Disgrace to the Land of Thanthai Periyar, Anna

A few months prior to the General elections in 1971 when polls were  held for both Parliament and Assembly, Thanthai Periyar conducted a conference in Salem. In one of the vehicles that took part in the procession a portrait of ‘Lord Ram’ carried a garland of chappals. This photograph was published in some dailies, but it caused no ripples in the State although there were some protest statements issued by insignificant people in the north. But during the election campaign, this issue was used at full tilt against the ruling DMK in favour of the alliance of Perunthalaivar Kamarajar and Mootharignar Rajaji. With all regards to the great leaders, the people of Tamil Nadu rejected the negative campaign and gave a record breaking historic victory to the DMK. DMK won 184 of the 234 seats and DMK alliance more than 200 and all the 40 Lok Sabha seats.

It was not because all the people in Tamil Nadu were atheists or rationalists, but because ‘Ram’ is an alien god for them that they remained indifferent to the concerted campaign.

But now the person occupying the seat of power in Tamil Nadu government has developed the audacity to file a petition in the Supreme Court pleading for abandoning the 150 year old dream of Tamils, the Sethusamudram canal project, in the name of ‘Ram’, the alien for Tamils. Jayalalitha has been opposed to the dredging of so called ‘Ramar bridge’ due to the site’s ‘immeasurable historical, archaeological and heritage value’ and she had also written to Prime Minister in March last demanding that Centre declare it as a national monument.”

Leave alone that Sethusamudram project was also a demand of the ADMK and Jayalalitha till 2005, when because of the effort of the DMK it was approved, fund allotted by the Centre, started and works began. Jayalalitha’s objection at first was not ‘sanctity of Ram bridge’.

The “Ramar Sethu” factor did not come up when Jayalalitha as the Chief Minister, wrote in August 1991 to the then Prime Minister Thiru P.V. Narasimha Rao, a “theist and devotee of Rama”, urging him to include the project in the Eighth Plan.  In his reply to Jayalalitha, Thiru Rao too expressed his keen interest in the project but did not state that it should not be taken up in view of the “Ramar Sethu.” When he was the Chief Minister in 1989, Kalaignar had written to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on the need for implementing the project.

Jayalalitha was making arrangements to sacrifice the Sethu project at the altar of her vulturish ego. 150 years old dream of Tamil Nadu 167-km long and 300 metre wide canal which will provide a shorter route between India’s east coast and west coast, by reducing the distance by 424 nautical miles and saving 30 hours of sailing time.

The inauguration of the Sethusamudram Canal Project was slated for July 2, 2005 at Madurai. Madurai was selected as the venue for security reasons. This was made known to the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister sufficiently early. It was only with the consent of the Tamil Nadu government that the venue, date and time were fixed. All the while the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha was in favour of the inaugural function at Madurai. However all on a sudden she issued a statement on the evening of June 25, 2005 saying that ‘she was unable to bring herself to participate in the function on 2nd July 2005 at Madurai’.

What happened in between? Can any sane person of the stature of a Chief Minister of a State issue such a press-statement without getting into the official process? There must be some reason. Yes, there was! She reliably understood from the Union government sources that with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the UPA Chairperson Tmt. Sonia Gandhi will also attend the function at Madurai. Additionally, the leaders of UPA partners in Tamil Nadu including the DMK President Kalaignar will also participate. That was the catch! That was enough! The political animal in her awakened. The erratic evil designs unfolded. Her personal enmity with Kalaignar started to show its ugly head. She tried to find out new reasons to dupe the public.

Add..

Early in 2006, elections for Tamil Nadu would have to be held. The DMK would try to impress the voters by taking credit for making the 150 year old dream project a reality and may hope to return to power in the Assembly poll due early next year. Jayalalitha sought to neutralize any advantage the DMK and allies hope to gain from the project and the function.

How can Jayalalitha face Tmt. Sonia Gandhi after the uncharitable remarks she made against her? How can she participate in a function in which Kalaignar is participating? It is also not in her blood to sit on a dais as one among many!

