Welcome decision, unwelcome attitude

The Centre has at last acted, though at the eleventh hour. The much-awaited extension of the ban on LTTE has become a reality, and the nation heaves a sigh of relief. The sense of relief is more pronounced because only two days back Minister of State for Internal Security Mr Rajesh Pilot had stated in the Rajya Sabha that the ban could be imposed by the State itself without consulting the Centre, which conveyed the impression that the latter was after all not interested in extending the ban. All patriotic and progressive forces would definitely welcome this decision although there is a lingering feeling that the Centre could have handled the whole issue in a more refined way.

The ban on LTTE was imposed by the Centre at the request of the State government in May 1992 in the aftermath of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. At that time it was the most natural thing for the Centre to do and the same was welcomed by all political parties, barring a few known LTTE sympathisers. The Tamilnadu government under Ms Jayalalitha set about the task of eradicating the LTTE from the State and were also highly successful in their efforts. But after the Congress and AIADMK fell out as alliance partners, the LTTE issue took a very ugly turn.

The TNCC leaders unleashed a disinformation campaign accusing Ms Jayalalitha of going soft on the LTTE, while they openly hobnobbed with politicians like PMK leader Dr S. Ramadoss, a vociferous supporter of LTTE. The TNCC leaders conveniently forgot why the LTTE was banned in the first place and sought to use the issue only to browbeat Ms Jayalalitha. When the State government passed a resolution in the Assembly urging the Centre to extend the ban, the Congress members abstained from the House.

But matters took a turn for the worse with some Central Ministers taking up the LTTE issue to cast aspersions on the Tamilnadu government. Home Minister Mr S.B. Chavan and Union Minister of State Mr Rajesh Pilot issued contradictory statements about the LTTE activities in Tamilnadu which clearly exposed their short-sighted approach to the whole problem. It is a pity that such responsible persons allowed themselves to be used by the petty-minded politicians whose only aim was to destabilise a democratically elected government.

The various deliberations on the part of the Centre during the last two or three months on the LTTE issue has made one thing clear: The decision to outlaw the LTTE is not a spontaneous one.

This is obvious from the fact that even at the last minute there were attempts to shift the responsibility to the State. If the Centre needed so much prodding for extending the ban which should have been done naturally, what is the guarantee that the same would be implemented in letter and spirit? By issuing a notification in the official gazette, the Centre’s job is all but over. The official notification clearly lists the reason for extending the ban on LTTE. One look at it will make it clear that there is no room for complacency.

The Tamilnadu government which had pressed for the ban in 1992 and subsequently its extension in April’94 will no doubt continue its relentless drive against the Tigers. So the question that looms large is whether the government of other States, particularly the Congress-ruled States, will curb the activities of militants with an iron hand. It is now time for the Centre to shed its apathy and offer assistance to State governments in their endeavour to wipe out the militants.

The LTTE menace has to be tackled only at the national level on a war footing. The Home Minister himself has admitted to LITE’s links with other terrorist organisations in the country. Any effort to localise the issue for purely political reasons would prove fatal to the country’s security interests and integrity. Such an effort did take place but providentially failed. The Congressmen must at least now realise their folly and stop playing with fire which will only burn their fingers or rather their ‘hand’.

They must stop this hypocrisy of making holy pretensions about the nation’s security while at the same time exhibiting their unholy nexus by posing for photographs with politicians who openly glorified Rajiv’s assassins. Truth hurts, they say. And the truth is that the extension of ban on LTTE has come about not because of the efforts of Congressrnen but inspite of them.

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