Volume 4, No. 11, November 2003

Tamilnadu is the state where more than 5 crore Tamil speaking people are living. The people of Tamilnadu have played a very important role in fighting the British Govt. for freedom. Prior to British rule, various kings ruled the Tamil-speaking people. It was the British colonial regime, which brought all the areas of the Tamil speaking nationality under their control. For this the British regime had to pay a heavy price because Kings like Veerapandia Kattabomman refused to pay taxes to the British Govt. and he fought relentlessly until he was captured alive and hanged at Kayatharu (presently in Tirunelveli District).

Similarly the people of Tamilnadu waged a heroic struggle in the 1960s against the imposition of Hindi. They have also extended their support for Srilankan Tamils in their fight to get the right to self-determination. After the 1960s, people in Tamilnadu out rightly rejected the Congress party. The Dravida Munnetra Kazagam (DMK) came to power on promising a corruption free administration and with a resolve to fight for the state’s autonomy. But the DMK did not fulfill the real demands and aspirations of the people. Then the people of Tamilnadu voted the AIADMK to power. But this Govt. and its Chief Minister Jayalalitha did not address the basic issues concerning the people. 57% of the people in Tamilnadu who are living in the countryside are exploited due to semi feudal relations in the villages.

Both the Central and State Govt. have been reducing the budgetary provisions for the agricultural sector and the Govt.’s investment in agriculture declined. As a result of the reduction in investment, irrigation facilities have not been expanded and the existing inland water bodies are not maintained and are neglected. Most of the agricultural lands in Tamilnadu depend on nature, and agriculturists often suffer from drought conditions. The migration to the urban areas is taking place on a large scale every year and nearly 43% of the populace is living in cities, towns without proper accommodation, food, drinking water facilities, etc…. The people who fight for their just demands are targeted with various forms of repression including illegal arrest, torture and even death in judicial custody and extra judicial killings.

In 1980 – 82, the state police under the command of its Chief Devaram shot down as many as 32 youths on the pretext of curbing naxalite activity. The leaders of the mass organizations namely Appu, Balan, Seeralan, Kannamani were killed in extra judicial murders. It is relevant to state here that Balan was the mass leader in Dharmapuri district who fought against the caste system. He led a heroic struggle that spread like a spark throughout the length and breadth of Dharmapuri dist against serving tea to the Dalit people in a separate tumbler.

In May 1991 former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. After this incident, the AIADMK came to power. The Govt. of Jayalalitha unleashed terror on the people of Tamilnadu under the pretext of curbing the activities of the LTTE. Students, activists, lawyers and all sections of the community were arrested on the suspicion that they were sympathizers of the LTTE.

The Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression. But in Tamilnadu, even to hold a public meeting, one has to approach the High Court and wait for issuance of a writ. Though there are no strong insurgent groups and organizations, severe repression is imposed on the people and their civil and democratic rights are denied. After 1991, public meetings were banned and permission to hold meetings granted by the police according to their will and pleasure. The most backward district in Tamilnadu is Dharmapuri. Right from 1991, the Govt. imposed an undeclared ban on holding meetings. Although the High Court of Madras has held, in various cases, that the police in Tamilnadu should change their colonial attitude, in so far as upholding the people’s right to freedom of expression, the state machinery have not changed their attitude towards the people’s rights. Recently a rally organized by the DMK, a major opposition party at Villupuram, was also banned.

The Govt. employees, teaching and non-teaching staffs of Govt. aided schools and colleges were deprived of salary arrears; that the pensioners were targeted with reduction in gratuity and various Govt. orders were passed slashing pension related benefits. The Tamilnadu state Govt. employees, who number nearly 13 lakhs, under the leadership of their trade union federations that consist of more than 350 unions, announced an ‘indefinite strike’ with effect from 02/06/2003 against the curtailment of terminal benefits. The Tamilnadu Govt., in order to ban the strike, enacted a draconian law "the Tamilnadu Essential Services Maintenance Act" and most of the departments were notified as essential services. Further the Govt. also brought an amendment to ESMA by an ordinance that empowered the heads of the department to summarily dismiss the striking employees. Even prior to 02/06/2003, 22 leaders were arrested which provoked the secretariat employees to close their offices and they announced an immediate strike on 01/06/2003 itself. The Jayalalitha Govt. crushed the employees struggle with an iron hand and more than 2,000 employees were arrested and 2 lakhs employees and teachers were summarily dismissed. The police of the fascist Jayalalitha conducted midnight arrests and raids which continued several days thereby terrorizing the employees. Few unions approached the High Court of Madras challenging the provisions of ESMA and TESMA on the ground that the right to strike, a basic fundamental right of the working class, is being denied and summary dismissals are violative of the principles of natural justice.

In the meantime the Govt. began to employ the new recruits on a contract basis and the employees who returned to work were not allowed to enter their offices immediately after the leadership announced the withdrawl of the strike.

