A line crossed in Tamil Nadu

I was alerted to this via Nitin’s blog. Last weekend, a line was crossed in Tamil Nadu.

According to a report in The Hindu:

A convoy of Army trucks was attacked near the Neelambur bypass road here (Coimbatore) on Saturday (2nd May) by Tamil chauvinists belonging to the Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) who claimed that the vehicles were transporting weapons for the Sri Lankan Army for use in the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Over 100 activists, armed with stones and logs, blocked the convoy…The windscreens of some vehicles were smashed, and many tyres deflated. The PDK is a breakaway fringe group of the Dravidar Kazhagam.

.

Thankfully, the “activists” were quickly rounded up:

At least 20 pro-LTTE activists were arrested this morning for the attack on an army convoy near Coimbatore a day ago, police said.

Cases have been registered against 200 people belonging to political groups sympathetic to the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

As Nitin noted (emphasis mine):

It is repugnant, but legitimate, for political groups in India to support the LTTE. It is repugnant, but legitimate for them to engage in lawful political activism to promote their cause. But it is wholly illegitimate and totally unacceptable for them to attack an Indian army convoy for any reason.

As far as I know, this was the first attack of its kind on Indian armed forces in Tamil Nadu (or in any part of south India).

I hope my readers from Tamil Nadu and those familiar with the politics of the region can further enlighten us on this matter.

I am completely at a loss on this one.

***

Pl also read comment # 89 on this post by Rishi Khujur on “Why the LTTE is not a Hindu group

B Shantanu

Political Activist, Blogger, Advisor to start-ups, Seed investor. One time VC and ex-Diplomat. Failed mushroom farmer; ex Radio Jockey. Currently involved in Reclaiming India - One Step at a Time.

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26 Responses

  1. Nanda says:

    This is a very good lesson for those who think ‘Periyar alais EV Ramasamy’ has done any good for the state.

    Periyar and the DK clan has spoiled Tamil people to the core and have made them irreligious, immoral, casteists, hate mongers and anti-nationals. He is the worst of the Indian atheists who invariably take the society on a self-destructive path or in an anti-hindu path.

    Similar to extrimist’s version of Islam, TN is facing an ideological corruption built by Periyar who opposed India as an independant nation because of his anti-hindu stand. Only way to control this ideological barbarianism and anti-nationalism is to lock all periyar worshippers and anyone strongly associated with Periyar ideology under NSA, which is unlikely as all the powerful antisocial elements and rogue politicians would fall under this category.

    Unless Indian government does something at the earliest, noone can stop TN becoming another J&K, may be even become a danger to the security of the Indian republic.

  2. Prabha says:

    @Nanda, your point is very much valid, but little extreme.

    How would anti-hindu stand opposes India as an independent nation?

  3. Sabari says:

    …spoiled Tamil people to the core and have made them irreligious, immoral, casteists, hate mongers and anti-nationals

    Sweeping generalisations for the win!

    noone can stop TN becoming another J&K

    WTF‽

    The PDK are about as representative of the better ideals of Periyar as the Chinese are communist. (That means that they aren’t. 😉 ) Also, TN would be a far better place if the people actually were irreligious.

  4. temenggong says:

    It is not about the possibility of weapons being supplied to the SLA. That is already well known. It was about the disgust at India’s pro Sri Lanka policy. It’s a first statement that the Tamils had enough! It’s an indication of things to come.

  5. Nanda says:

    @Prabha
    “How would anti-hindu stand opposes India as an independent nation?” – It was not my statement, it was told by Evr. You can find in his books as well as Sri.Cho wrote extensively about this anti-national in his tuglak.

    @Sabari
    “TN would be a far better place if the people actually were irreligious” – I won’t blame you, because as an atheist and one of DK clan, it is just your philosophy.

  6. B Shantanu says:

    @ Sabari: I am intrigued by your comments – particularly the last sentence: “..N would be a far better place if the people actually were irreligious”.

    Why is that?

    ***

    @ Temenggong: Pl. provide details/references for your statement re. supplying of arms to SLA by India. And there are many policies of the government that I find disgusting – that simply cannot justify attack on the country’s armed forces – can it?

  7. Nanda says:

    @Sabari,
    Also, Your character is clear by your drerogatory remarks ‘WTF’. I am confident you are one of those DK clan atheists. I am not surprised or insulted as its just your character.

    “Sweeping generalisations for the win” – Voting a well known anti-hindu who abuses hindu gods is irreligious, TN has the most number of OBC-SCST fights in the world this is casteist, majority believes in aryan theory and hate them as outsiders this is hate mongers, you are an example for being immoral for commenting WTF without respect, entire periyar clan is against Indian soverignity and just sticking to india out of lack of strong support. Now where is the generalisation. I know about exceptions.

  8. K. Harapriya says:

    Those who have any idea of what Tamil Eelam means would be aware that it is not merely the dream and goal of the LTTE but also many of the supporters of the LTTE sitting Tamil Nadu. And the borders of that Tamil Eelam include not just the northern portion of Sri Lanka but also Tamil Nadu. The rhetoric used by the Tamil/Dravida/Atheist movement is very similar to the one used by other militant groups in India, one that focuses on the permanent victimhood of the Tamil people at the hands of the Non-Tamil/Aryan/Hindu majority of India.
    Thus, we can fairly accurately say that the move to support the LTTE is basically an anti-national move since it supports directly or indirectly the further dismemberment of India, and those who do so should be convicted of treason.

