History will not absolve Jayalalitha and media

It is his remarkable magnanimity that DMK President Kalaignar declared that he will not seek the resignation of Jayalalitha in the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgement on Samacheer Kalvi, although she made it a prestige issue of her regime by tossing the fate of 1.25 crore school going children between High Court and Supreme Court, spoiling 100 worthy days of their studies, agonizing 2.5 crore parents of the children and confusing over 15,000 teachers; and above all frittering away hundreds of crores of  rupees on printing textbooks in old syllabus in Sivakasi and Hyderabad, exhorbitant legal fees paid for engaging senior counsels, court expenses, air fare for officials, minister and lawyers etc.,

In fact democratic norms make it mandatory for her to step down for this authoritarian misadventure, for which she has not taken the people’s mandate. Neither abolition of Samacheer Kalvi nor shifting of New Assembly and Secretariat complex were parts of ADMK election manifesto or her election campaign. That was the reason for the alliance parties of the ADMK to atleast raise the feeble voice against these moves. In effect by these two most unpopular moves, Jayalalitha betrayed the people who voted for and against her, her alliance parties and in fact her own party functionaries and cadre, obviously because the ADMK rank and file remained nonplussed all through, helplessly watching the developments and incurring the wrath of neighbours and their own family members too, inasmuch as every household had one or two school-going children.

It will go on record and down in history that the ADMK, nay, Jayalalitha regime was backed by private schools which have commercialized education and looting in the name of tuition fees, and opposed by educationists and parents, the people in the court litigation and outside. It is very obvious that Jayalalitha blatantly misused power in favour of private schools and against common people. The regime turned a blind eye to the protests of parents against private schools fleecing them for school fees and only after the High Court order prescribing deadline named a judge to head the committee. Whatever may be one’s political differences with him, late MGR will certainly turn on his grave.

The Supreme Court verdict is a great and historic victory for the people of Tamil Nadu against the ruling coterie representing the neo-rich dominant classes. It is a matter of shame that the media in Tamil Nadu - both print and electronic in English and Tamil except, to be more categorical, ‘Dinakaran’ Tamil daily, ‘Sun TV’ and ‘Kalaignar TV’ – turned blind eyes and deaf ears to all these developments and plight of crores of children and people, but obediently and faithfully carrying only versions that would please the power-centre. None of the English (and Tamil) dailies which publish editorials, articles, columns and news analyses on subjects ranging from US debt crisis, Lokpal, CWG corruption etc., to the only State issue of arrests of DMK functionaries on land grab charges and the ‘crack down of the ADMK regime’, mustered courage to write on the issues of Samacheer Kalvi even after the ultimate SC verdict and shifting of the New Secretariat complex. Their know-all scribes are afraid of posing any ‘unpleasant’ questions to Jayalalitha whereas even half-baked scribes, with no knowledge of polity and society, do not hesitate to hurl trivial questions on such a veteran Kalaignar. The so-called investigative journals and other periodicals are yet to wake up to the change of power. Ironically, they claim to be the ‘pulse of people’ and ‘public opinion makers’. Any stranger to Tamil Nadu on observing happenings around, mingling with people and going through dailies/ periodicals and watching television channels, will conclude that the state is ruled by a dictator and the media is government-controlled, not knowing that it is voluntary subservience.

People will not forgive and history will not absolve Jayalalitha and the media in Tamil Nadu.