TAMIL NADU CHIEF MINISTER'S TRIBUTE TO DEAD TAMIL TIGER

UNCLAS CHENNAI 000690

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV IN
SUBJECT: TAMIL NADU CHIEF MINISTER'S TRIBUTE TO DEAD TAMIL TIGER
CAUSES MEDIA STORM


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's poem
eulogizing a leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam killed
in an attack by the Sri Lankan air force raised questions about his
views on the banned group. Media reports and protests by opposition
parties caused a political storm, but observers believe Karunanidhi
was simply paying lip service to the Sri Lankan Tamils and nothing
more. A senior official in Tamil Nadu's police intelligence unit
told post that any sympathy on the part of the Chief Minister has
not had an impact on the coordinated state and national security
effort to keep the Tamil Tigers out of Tamil Nadu. END SUMMARY

CHIEF MINISTER'S POETIC HOMAGE TO TAMIL TIGER
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2. (SBU) Karunanidhi's November 3 eulogy of Thamilchelvan, who was
reportedly killed in a November 2 Sri Lankan air raid, looked as if
it had been penned by an ardent fan: "A face that was
ever-smiling...a youthful man with a heart as strong as the
Himalayas, a commander...who deemed his life but a bit of manure for
the liberation struggle, one who was like life to us, like a
brother; who has etched his fame on every Tamil heart and every
Tamil home, where are you gone?" (NOTE: It is not unusual for
Karunanidhi, who started his career as a screen writer and has
penned several volumes of poetry, to use a poem to communicate a
political message. END NOTE.) To add fuel to the fire, the poem
was distributed to the media through official government channels.


OPPOSITION CRIES FOUL, DEMANDS DISMISSAL
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3. (SBU) Opposition AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa, a staunch critic of
the Tamil Tigers, said Karunanidhi's act was unconstitutional and
asked the Center to dismiss the DMK government. In a statement
issued to the media she alleged that Karunanidhi had "secret ties"
with the banned terrorist organization. She stated that she would
move the Supreme Court against the DMK government "as the Union
Government has not taken a serious note of the issue."


4. (SBU) The DMK's Congress allies were especially upset by the
Chief Minister's apparent display of sympathy for the Tamil Tigers
given the group's responsibility for the 1991 assassination of
Congress party icon Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The gravity of the
matter was illustrated by the fact that the leaders of the warring
factions in the Tamil Nadu Congress -- Union Ministers of State G.K.
Vasan and E.V.K.S. Elangovan -- joined together to publicly
criticize the Chief Minister. A Congress member of the Tamil Nadu
Legislative Assembly told us that the reaction also reflects
frustration in the Tamil Nadu Congress that the ruling DMK party has
not given them a share in power at the state, even while Congress
shares power with the DMK in New Delhi.

DON'T MIND THE WORDS; SEE WHAT WE DO, SAY POLICE
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5. (SBU) A senior official in Tamil Nadu's police intelligence
bureau said that despite the Chief Minister's public statements
expressing sympathy for the slain Tamil Tiger leader, the state
police receive clear policy directives from the state government to
clamp down on any activities of the banned terrorist organization in
Tamil Nadu. "Ignore the public statements; they mean nothing," the
official said. He believes that so long as the Indian Navy and the
Coast Guard keep vigil across the Pak Strait, the Tamil Tigers will
not be able to develop supply lines through Tamil Nadu. He added
that state and national security agencies are coordinating well.
The official told us that a few Tamil Tiger cells remain in Tamil
Nadu but that their activities are largely limited to liaison
between the pro-Tamil Tiger political parties and groups in order to
carry out propaganda and whip up political support.

PRO-TAMIL TIGER LEADERS ARRESTED
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6. (SBU) Confirming the impression conveyed by the intelligence
officer, Tamil Nadu police arrested Vaiko, the leader of the
pro-Tamil Tiger MDMK party, and 268 of his supporters on November 12
for attempting to stage a procession to pay homage to Thamilchelvan.
Local newspapers reported that the marchers shouted slogans
supporting the Tamil Tigers and quoted Vaiko as sarcastically
commenting: "You wrote a poem in praise of Thamilchelvan but before
the ink could dry you have turned against the Tamils. We think you
wrote the poem only to cheat the Tamils."


7. (SBU) COMMENT: Chief Minister Karunanidhi, who has been dismissed
from power by the central government twice before, is unlikely go
against Government of India policy on an issue as sensitive as Sri
Lanka. But the octogenarian stalwart on the Tamil political scene
has made no secret of his desire for a legacy as the "father of
world Tamils," which explains the flowery language he used to
eulogize Thamilchelvan. Moreover, a small section of the DMK core

constituency is sympathetic to the Tamil Tigers and their struggle
for a separate homeland. Ever the political operator, Karunanidhi
will continue to engage in verbal flattery to satisfy them. It will
remain simple lip service, however, and we expect the state
government to continue to act aggressively against the Tamil Tigers.
END COMMENT.

HOPPER