The 86-year-old cunning, southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu politician, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, popularly known as Kalaigner, entered politics at the age of 14. He was inspired by Alagiriswamy of the Justice Party’s speech, and has done nothing for the Tamil society for their empowerment, although he claims he is working hard for the Tamils’ empowerment and to establish their rights. His real motives have been exposed through many events, but the latest one is through the drama that he was the saviour of Sri Lankan Tamils when they were facing genocidal war instigated by the Sri Lankan State, which ended grief stricken in May this year, with the loss of nearly 30,000 civilians, while incarcerating another 300,000 civilians in the barbed-wires camps where the Sri Lankan State prohibits visitors, including the UN agencies, with the exception to the ten-member Indian parliamentary delegation, who had the first opportunity to pay visit to the camps.
After the Indian MPs delegation returned to India, they submitted the reports to Karunanidhi, and later on, to Indian Prime Minister and Indian Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi. The latter two people who are, in reality, taking revenge on the LTTE for the murder of Rajiv Gandhi, the former Indian Prime Minister and husband of Italian-born incumbent Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.
Karunanidhi’s DMK is an ally of the ruling Indian central government, led by Manmohan Singh. When the Tamils were dying, India allegedly provided weapons to Sri Lanka to launch military attacks against the LTTE. When the opposing parties in Tamil Nadu exposed the real face of Karunanidhi, he and his allies issued contradictory statements. One said India did not provide weapons to Sri Lanka. Then, they acknowledged that India provided the weapons to Sri Lanka on the plea that India wanted to maintain friendship with Sri Lanka, as if India’s reluctance to provide weapons will force Sri Lanka to join hands with India’s enemies, Pakistan and China.
Also, he held several demonstrations, including fast protest, which was nothing but to ease the tension that arose due to the ongoing suffering of Tamils in Eelam, and also to counter the chain of protests conducted by the opposing parties.
The Indian delegation’s visit was nothing but a showpiece to hoodwink the international community in general, and Tamils around the world in particular, which would only serve Karunanidhi to show that he is doing everything for the welfare of the Tamils. He has the belief that the Tamils will celebrate his death when he dies in the future, as how the Tamils were celebrating the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the late M. G. Ramachandran, who broke out from DMK, and formed ADMK, and ruled Tamil Nadu without a break for 13 years, and did not even give a chance for Karunanidhi to become Chief Minister. Ramachandran was a great patronage of Tamils, who even gave money in the early 1980s to the LTTE from his pocket and allocated funds for the LTTE from the Tamil Nadu treasury to fight against the Sri Lankan State, as it was treating the Tamils as second class citizens. And Tamils all around the world keep Ramachandran in their hearts and souls. So, Karunanidhi is trying his best to show that he, too, helps the Tamils as Ramachandran did, but no one needs to be a rocket scientist to realize the Karunanidhi’s real motives, because without a doubt, he will hoodwink the uneducated and poor Tamil Nadu people forever with his literature and dramatic talents. However, it is unlikely that he can hoodwink the Eelam and Diaspora Tamils. They will never be convinced by his speeches, arguments and actions.
Karunanidhi done enough damage to Tamil society
Karunanidhi had done enough for damaging the Tamil society, whether they live in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Africa, Mauritius, Singapore, or elsewhere. The Tamils living around the world are grief-sicken after they heard the story of the demise of the LTTE and especially as they feel that they will be treated as slaves because they were having the dream of achieving an independent State for Tamils so that the State will represent them whenever they face any hardships elsewhere. Their desire is for the State to really stand up to support them if they face any hardships in any other country wherever they live.
Tamils around the world no longer trust the future State of Tamil Nadu, as the politicians do not really have the hearts and minds to stand up giving voice when the Tamils anywhere face hardships, and whenever their values are at the mercy of the majority community. Tamil Nadu, as a quasi-federal State of India, has been granted much less autonomy than any other federal system of governments existing, especially in the western countries. The Tamil Nadu State has no power to stand up to save their brethrens, even when the Tamils die in the other States of India. But, the Tamil Nadu politicians did nothing to save the Tamils, even though these politicians are influential and help the government to stay in power in New Delhi.
