My Dear Karunanidhi,
I thought I must write to you after hearing you say that your ‘dream’ was an Eelam in Sri Lanka and that you were calling upon the United Nations to hold a referendum to decide whether an Eelam should be created or not.
Your comments don’t surprise me, Karunanidhi, because you are always fighting with your arch rival, Jayalalitha in a bid to gain popularity in Tamil Nadu and we know that this is another gimmick in that contest.
In this instance, you seem to have lost the first round because when it was announced that an Indian parliamentary delegation was visiting Sri Lanka, it was Jayalalitha who first banned her party MPs from participating in that visit.
Left with having to play second fiddle to her, you had to do something better. So, after asking your own MPs to also not travel to Sri Lanka, you had to come up with a statement that would push Jayalalitha off the front pages and give prominence to you.
So all you could think of, Karunanidhi, was this talk about a referendum and calling upon the United Nations to conduct the poll. Of course, considering the manner in which Ban Ki Moon and the United Nations and some of its agencies are conducting their affairs these days, I wouldn’t be surprised even if they took your suggestion seriously!
Anyway, it did give you the headlines you wanted and I must agree with you that it is indeed a brilliant idea. In fact, I think it is so brilliant that you should first hold that referendum in your home state, Tamil Nadu!
That would make sense, wouldn’t it, Karunanidhi? After all, the entire population of Sri Lanka is only twenty million and there are about three million of them from the Tamil community. Your state of Tamil Nadu in contrast is home to more than seventy million people of that community!
Just imagine, Karunanidhi, if that referendum was to be held in Tamil Nadu and you were to succeed. Instead of being spoken of as the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu you could become the President or the Prime Minister of Tamil Eelam-wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Of course, it wouldn’t help those in Sri Lanka whose cause you claim to be championing, but then that was never the intention, was it? All you-and to be fair, Jayalalitha as well-were interested in for the past thirty years was how you could use them to win votes in Tamil Nadu, wasn’t it?
Remember, time and time again over the past thirty years how you and Jayalalitha would make statements to incite racial sentiments both in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka? And how many times did you bring pressure on the Indian government in New Delhi to act against our country, the most recent instance being that infamous resolution against us in Geneva?
So, just imagine the power you would wield as a President or a Prime Minister of Eelam. We already know what you were able to do while being merely the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. How much more would you be able to achieve as a President or a Prime Minister? Now, if you can’t remember your achievements, I will remind you, Karunanidhi.
As far back as in the seventies, you and your state government were dismissed by Indira Gandhi on charges of corruption. But you demonstrated that you had lost none of your talents when, twenty five years later, you were again charged with corruption while constructing flyovers in Chennai.
Then, you were even indicted for aiding and abetting the Tigers in their plan to murder Rajiv Gandhi. Now, your daughter has shown that she is a chip off the old block by being arrested, again on charges of corruption for which one of your MPs is still in jail.
If those were your achievements as Chief Minister, Karunanidhi, I am sure you would scale greater heights as a President or Prime Minister of this Eelam you dream about. And what’s more, you would then forever be ahead of your rival, Jayalalitha!
I know that after being Chief Minister five times for a total of fourteen years and being in the twilight of your life now at eighty six years of age, it must be hard for you to stomach the insults that are coming your way from Jayalalitha.
She beat you so convincingly at the last state elections-winning over 150 seats to your twenty-odd- which is why you need to be in the limelight from time to time. So, who can blame you if you use the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils, just so the people don’t forget who Karunanidhi is?
But if your referendum is indeed being held in Tamil Nadu, do let us know. We specialise in winning referendums and we may be able to send you some of our experts on the subject. We might still prefer you to Jayalalitha, you know!
Yours truly,
Punchi Putha
PS-We had our own ‘Karuna’, who too was like you not so long ago, fighting alongside Prabhakaran for an Eelam that he dreamed of. Thankfully, he has now been rewarded for his efforts with a false passport and a portfolio and now we call him ‘Karuna nidi’!
|
E-mail