The single judge of the High Court, without going into the fundamental issues, directed the employees to surrender before the Govt. by giving an undertaking to the effect that they will not indulge in strikes in future and further directed that summary dismissals should be kept in abeyance. But the Govt. dismissed more than 1 lac employees by using the newly acquired powers under TESMA. The Jayalalitha Govt. did not allow any one to join service and further went on appeal it the High Court bench challenging the order of the single judge. The High Court bench without interfering in the dismissal of 2 lakhs employees, merely ordered the release of arrested leaders and directed the employees to approach the Tamilnadu Administrative Tribunal (TAT) which has only one judicial member who is yet to decide 40,000 pending cases. Thus the High Court Madras also did not come to the rescue of the dismissed employees.

Then the employees under the leadership of their unions appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court also played a reactionary role in upholding the action of the Govt. and it observed, "the employees have no fundamental right to go on strike and hold the state to ransom". The Supreme Court ‘magnanimously’ recommended the dismissal of 5,000 employees.

The Govt. of India enacted a draconian law i.e. Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). The Tamilnadu Govt. was the first state to invoke the provisions of POTA. As stated earlier, admittedly there are no strong insurgent groups or militant movements in Tamilnadu. But the Govt. of Tamilnadu has notified entire Tamilnadu as a notified area under the Prevention Of Terrorism Act. Under the said Act, even possession of a country made gun or firearm entails the punishment of life imprisonment. As on date, 41 persons have been arrested under POTA including Mr. Vaiko, Member of Parliament and an ally of the NDA Govt. of Prime Minister Vajpayee.

In July 2002, Mr. Vaiko and 8 other office bearers of the MDMK were arrested under POTA on the ground that they addressed a public meeting held at Thirumangalam, Madurai Dist in which they expressed their moral support to the LTTE in their fight to get Self-determination. This is considered to be support to terrorist activity according to Jayalalitha.

On 01/08/2002, Mr. Nedumaran, former Member of Parliament and the State Assembly, was arrested under POTA on the ground that he spoke in a conference supporting the LTTE. His organization namely Tamizhar Desiya Iyakkam was banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Similarly the Secretary of his organization namely Prof. Veerapandian was arrested on 16/08/2002. Mr. Vaiko and Nedumaran are languishing in jail for more than one year and Nedumaran’s bail application has been rejected.

On 24/11/2002, 26 persons were arrested in Dharmapuri district on the ground that they are members of the Radical Youth League, a banned front organization of the Communist Party of India (Marxist- Leninist) (People’s War). Two of them are juveniles below 18 yrs and 6 of them are women. The Tamilnadu state police have got a wing called the Q-branch of the CID and the same has been specially constituted for curbing naxalite activity. The Q-branch police are responsible for various murders, disappearances, and registration of false cases. Due to the stringent provisions relating to bail under POTA, all these persons are languishing in prison for nearly one year.

The editor of Biweekly, Nakkeeran, Gopal, was also arrested under POTA on the ground that he possessed an unlicensed revolver and a pamphlet of the Tamil Liberation Army. He was arrested at Chennai in his office. Everyone in Tamilnadu knows that this case was foisted against him out of political vendetta because his Biweekly seriously criticized the Jayalalitha Govt. and exposed her corruption. For the purpose of arresting Mr. Gopal under POTA, the entire length and breadth of Tamilnadu was notified as a "notified area" for the purpose of invoking section 4 of the POTA.

The police in Tamilnadu have been conferred unlimited power to illegally arrest anyone, subject them to torture in illegal custody and to commit extra judicial killings. Whenever the police feel that the person who is arrested is an ‘undesirable element’, he will be shot down on the next day somewhere in the outskirts of a village or town. The activists of Tamil National Groups, naxalites are the prime targets. Apart from this the criminals who have a bad track record and antecedents in cases like dacoity, robbery etc… are done to death in a similar fashion. In the year 2002 alone, 5 "encounters" have taken place in Madras city alone and 5 persons have been killed in fake encounters. In 2003 so far 3 such extra judicial murders have taken place in Madras city. Every time the police comes with the false story of exercising the right to private defence. It is true that the Indian Penal Code has guaranteed a right to its citizens to defend their own body or property but the exercise of this right has to be proved in Courts and onus is on the person who claims that he exercised his right to private defence. But the Tamilnadu police never cares to act as per law and they often close the case after registering the case against the person who was killed in the encounter under Section 307 IPC.

The fascist Jayalalitha regime is indiscriminately filing cases against all the leaders of political parties under 500 IPC. Similarly most of the newspapers that seriously criticize the policies, corruption and misadministration of Jayalalitha Govt. are targeted with defamation cases. The leading English daily "The Hindu" alone faces 19 defamation cases in various Courts in Tamilnadu.

Such then is the terror of the Jayalalitha government in Tamilnadu which can be beaten back only through militant actions of the broad masses of the people of Tamilnadu.

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