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BOOKS
Robbing Hood
A savage outlaw in the jungle and no politician can stand
up to him
By Ashokamitran
A biography of a
living person is a problematic thing anywhere. South India, and especially
Tamil Nadu, is an extremely vulnerable territory in these matters. Imagine
a biography of M. Karunanidhi written today, in juxtaposition with the
several produced in the past five years until May 13, 2001.
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VEERAPPAN:
THE UNTOLD STORY
By Sunaad Raghuram
Viking
Price: 395
Pages: 312
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Sunaad Raghuram has attempted a biography of
a living person, Veerappan, and therefore runs the risk of his work becoming
a dated piece, at least for the large groups of people devotedly adhering
to the fluctuating assessments of their leaders who for them are the sole
guides for judging men, events and even history.
For all this, Veerappan: The untold story is
a comprehensive and well-researched book on a person who, from being a
small-time poacher and smuggler of forest wealth, grew into a national
crime story. Two state governments were almost on bended knees for the
100-odd days that kannada film star Rajkumar was held hostage by Veerappan.
In an earlier kidnapping episode, R.R. Gopal, the editor of the Tamil
periodical Nakkheeran, had negotiated the release of the hostages and
it was hoped that this case would have a similarly happy ending. But the
brigand had assumed the role of a champion of the people and presented
a charter of demands to be met before the release of his prize hostage.
The best part of the book is the lucid, detailed account of the legal
tangle that arose when an old man, the father of a police official brutally
killed by Veerappan, stood up to the two state governments which had sought
the path of least resistance in the face of threats by a man known for
his savagery. He demanded that Veerappan's associates not be released
from prison.
 But
have the law enforcers displayed exemplary conduct in their moments of
failure and frustration? There is a chapter on what happened to Veerappan's
wife Muthulakshmi in her years in police custody. And also on what happened
to Veerappan's associates who fell into the hands of the police only to
depart from the world after an all-too-familiar encounter. But time and
again, it's the policemen as members of the special task force who have
been the targets of the forest villain.
One of the things that emerges from the book
is that there had been no real political will to nab Veerappan and his
men. Veerappan's thorough knowledge of the terrain as well as his cunning
and savagery had been well-known but precious young men, officers like
Srinivas and Shakeel Ahmed, not to speak of more than 100 policemen, were
allowed to walk into his den and perish.
Raghuram's work is an extremely readable and
convincing account of Veerappan at this point of time. The author has
maintained a certain restraint in employing journalistic flourishes. There
is a mention of the "fugitive who had single-handedly held an Indian
state to ransom for more than a decade". History abounds with such
men. Didn't a single man hold the entire world to ransom between 1933
and 1945? He too was hailed by at least some people for some time as their
saviour and messiah.
There is a bit of Robin Hood in the life of
every outlaw (robbing the rich and feeding the poor and so on). Legends
have made Robin Hood so desirable a hero that he gets a mention in children's
books the world over. But could it have been possible for any outlaw,
Robin Hood included, not to have been as cunning and demonically ruthless
and merciless like Veerappan if he wished to stay alive?
Veerappan is also held by some as a kind of
Robin Hood and a champion of a language and its people.
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