The re-entry of Walter Dawaram into the Veerappan hunt saga is indeed a good augury. If there is anyone in the non-brigand world who stands some chance of getting into a whisker ‘ s breath of Veerappan it could be none else than this retired policeman.
Apart from being an expert on the brigand ‘ s tactics as well as his terrain, Dawaram has also on several occasions expressed his eagerness to continue from where he left off in 1996, even staking his years of police experience and achievements on this single obsession of his.
He had even announced that he would put his pistol to good use if Veerappan were to walk into civilisation after securing an amnesty, which during those heady days of frequent kidnaps and emissarial sojourns, was the flavour of the season. Such was his anger towards the brigand and it has not ebbed away by the passage of time, as one can infer from the cop ‘ s utterances after his appointment as STF chief. Indeed for Walter Dawaram, the hour of reckoning seems to have arrived. And for his pistol too.
Veerappan ‘ s ‘ love ‘ for Dawaram is also legendary. The brigand is on record promising to display to the world his cherished bete noir ‘ s insides, but such bravado had only betrayed his undiluted fear of the cop. Brig.V has no illusions about the hunting instincts of his adversary who would have certainly nabbed him last time around but for a providential change of political climate in the State.
For five years now the brigand has reigned supreme as the undisputed lord of the jungles, kidnapping at will and remaining as elusive as ever, with the Voice of Veerappan, beamed through those endless cassettes brought to all and sundry by eminent editors, being heard with rapt attention nay reverence at the State Secretariat by everyone beginning from the CM down to the CoP.
It was vintage Veerappan at his life ‘ s best when he staged a coup of sorts by walking away with actor Rajkumar, a saga that lasted almost a third of a year and that had two CMs crawling like those jungle creepers or better still ..worse still, those boneless insects that V has for breakfast.
These five years also saw the emergence of editorial eminences adorning a new role as emissaries of the State ..no..of Veerappan ..well, it made little difference for it was the brigand’s views that got articulated by them while the State itself remained speechless as if a deer bone had got stuck in its throat.
And while the brigand could reach out to civilisation at will, the long arms of the law remained folded, with the added ignominy of watching emissaries breeze in and out of the jungles unstopped, and remaining content with the intelligence info dished out by the brigand media at well-attended press briefings.
As the State took a sabbatical from its constitutional duty of protecting its subjects, rank outsiders found it easy to step in to fill the vacuum, assuming the role of ambassadors to the jungles by first usurping and then re-orienting the agenda of the Government.
The abdication by the rulers combined with the hijacking of the State ‘ s prerogatives by self-styled jungle ambassadors was a double victory for Veerappan, who by now had turned a new leaf as a Tamil militant, fighting for the rights of Tamils, never mind he having killed scores ot Tamilians, not to speak of several Tamil elephants.
The media, particularly the brigand media of the yellow tint, which used to be awash with stories of V’s exploits, were now dripping with tales of his concern for his brethren world over. The sordid drama climaxed with the advent of the very patriotic Nedumaran who could not resist the fervent appeal from the jungles to pitch in.
And so as the ideologue and the ideal rogue consummated their relationship in the thickets, and with V getting his baptism as a confirmed Tamil militant from the only person who could certify him, Rajkumar walked free. This time even the official emissary came to know of it a few hours late, though he made it to the press conference just at the nick of time, which was what mattered to him.
The CM heard of the release from Rajkumar himself, who, after calling him from the State border, quietly slipped into his home State, as quietly as V had pinched him in the dead of night. And the police, well they read about it all from the newspapers! And so it is that the brigand remains as free as one could be, though this is not news anymore.
But, mercifully, this latest protector of the Tamils spared the masses his usual poll-eve sermons, probably because his vocal chords were damaged by a crisp chameleon that he was chewing on.
But the most significant and deplorable aspect of the entire V episode of the last five years was the absolute lack of any political will on the part of the Tamilnadu CM and his co-borns to bring the brigand to book. Throughout they behaved in a way as if they were indebted to him and one need not look far for the reasons.
Ever since 1996 – from the eve of Assembly elections, to be precise – when the brigand burst on the media scene sponsored by eager journos bent on presenting V ‘s side of the story, he has been the major USP for the Uncle ‘s Nephews ‘s Son ‘s TV channel, that functions, coincidentally for sure, from Anna Arivalayam, the DMK HQ.
The world at large got invaluable enlightenment from the channel about the lives of brigands at large and the moustachioed facade of the villain of the wilds became etched in the collective minds of the denizens of the State.
While the Uncle ‘ s Nephew ‘ s Son ‘ s TV brought glory to V by romanticizing him in the company of mercenary journos who offered the channel the sole rights for the first footages, S ‘ s Father ‘ s U, for his part, exhibited adequate spinelessness, that inflated the brigand’s ego and elevated him to greater heights of infallibility, making it a heady cocktail for him. The CM was so firm in his softness to the brigand that he would refer to the latter only as avar and not avan!
There was even an unholy day in the history of this cursed State when the city ‘ s father, representing his father, joined a fete during which encomiums were showered not only on the emissary, who was the apparent hero of the day, but also on the brigand, who was the real hero in absentia.
Things should change now. The lack of political will that was the root cause for all the set backs in l’ affaire Veerappan is all set to be replaced by a definitive and concerted effort against him. The new dispensation with Jayalalithaa at the helm can certainly be expected to ensure that serious steps are taken to nab the brigand.
The new CM has never minced words in castigating the Karunanidhi regime for its shoddy and soft handling of the brigand and his antics.The appointment of Dawaram itself is enough proof that she means business and that the days of free run for the brigand are over. Dawaram ‘ s moustache could be as potent as V ‘ s and even more, one hopes.
In any case, for those of us who were tired sick of seeing emissarial whiskers endlessly on the tube, not to speak of V ‘s own looming in the background, the policeman ‘ s moustache does come as a welcome crumb of comfort. Are we, then, in for a hairy, pardon, fairy tale finish to the brigand drama?