cause of Lankan Tamils or the creation of a separate Eelam. "Some in the media are attributing ulterior motives to our intentions," complains Tamil Nadu Law Minister Aladi Aruna. It helps keep the issue alive while Sri Lanka's President Chandrika Kumaratunga rules out any more attempts at negotiations with the LTTE and is holding talks with Tamil political parties and the rival United National Party (UNP) on constitutional reforms. Even if an agreement is reached she will find it difficult to implement the proposed changes before the general elections scheduled to be held in October. "They are not sincere and the talk of devolution is only a dilatory tactic because they are under pressure from the Buddhist monks," says Aruna. It is a charge that neither Kumaratunga's People's Alliance nor the UNP can easily deny. But, for the moment, the military operation in the Jaffna peninsula is welcome cannon fodder for Karunanidhi to pursue his absurd advocacy. |
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At
77, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi is the aging czar of
Dravidian politics. As a well-known Tamil film scriptwriter before taking
the plunge into fulltime politics he knows what it takes to kindle
emotions. Last week, he did exactly that. And in the process, set the cat
among the pigeons by suggesting a widening of the Sinhala-Tamil divide.
Mercifully, he stopped just short of speaking of a separate Eelam as the
solution to the stalemate in Sri Lanka.