A few pro LTTE anti Sri Lankan protestors carrying black flags and shouting slogans were arrested from several locations in Chennai, Tamil Nadu yesterday (08) according to the media. Amongst those detained was the leader of the Malarmarchchi Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam (MDMK) P.Gopalswamy a.k.a "Vaiko" , the Viduthailai Viruthaigal Katchchi (VCK)leader Thol Thirumavalavan with around 200 followers, CPI Secretary D. Pandian, the vociferous veteran Tamil Nationals Movement leader P Nedumaran , pro - LTTE cinema celebrities Seeman and T Rajender and nearly 100 Pattali Makkal Kachchi members led by Vel Murugan . Some of these demonstrators attempting to reach the Deputy Sri Lankan High Commissioners Office were picked up by the Police when they were gathering in the neighborhood of Sri Nageswara Rao Park while some were trying to burn effigies near Shasthri Bhavan .They were reported to be protesting against the arrival of the Sri Lankan President His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa to engage in talks with the Indian prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh regarding the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils. The "few" followers who demonstrated with their leaders were so few compared to the population of Tamil Nadu with over 60 million .
The political party of P Nedumaran is one of the Tamil Nadu minority political parties with a history of pro LTTE activities dating back to the era when the LTTE was training its cadres in Tamil Nadu . The ageing Nedumaran now over 80 years has a history of openly supporting the LTTE since the mid 1970's but the people he could muster speak for itself. . He has continued to engaged in pro - LTTE activities despite the ban on the LTTE since May 1992 after the Tigers brutally assassinated the former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Siriperumbudur , in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on 21st May 1991. In the earliest days of the LTTE, it was Nedumaran who had given his private estate in the neighborhood of Chennai for the use and training of LTTE leaders and cadres including Velupillai Prabhakaran . He had also attempted to lead some boats which he called a 'flotilla' across the Palk Straits in 1987 to reach the Jaffna peninsula but in vain as most of the boats including the boat in which was sprang a leak turning the entire episode into a flop. During the height of the operations against the LTTE in mid May 2009, it was "Vaiko" who declared at a public meeting in Chennai that there would be "rivers of blood" in Tamil Nadu if there was no ceasefire in Sri Lanka . There was no such activity. However, these minority Tamil Nadu political parties have never stopped openly flouting the proscribed LTTE as they well know that they would be released sooner than later with no consequences. Meanwhile, President of the Janatha Party Dr Subramaniam Swamy called on the Tamil Nadu State government to take action against the Tamil film industry who sought to boycott the International Indian film Academy Festival being held in Colombo as the activists had pro LTTE sympathies which violated the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution using the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act . He also added: " If Karunanidhi fails to take action , then the center should dismiss the DMK Government" (Island 7.6.10).
Print
E-Mail Article