Veerappan kidnaps, LTTE hijacks

Those in control during the Rajkumar kidnap episode were from two pro-LTTE groups. As a result, writes SURESH NAMBATH, eventually the LTTE could get some space in Tamil Nadu's political discourse.

DRAMA AND intrigue filled the action period separating the kidnapping and the freeing of the Kannada film star, Mr. Rajkumar, by the forest brigand Veerappan.

But the main players of the 108-day suspense were not the reel- life hero and the real-life villain. Actually, those in control during the entire episode were from two pro-LTTE groups: one functioning on the political fringe (the Tamil Nationalist Movement led by Mr. P. Nedumaran) and the other operating from the underground (the combine of the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army and the Tamil National Retrieval Troops).

What initially began as another adventure by a bandit who appeared bent on overreaching himself soon raised serious concerns about emerging links between the LTTE and local extremist outfits. The turning point, of course, was the nomination of Mr. Nedumaran as an emissary for negotiating with Veerappan the release of the abducted actor. Suddenly, some of the demands of Veerappan, which were originally thought to be no more than a cover for seeking ransom, took on ominous overtones.

In the beginning, during the days immediately after the kidnapping, it seemed that Veerappan, and not the extremists, was doing all the talking though the very first cassette sent by him demanded the release of five TNLA and TNRT members from Tamil Nadu prisons.

When the official emissary, Mr. R. R. Gopal, started negotiations, the impression of Veerappan was that of a rustic bandit making farcical demands such as the one for referring the Cauvery dispute to the International Court of Justice. But, soon enough, the demands were whittled down to the core issue of dropping charges against five (later seven) extremists lodged in Tamil Nadu prisons for terrorist acts and 121 TADA detenus, many of whom were languishing in the Mysore jail for alleged Veerappan-related crimes.

As the Supreme Court stalled the release of the TADA detenus, Tamil nationalists on the fringe saw an opportunity to intervene. Accordingly, a proposal was informally placed before the Tamil Nadu Government to send Mr. Nedumaran as an emissary. When this did not find approval, ``well-wishers of Mr. Nedumaran'' decided to adopt other tactics.

Using the services of the TNRT extremists, especially Muthukumar, lodged in Tiruchi jail, they managed to obtain from Veerappan an audio cassette asking for Mr. Nedumaran and his Tamil nationalist friends to be sent as emissaries. Thus, contrary to what Mr. Nedumaran and company would have the rest of the world believe, the initiative in this regard did not come directly from Veerappan.

For the Tamil nationalists, the interest lay in media mileage for their cause. According to them, Veerappan was raising the very same issues they have been fighting for. And now was an opportunity to make these issues part of mainstream politics. By taking advantage of the prominence won by the kidnapping issue, thanks to the characters of Mr. Rajkumar and Veerappan, Tamil nationalists hoped to expand their space in the public sphere.

Veerappan and his comrades were only too happy to have Mr. Nedumaran and others visiting them. By intervening in the kidnap crisis, Tamil nationalists lent some ``respectability'' to the demands of the extremists. The focus shifted, once and for all, from an idiotic bandit quoting Che Guevara to trained extremists inspired by the LTTE.

Actually, a section of the Tamil nationalists had always maintained links with the Tamil extremists who had befriended Veerappan. Indeed, the first cassette sent by Veerappan was routed through Mr. G. Sukumaran, one of the three in the emissary team led by Mr. Nedumaran.

Importantly, by directly talking to the extremists in the forests as part of the mission to free Mr. Rajkumar, the Tamil nationalists have taken the first step to a networking of those underground and those on the fringe of mainstream politics. Unlike Veerappan, who lives off the forests, the extremists want to use the jungle cover only as a haven from the law.

As the TNRT was an LTTE-trained outfit, the members of the emissary team were able to quickly establish a rapport with Mr. Rajkumar's abductors. In trying to convince Veerappan and friends to release the film actor, Mr. Nedumaran recalled his efforts in fighting for the freedom of those accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

However, Mr. Nedumaran, while insisting that his ``humanitarian mission'' was undertaken in the interest of the safety of Tamils in Karnataka, denies that the LTTE had any role in it. ``How can the LTTE, which has never interfered in Tamil Nadu politics, gain from all this,'' he asks.

But the LTTE angle to the mission is difficult to wish away. One of those who helped the emissary team in the mission was Mr. T. S. Mani, a known LTTE supporter. Indeed, Mr. Mani, who like Veerappan hails from Kolathur, is the crucial link between the brigand and the extremists. Mr. Mani, it appears, facilitated the coming together of Veerappan, whom he had known as a small-time poacher, with the TNLA and the TNRT a few years ago.

Rumours of payment of ransom for freeing Mr. Rajkumar add to the LTTE dimension. The granite lobby was involved in one way or another in the crisis. Apart from Dr. Bhanu, who made several visits to the forests, Mr. Puneeth Rajkumar, the actor's son, is in the quarrying business. But Dr. Bhanu's visits have been explained away as a medical mission for treating Veerappan who sustained injuries in an attack by one of the hostages, Mr. Nagappa (later ``allowed'' to escape.)

The manner in which the emissary team dumped Mr. Gopal from the final mission did little to dispel these rumours. Mr. Gopal, it appears, was misled about the timing of the mission. Also, Mr. Nedumaran's friends did not allow Mr. Gopal to meet up with the team after the freeing of Mr. Rajkumar as they feared that the official emissary might try to ``share the credit''.

Now, however, Mr. Nedumaran would only talk of his mission in terms of his desire to safeguard the life and property of Karnataka Tamils. The next step would be to build on the ``victory'' a ``people's movement'' to force governmental authorities to concede the demands made by Veerappan in the interest of Tamils.

A meeting is planned at Kolathur, the native place of Veerappan. That, surely, will be the first real attempt of the Tamil nationalist fringe to become part of the political mainstream by making use of the kidnap episode. And eventually, even if not immediately, that could give the LTTE some space in Tamil Nadu's political discourse.

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