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DMK in a fix over MDMK rally

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazagham is in a dilemma whether to grant permission to a Marumalarchi DMK rally on Monday on the Sri Lankan crisis. Both parties are partners in the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre.

A DMK politician said, "If we grant permission, we may be identified with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, since the MDMK is known for its soft corner for the outfit. If we refuse permission, we will be seen as anti-Tamil. Either way, it could hurt."

The DMK is seen as the parent pan-Tamil party, but the changing voter mood, and Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, changed all that. Even last month, party supremo and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi openly welcomed the extension of the ban on the LTTE by the Centre.

The DMK's fears have been heightened by Wednesday's one-day token fast by activists of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, another NDA partner. Strong pro-LTTE speeches and slogans marked the fasts at various places across the state.

"We have nothing to fear from the Centre, at least not for the present. But any future government can take a different view," the DMK politician said. In 1991, Karunanidhi's government was sacked by the Chandra Shekhar government at the Centre.

"The Rajiv Gandhi assassination provided post-facto justification for the dismissal among voters, which was only wiped out by the lawlessness of the Jayalalitha regime. You cannot let such a thing happen all the time."

The DMK politician did not rule out a 'conspiracy of sorts' to tar all Dravidian parties on the Sri Lankan crisis. "On the one hand, it suits the Vajpayee government to shift the pan-Tamil sentiments from diplomatically sensitive New Delhi to politically emotional Tamil Nadu. Whatever the MDMK or PMK say in Tamil Nadu can be explained away as political exigency, but if made in New Delhi it could be interpreted differently in international capitals," he said.

The PMK and MDMK too do not want to upset Vajpayee's apple-cart now. "It will not serve the LTTE's cause if parties like the MDMK are cut off from the country's decision-making process. But to keep cadre morale high in Tamil Nadu, they have to take a stand," he said.

The DMK is said to be assessing reports from its second-line leadership before granting permission. "There is nothing on record for us to suggest that the rally would be anything but legal. The MDMK says it's only supporting the larger Sri Lankan Tamil cause, on which even the Centre and other political parties have no quarrel. But politically, it may be inconvenient for us to be seen in pro-LTTE company," he explained.

The DMK is also worried about the All-India Anna DMK's reaction. The AIADMK is expected to take a view diametrically opposite the DMK's. "That could put us in a spot, what with the assembly polls due next year," the politician added.

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