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Pro-LTTE slogans in MDMK rally

By Our Correspondent in Erode

The Madumarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagan rally in Erode (Tamil Nadu) was supposed to be a show of strength, ahead of the Assembly polls next year, for the benefit of its ally, the DMK, and its rival, the All India Anna DMK. However, in true Dravidian-politics style, it turned out as much a rally championing pan-Tamil sentiments, where pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam slogans were freely raised.

The autonomy issue also cast its shadow on the rally.

The concerns of the party leadership, and its cautious approach on the LTTE issue were completely lost on the MDMK cadres participating in Saturday's rally. Waving cheerfully at MDMK supremo V Gopalaswamy (Vaiko), who greeted them from a specially-erected podium, many among the youth shouted pro-LTTE slogans while walking past in a procession.

Vaiko had issued a long list of slogans, which alone he said, should be raised. However, it was naive to expect the cadres to fall in line. Many of them broke up with the DMK mainly on the LTTE issue. Apart from 'saluting the LTTE martyrs', and reminding the nation that the 'blood-letting in Jaffna is our own blood', the cadres also urged the Tigers to 'kick the Sinhalese like a ball'.

K Raveendran from the MDMK-stronghold of Tirunelveli town in the south said a Tamil Eelam is the only permanent solution to the Lankan crisis. He appreciates Vaiko's compulsions though.

"For one thing, the MDMK is a part of the ruling coalition at the Centre, and for another, Vaiko is the only link between the Indian Government and Prabhakaran," the 25-year-old shop-keeper says, pride oozing through every word as he utters it. "Otherwise, it would appear as if Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is encouraging pro-LTTE sentiments at home, and it can affect India's mediatory efforts in Sri Lanka."

However, the leadership set the pro-LTTE mood. Apart from Vaiko's inspiring speeches and 'suggestive' press conferences across Tamil Nadu over the last two months, even welcome arches and graffiti showed Vaiko with a leaping tiger either in the foreground or the background.

"The message was clear, and even the street-vendors of Erode got it," said a senior police official. He pointed out that Prabhakaran's pictures and badges were freely available at the venue and many cadres were seen sporting it with pride.

The autonomy issue was also raised at the rally. Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal reminded everyone that the Akali Dal and the DMK were the first to raise the 'autonomy issue' at the national level. Political compulsions forced the DMK to sideline the issue. Being an off-shoot of the DMK and wedded to its core values, the MDMK has every reason to grab the initiative on this issue in the state.

DMK supremo Karunanidhi, however, refrained from raising the autonomy issue while addressing the MDMK conference on the inaugural day. He reminded the MDMK about the need for preserving core national unity, and the Bharatiya Janata Party about the greater influence regional parties and localised political aspirations have come to wield at the national-level.

Equally cautious was Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. He made a veiled suggestion to the MDMK not to raise controversial issues. He wanted the MDMK to play a 'more active, positive, crucial and constructive role', both at the Centre and in the state.

It was apparent neither wants to ride the 'autonomy wave', not yet, in any case.

It might turn out to be a tricky affair for Union Home Minister and senior BJP ideologue L K Advani who is slated to attend the second day's conference, on Sunday. Badal, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and Trinamul Congress' Mamta Banerjee are also expected to share the dais with Advani.

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