The March 18 suicide of an unidentified youth at a local petrol station gained importance after leaders of political parties, especially the general secretary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Vaiko, declared the victim a martyr to the cause of the Tamils of Sri Lanka.
But with the identity of the victim still a mystery, the parties appear to be backtracking.
The MDMK Madurai urban district secretary M. Boominathan said, “Initially, we were told that the youth had ended his life for the Tamil’s cause. Our leader (Vaiko), had already made his plans to visit one of our partymen who was admitted at the Government Rajaji hospital. When this suicide issue came to our notice, he paid homage to the youth too,” Mr. Boominathan explained.
It is in Mr. Vaiko’s nature to be humane and the homage was a reflection of his nature, he said. Mr. Vaiko had met his party cadre, a law college student, who was admitted to the hospital after he was beaten up by the police, Mr. Boominathan said.
Mr. Vaiko had asked his partymen to keep a close watch on the identity of the dead youth. “He asked us to participate in the funeral if the police investigation revealed that he had given up his life for the Sri Lankan Tamils. But when his identity was not known, we kept away,” Mr. Boominathan said.
