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'The goat we reared butted our heart'

How do ordinary Tamils react to the Jain Commission's indictment of the Tamil community? A Ganesh Nadar spent an afternoon in the Tamil countryside to find out.

The Jain Commission dropped a bombshell with a sweeping statement: ‘The LTTE had the support of the Tamils of Tamil Nadu... A conducive atmosphere where they could move around with impunity and murder first Padmanabha, an Eelam leader, and then Rajiv Gandhi.’ Villagers are generally more honest than cityfolk. They are also simple folk. At the moment they are very happy that after three arid years it is raining heavily, so ploughing and seeding goes on at a brisk pace.

The villagers are not bothered about the DMK or the United Front's problems at the Centre. Of course, they know about the Jain Commission report and surprisingly most of the villagers I spoke to agreed with Justice Jain. They have no animosity against the judge -- they accept the truth as they accept everything else in life.

Subramanian feels the LTTE should stick to its country. He agrees that the hospitality of the Tamils did help them.

Vishwasam says LTTE cadres should be turned out of Tamil Nadu. "Rajiv died because there wasn’t sufficient security. If Dhanu had been frisked the tragedy could have been averted," he says. "You cannot blame the Tamils for a security lapse.’'

‘'Vallsthu Kada Narbil Paithu (the goat we reared butted our heart)," says Ramchandran eloquently. He agrees with the Jain Commission's observations.

Karuvelamuthu thinks the LTTE is a nuisance and should stay in Sri Lanka. "It is true that Tamil support was misused by the LTTE in the Rajiv assassination," he says.

"The LTTE," says Sudhakar, "is fighting for the rights of Tamils and therefore we should support them." But he agrees with what Justice M C Jain said about Tamil support for the LTTE cause.

Walter feels the LTTE is evil. "It is true we supported them then," he says.

Ramashwari does not know what the LTTE stands for, but disagrees with the Jain Commission report when it blames the Tamils.

Kamala says she likes the LTTE, but does not agree that Tamil support encouraged Rajiv's assassins.

Azad also likes the LTTE and does not support Justice Jain’s allegations.

Vallapandi does not distinguish between the LTTE and other militant organisations in the country. He agrees that the Tamils supported the LTTE.

Selvam says the LTTE is not needed here. "It is true the Tamils did support them," he says.

Ganeshan is an admirer of the LTTE and quite understandably does not support Justice Jain's statements.

Chellathurai thinks the LTTE is bad, but says Justice Jain's observation about Tamil support for the organisation is true.

‘'The LTTE," Ansai argues, "is good in its country; the Tamils never supported them."

Alagesan believes, '‘The LTTE is evil, it is true that we supported it before the assassination."

Mookandy does not like the LTTE and says, "yes, the earlier support was true.’'

"The LTTE is bad for India and bad for Lanka," says Chidambaram. "Jain is right. We did support them.’'

Rajendrakumar says ‘'the LTTE are freedom fighters in Lanka, but they are not needed here. Jain is correct.’'

Vel says he does not think of the LTTE now, but agrees that "we supported them then."

While Bhaskar says the LTTE is "bad and we made a mistake in supporting them," Sankaran, who agrees that the Tigers are no good, believes "we never supported them.’'

Muthu and Murgesan have contradictory points of view. While Muthu says "the LTTE is good and we suppressed them," Murugesan believes '‘These Lankan Tamils drove Indian Tamils out and they deserve what they are getting from the Sinhalese."

Killi has the final word. "They are bad," he says. "The LTTE was supported first by the Centre and then by the state government. Never by the people of Tamil Nadu. I have been in Sri Lanka. I know their true colours. They asked me to leave in 12 hours. I lost all my business."

The criticism of Justice Jain -- especially about his observations on Tamil support for the LTTE -- does not find an echo in this rural hamlet in southern Tamil Nadu. When Justice Jain says the Tamils supported the LTTE, the Tamilian villager agrees. They agree that they made a mistake in trusting V Prabhakaran and the Tigers. Soon after the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, there was a backlash against the LTTE. Why, even today, the Tamils have not forgiven the LTTE for murdering Rajiv Gandhi.

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