But then the stumbling block standing in the way of Sethusamudram project was only the personal ego of Jayalalitha ably assisted by some dubious men of treacherous disposition.

The reasons Jayalalitha and her coterie adduce are not real; they are fallacious. They are fully aware of the strong scientific proof that there was no man-made bund or bridge in the area under dispute. They misrepresent and misinterpret the scientific facts about the periodical underwater transformations on sea-bed that occur during the monsoons and trade-winds, forming temporary sand dunes by positive beach-pushing and negative beach pushing activities. There is nothing permanent.  They conveniently and cunningly hide these facts.

The opponents of the project, particularly BJP men have full knowledge that only on the recommendation of the BJP Minister S. Thirunavukarasar, Union Minister V.P.Goyal gave his approval for the Sethusamudram project on 29.10.2002. In a letter, the then Shipping Transport Minister Satrugan Sinha wrote to DMK  MP Prof. Sankaralingam that ‘this project will be implemented east of Pamban island in the new route now suggested, which passes through the Adam’s bridge and this passage will be the right selection.’

It was on 31.3.2004 when National Democratic Alliance led by BJP gave its approval for the Sethusamudram project to be executed via the 6th passage now under dispute. The UPA government under Dr Manmohan Singh allotted a sum of Rs. 2,427 crore on 2.9.2004. In spite of these facts, the BJP frontline leaders were mobilizing support to stall the execution of the project.

With the support of the religious fanatics some legal luminaries in the country were bent upon defeating the implementation of this project.

The ideological mainspring of Hindutwa power and hegemony lay in the socalled ancient scriptures and religious literature. Their general design is to obscure the whole situation of social, economic and political domination that perpetuates ignorance, disunity and lethargy among the suppressed.

This is what is happening now in the matter of Sethu Samudram Shipping Canal Project. A project discussed in detail and decided by the highest functioning political body of the country, budget provisions for which having been already made and which was then under execution was stalled abruptly by a mendacious group of religious bigots half way through for extraneous reasons.

In this national welfare project aimed at providing long term benefits including economic prosperity and international trade, Ithihasas and Scriptures are quoted. After having spent hundreds of crores of Rupees of public exchequer, the dredging work had been stopped. Naturally, the people and the Community who are to be benefited by the project wanted to protest the interference and register their displeasure by observing a day’s hartal on October 1, 2007 requesting the powers that be to expedite the project which is a normal democratic practice.

The Madras High Court permitted this mode of protest with certain qualifying safeguards. The Chief Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Government undertook the responsibility for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the hartal. The Chief Secretary also advised all concerned about the High Court’s anxiety and made appropriate arrangements for the peaceful conduct of the hartal.

Immediately the leadership of ADMK submitted a Special Leave Petition to the Supreme Court to cancel the permission granted by the Madras High Court on September 29 and to restrain the sponsors of the strike from observing hartal on October 1. The Supreme Court Registry reportedly submitted the petition to Hon. Justice B.N.Agarwal in the night, who after perusing the petition on the Sep.29^th night itself, took a decision to hear the Special Leave Petition the next day- Sunday – though being a holiday.

Accordingly, a Supreme Court bench consisting of Hon. Justices B.N.Agarwal and P.P.Naolekar, in a rare instance of sitting on a holiday heard the petition on 30th September and passed the order that the bandh call was illegal.

In the changed context, giving due respect to the Supreme Court order, the sponsors of the hartal changed their mode of protest to fasting – a Gandhian method of self-sacrifice.

However on Monday morning the counsel for ADMK brought to the notice of the Supreme Court judge that the court’s order was not being implemented in letter and spirit in Tamil Nadu. Immediately in the open court Justice Agarwal orally made some caustic statements including that he would recommend dismissal of the Tamil Nadu government.