Unfortunately, these politicians support New Delhi just for power, because these politicians demand central government to allocate ministerial posts. A classic example is that Karunanidhi’s nephew, the late Murasoli Maran, was holding a ministerial post in New Delhi for decades till his death. After his demise, Maran’s son held the senior minister’s post. Maran’s another son, Kalanidhi Maran, runs the Sun Network, India’s second largest television network. According to Forbes, Kalanidhi is among India’s richest 20 with $1.9 billion. Karunanidhi cut the relationship with Maran’s family members after three Dinkaran newspaper employees were killed by Karunanidhi’s son, Azhagiri’s supporters, for carrying out stories against Karunanidhi’s real motive to bring another son, Stalin, who is now the deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu, as the next Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The Dinakaran paper is also owned by Maran’s family.
The Karunanidhi and Maran families gave money to the murdered members of the Dinakaran employees, but the accused Azhagiri, the prime who were also accused in the murder case of the former DMK Minister Kiruttinan, won the elections held recently and he is now a minister in Indian central government. It is no secret that Azhagiri functions as an extra constitutional authority in Madurai, though he has never held a party post, and is a liability to the party and is not yet expelled. Further, Karunanidhi’s daughter, Kanimozhi, has been nominated for a Rajya Sabha post, even though she has done very little for the party, as pointed out by critics and many of his party members.
Karunanidhi has married three times. His wives are Mrs. Padmavathy, Mrs. Dayalu Ammal, and Mrs. Rajathiammal. His sons are M.K Muthu, who was born to Padmavathy and passed away. M.K. Azhagiri, M.K. Stalin, M.K Tamilarasu, and his daughters are Selvi and Kanimozhi, who were born to Dayalu Ammal. Kanimozhi is the only daughter from his third wife, Rajathiammal. Karunanidhi is fostering his children slowly in politics, and they secure high profile posts immediately after they are introduced into politics, because Karunanidhi is giving prominence to his children rather than working for the betterment of the Tamil society. Karunanidhi, during most of his political career, at the expense of the ignorance and poverty of the Tamil Nadu people, and through corruption, built up his own empire of a near-dynasty of enormous wealth and nepotism.
One of the 10-member MPs who visited the camps in Vanni in the second week of October, this year, is the leader of the Dalit Panthers of India, Thirumavalavan who, while speaking to the Tamilnet newswire on October 23 said, “There was a total violation of human rights in the Sri Lankan government’s camps for Internally Displaced Persons.”
He further said: “The people are stashed away like cows and dogs and pigs in barbed wire camps. There are about 45,000 to 55,000 people in the six main camps. In some cases, where the overcrowding is simply unbearable, they have created additional camps for about 5,000 to 15,000 people...One of the major problems that people face is to get water for drinking and bathing purposes. The water supply is extremely irregular and insufficient. I heard the people tell me that they had to keep awake for a whole week in order to get five liters of water, which is supposedly their daily ration... I also observed that people were not allowed to move from one concentration camp to another. Every camp was within a barbed wire. People were not able to meet their relatives in another camp”
He said: “People are also afraid of speaking freely since they were being photographed. The fear of monitoring has certainly silenced them...Overall, I feel that the Government of Sri Lanka will not follow the six-month deadline which it assured to New Delhi for letting these people return. I feel that even ten percent of the people are yet to be sent back, and no effort seems to have been taken in that direction...In my opinion, Tamil Eelam is the only solution. Thousands of civilians and more than thirty thousand fighters is the price we have paid so far in this struggle. The Tamil people cannot live as second class citizens in Sri Lanka. Hence, Tamil Eelam is the only solution.”
