Chennai: DMK MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian’s remarks on the late Velupillai Prabhakaran, the founder-leader of the Sri Lankan Tamil separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), have not gone down well with ally Congress in Tamil Nadu.
In an interview to The Federal, a news portal based out of Tamil Nadu, last week, the writer-politician was asked which historical figure she wanted to dine with. She replied, “Methagu Thesiya Thalaivar Prabhakaran (honorable national leader Prabhakaran)”.
To a follow-up question on what she would ask the person, Thamizhachi said, “I would apologise. I would ask his pardon for the Mullivaikal tragedy (the killing of thousands of Tamils in the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war).”
Reacting to the interview, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said “eulogising Prabakaran doesn’t sit well with anyone in the Indian National Congress”.
“To gloss over the dastardly assassination of Rajiv Gandhi along with 17 Tamils is not acceptable,” he added in a post on X. “This Prabhakaran Veerappan Tamil Nationalism is as fringe as Hindutva nationalism.”
Drawing a parallel from the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, he said one could “sympathise & support the Palestinian people without being an endorser of Hamas”.
“Likewise, one can stand with the Tamils of Sri Lanka in their struggle for equality & dignity without being an apologist & fanboy of the LTTE. Why is this difficult to comprehend?” he added.
Political analyst Priyan Srinivasan said “the Mullivaikkal incident had led to the defeat of the DMK in the 2011 and 2016 assembly elections”, when the Opposition AIADMK had made it an issue.
“Due to the then geopolitical situation, in 2009, the DMK could not do much. This kind of speech (like Thamizhachi’s interview) might be to wash away this blame that they have been carrying since the incident,” he added.
The DMK, he said, had in the past tried to change this impression by calling for an international probe into allegations of war crimes targeted at Sri Lankan Tamils during the civil war.
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Mullivaikal tragedy
In May 2009, around the end of the three-decade-long Sri Lankan civil war, at the small village of Mullivaikal on the northeast coast, tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils were massacred in an onslaught by the nation’s military.
The village had been declared a no-fire zone by the island nation’s government, and thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils arrived there for refuge from LTTE-controlled areas as they were captured by the military.
Despite having been declared a no-fire zone, the region is alleged to have been subjected to heavy shelling. According to a United Nations estimate, over 40,000 Tamilians lost their lives in the final months of the civil war.
In 2009, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu — then a partner in the Congress-led UPA — was accused by Opposition parties of aiding in the killing of thousands of Sri Lanka Tamils.
In 2016, the then CM and AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, during an election rally in Trichy, reportedly accused the UPA government of training the Lankan army in 2008 “with the full knowledge of Karunanidhi”.
In 2018, a remark by former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa about the Indian government’s aid in 2009, sparked fresh controversy, with the AIADMK calling for a probe against the DMK and the Congress for “war crimes”.
Meanwhile, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), another DMK ally and a Tamil Nadu-based party with four seats in the 234-seat assembly, has questioned Karti’s criticism.
Also taking to X, Vanni Arasu, deputy general secretary of the VCK, asked Karti how long “would you degrade Tamils by using the assassination of Thiru Rajiv Gandhi?”
“Tamils continue to live in unspeakable horror in Tamil Eelam. It’s time for the Congress to bring about a change in its stand,” he added.
He said former PM Indira Gandhi had extended her support to the LTTE and Prabhakaran “in line with the ideology of protecting the minorities”.
“Nobody is celebrating Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. He chose his end. To support Methagu Prabhakaran is to oppose Hindutva,” Vanni said.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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