Even neutral observers felt that this was too much of a highly respected Supreme Court judge. A neutral news daily ‘The Hindu’ captioned it as ‘Judge’s outburst against DMK government’. Some said it is judicial overreach. In these circumstances it is quite natural that people with equipoise feel what the judiciary was doing when Supreme Court orders were flouted or disobeyed. It was then for the people to ponder over the fact that even such a collective action of protest by a state tantamounts to so grave a defiance inviting dismissal of a government.

For all those who were aggrieved in any manner, the last resort to get remedy was the judiciary. But the response and reaction of the judges was public knowledge now. We were reminded of a Thirukkural couplet in the chapter ‘Self-control’.

‘Though you guard nothing else, guard your tongue; If not Your words will be drawn into evil; and you will suffer distress.’

---=

The ADMK, in its manifestos for the 2001 Assembly elections and 2004 Lok Sabha polls, assured voters that the project would be implemented within a time frame, what was sweetening to the ADMK earlier had now turned bitter.

In the ADMK election manifesto in 2001, it was said that “the Sethusamudram project would not only benefit our country but all the South East Asian countries and coastline countries would be benefited. Trade would increase, foreign investment grow and more of foreign exchange could be earned. The distance of voyage would get considerably reduced there by saving time and fuel. Exports and imports would raise. The standard of living of people in southern districts would improve and employment opportunities increase. Tuticorin port would develop as international port and various other benefits would accrue. Realising the importance of this project, the Centre should not take shelter under financial crisis but contact international agencies for funds and complete the execution of the project within a prescribed time schedule”.

In their manifesto for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the ADMK said that ‘the country knew well as to how the DMK, PMK and MDMK which had Ministerial berths for five year in the rule at the Centre (under NDA) failed to take steps for implementing the Sethusamudram project which would play an important role in the economic progress of Tamil Nadu and the overall industrial development of the State. The ADMK would urge the prospective government at the Centre after the polls to immediately allocate sufficient for this project and execute it within a prescribed time schedule.”

But the ADMK had stated it its manifesto for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections released on April 16, 2009.

“The Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project was a dream project of the people of Tamil Nadu for over 150 years. The British first conceived the project but dropped it. Later, eminent personalities like Perarignar Anna and Puratchi Thalaivar MGR also felt that this scheme would meet a long-standing need of Tamil Nadu. It is this that the DMK and the UPA keep quoting to show that by implementing the project they are only fulfilling what Anna and Puratchi Thalaivar MGR had dreamt of. What is conveniently sidelined is the fact that the scheme is outdated in today’s era of high-speed, high-capacity ocean liners and cargo vessels.

By implementing the scheme, lakhs of fishermen living in the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu will be deprived of their livelihood, while precious marine flora and fauna unique to the region will be destroyed forever. Moreover, the scheme as it is envisaged today, involves blasting through Rama’s Bridge, a rocky ridge connecting India with Lanka, believed to have been built for Lord Rama to cross over to Lanka. In short, the scheme in its present format does not assure any substantial economic benefits for the Nation. It will cause irretrievable damage to the environment, throw lakhs of people out of employment and also hit at the faith of millions of people nationwide. The only beneficiaries of the project will be the Union Minister of Shipping, Mr. T R Baalu of the DMK and Karunanidhi’s family. The ADMK will not back any scheme that is meant to benefit a single person or a single family, neglecting the larger good of the citizens of the country. The ADMK will scrap the project.”

Jayalalitha assumes for herself expertise and scholarship of shipping, navigation, environment, maritime science and economics and ‘innovates’ reasons to reject this project was due to a deal they (the ADMK) had entered into with the Lankan government to help that country as otherwise the income through shipping transport to the ports there would get reduced drastically if the distance of taking the circuitous route around Lanka was shortened (due to the opening of the Sethusamudram canal). The ADMK is adopting a position that would benefit Lanka economically.

Except Ramagopalan of Hindu Munnani and Pon Radhakrishnan, the state BJP President, both of whom and their outfits, have nominal following in TN, nobody and no other political parties or social organizations are amused by Jayalalitha’s outrageous petition in the Supreme Court, and people are enraged. She is a disgrace to the land of Thanthai Periyar and Arignar Anna.