But, the other nine MPs, comprising the DMK and the Congress Party, maintain silence about the plights of Eelam Tamils. Karunanidhi comes out strongly to say that the Sri Lankan President is doing everything possible to release the Tamils from the camps and he trusts the President. Karunanidhi said in the Tamil Nadu assembly in July, this year, that achieving ‘Tamil Eelam’ was no more a realistic possibility. He said Tamils should henceforth work for their livelihood rights in the island nation and struggle for equal rights, equal status for the language, and devolution of powers at the regional level. “Only this is possible, not Tamil Eelam,” he said, responding to views of members from various parties on a special mention on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. He asked the parties not to make provocative remarks against the Sinhalese as that could further affect Tamils in the island nation. Hence, Karunanidhi has done enough damage to Tamil society, and Tamils should be aware that they should not trust Karunanidhi anymore for obtaining their rights.
Karunanidhi: A hero of corruptions
The Tamil Nadu population are still living in poverty, mostly while Tamil Nadu becomes the State of opportunists who hail from other parts of India and are taking control of the major leading industries, most commonly the pawn brokers who are non-inhabitants of Tamil Nadu and own and operate the pawn brokerage stores, which are a leading money making industry. And hundreds of thousands of Tamil Nadu inhabitants work in the industries owned by people who come to Tamil Nadu in search of greener pasture. But, these poor employees make less than a dollar per day, the minimal living expense of a large family. Many other economic and political oppressions are taking place in Tamil Nadu, but the people who hailed from other States in India have entered Tamil Nadu and dominated the economic and political powerhouses, taking few actions to empower the locals of Tamil Nadu, enabling legislations for the betterment of outsiders while almost nothing is done to the locals. This oppression of locals negates any progress for Tamils since British rule. Karunanidhi, too, is from such a clan, and he does not take actions for the welfare of locals who made him a greater political and economic successor. And in return, he is contributing enormously to the destruction of the Tamil society for which he remains thankful, but in reality, does not observe.
Karunanidhi did not rise to this merit through economics and politics, but rather through his corruption and other forms of malpractices. He was indicted by the Sarkaria commission for corruption in allotting tenders for the Veeranam project. Former Indian Prime Minister, the late Indira Gandhi, dismissed the Karunanidhi government, based on charges of possible secession and corruption. Earlier, Karunanidhi, the former chief secretary, K.A. Nambiar, and a host of others, were arrested in the wee hours on charges of corruption in the construction of flyovers in Chennai. He and his party members where charged under Sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 167 (public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury), 420 (cheating), and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code, and Section 13 (2), 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. But, he is a cunning politician who comes out clean after proving that he is innocent. It is no doubt that he is a great administrator and he is one of the living political legendaries. He is a highly respected man in India. But, his words and actions have double meaning. In reality, he and his supporters claim that Karunanidhi is a leader of world Tamils. But their such claims have no ground because he is actually the primary cause for the deaths of nearly 30,000 Tamils in Eelam, and to the destiny of nearly 300,000 Tamils, in the barbed-wire camps, in Vavuniya.
Karunanidhi’s real motives have been exposed, but it is unlikely that the poor peasants in Tamil Nadu will realize this soon. And definitely, he will be kept to the heir as the leader, even after he is dead, in Tamil Nadu, because he is leaving behind his family members to remain in power, and they will keep the pride of Karunanidhi. But in reality, since he came to politics at 14 years of age, he did everything to secure the DMK leadership from ways of manipulating others, and he got the good certificate from founder and leader of the DMK, Annadurai, who, rather than brining his family members to politics, passed the party into the hands of Karunanidhi, with the belief that Karunanidhi would work hard to the empowerment of the Tamil Nadu people. But Karunanidhi, after capturing the DMK, did nothing to the empowerment other than empowering himself, his children, and relatives into politics, and made a fortune in entrepreneurships, which could never come to an end for at least the next century. What is pathetic is that Tamils cannot come out of this powerful established network, a network of nepotism, that will always join hands with the powerful elites, just for the sake of their own fortunes, uncaring and unmindful of the people they lead. Hence, Indian Tamils, Eelam Tamils, and the millions of Tamils who live across the world, should realize the real motives of Karunanidhi and his associates.
(The author can be reached at e-mail: satheesan_kumaaran@yahoo.com)