  9. Sabari says:

    I’m not from TN, nor am I a DK sympathiser. While I’m at it I should add that I completely agree with the original article, since some of you lot seem to suffer from cognitive dissonance. But I cannot accept the implication—I’m looking at you Nanda—that a major part of the country is made up of imbeciles.

    Nanda: drerowhatnow? Also you appear to be quite sure of which side the exceptions are on.

    Shantanu: The amount of superstition that prevails is terrible. That probably is the case elsewhere too, but this I have seen. Also, religion (I’m thinking theism and spiritualism here) never did anyone any good.

    (Whilst we’re I’m on the topic of credulity, what do people think of what this chap has to say?)

    PS: Being a Hindu or an atheist are not mutually exclusive. Get over it.

  10. K. Harapriya says:

    “Religion….never did anyone any good”. I suppose then that we will have to dismiss every classical work of art, sculpture, literature, music etc. from India since all these were expressions of that “religious” belief. We might also have to dismiss the entire philosophy of Vedanta because it too represents a religious point of view.

    Let us also dismiss every act of charity done in the name of the unknown and perhaps unknowable God.

    One of the greatest myths of modern times is that atheism is somehow representative of rational thought, rooted in facts. Another myth is that to be an atheist is to be intellectual. However, that is not exactly true. Atheism is really just another religion. Its adherents also cling to their beliefs. They deny the existence of God and dispute the very concept of a spiritual experience. But really, unless you know what God is, how can you deny or dismiss it? And if you have never sought or had a spiritual experience, how can you claim that it is not relevant for the entire humanity.

    What atheists like Hitchens or Dawkins usually do, is attack a particular religions’ definition of God, yet they pose it as though it holds true for all religions. Dawkins in fact says in his book that Pantheism is just “sexed up atheism”. That is not really true and if he actually understood pantheism he might have refrained from saying it. However, people with a Euro-centric bias often don’t consider other possible definitions of God.

  11. Sabari says:

    K. Harapriya:

    since all these were expressions of that “religious” belief
    Were they all? Of course not.

    Let us also dismiss every act of charity …

    Why? Let’s just dismiss the reasoning, and not the result; ends don’t always justify the means. There’s no need to be petty.

    Atheism is really just another religion.

    Sigh. Atheism is the lack of belief in god, not belief in the non-existence of god.

    how can you deny or dismiss it?

    Russell’s teapot etc.

    And if you have never sought or had a spiritual experience…

    As long as there is no implication that the spiritual experience had anything supernatural about it, I don’t care.

    pantheism…

    I’ve always thought of it as watered down monotheism.

    Well done for ignoring many centuries of rationalism, empiricism and humanism in India!

    PS: Agnosticism and atheism aren’t mutually exclusive either.

  12. B Shantanu says:

    Sabari, Nanda and Harapriya: This is turning out to be a fascinating discussion…Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

  13. K. Harapriya says:

    *** Comment moved here ***

  14. K. Harapriya says:

    @Shantanu. It is really a shame that these incidents where institutions of government are attacked by pro LTTE groups are becoming quite common in Tamil Nadu. One would have thought that the Tamils would have learnt their lesson when Sri Rajiv Gandhi was killed in Sriperumbadur. What is really amazing is that politicians who openly support the LTTE (a declared terrorist group) are allowed to run for elections. What the Centre needs to do is impose Presidents rule in all those states where the ruling party supports militants and terrorists.

  15. K. Harapriya says:

    *** Comment moved here ***

  16. B Shantanu says:

    Dear All: I have moved the comments related to the side-discussion on atheism, agnosticism, spiritualism and Hinduism to this new post.

    Please continue the debate on religion and atheism etc. on the other thread and limit this discussion to the attack on the convoy in Tamil Nadu, LTTE and such matters.

    Thanks.

  17. Selvam says:

    It is a shame that Tamilnadu allows the presence of Indian Army within its borders. Tamil people must begin to realize that India is their enemy. It is time Tamilnadu takes up arms against India, like in Kashmir, Assam and Nagaland.

  18. B Shantanu says:

    @ Selvam: You wrote: …presence of Indian Army within its borders…

    So you do not consider Tamil Nadu to be a part of India?

  19. Govind says:

    *** COMMENT EDITED ***

    I agree with those views about Periyar. He is the worst-ever person who spoiled the culture of Tamilians…He is the one who spread across violence amongst the Tamilians

    *** NOTE by MODERATOR ***

    Govind: Pl. be careful about what you write. No calls for violence.

  20. Sneha says:

    I’ve been stayin in TN nw since quite a time, n so can say tat diz ppl think tat LTTE is a freedom fightin grup n Prabhakar ws a freedom fighter.They openly say tat we r tamils not indians n tamil nadu 4 us is a country. Thats y they attacked i think.

  21. Sneha says:

    @mr. Selvam,
    Ur comment proved my previous post right. U must knw that TN is in India, India is not in TN. Its a shame that ppl like u live in our beautiful country. We must keep in mind that we r Indians 1st.

  22. B Shantanu says:

    @ Sneha: Well said. “We must keep in mind that we r Indians 1st.”
    Sadly we seem to be loosing sight of that.

  23. Sneha says:

    @Mr. Shantanu. Ya i agree with you. Rising inland terrorism is a proof of that. Thanks to our misleading politicians and general public who get carried away by them.