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RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is quite right. Bihar is always maligned as a lawless state by political commentators and mediamen just because he does not have the finesse of a modern-day politician. In what way Tamil Nadu is better? Tamil Nadu may not have extortions and kidnappings at the same level as Bihar. But one Veerappan had compensated for all that. For vindictive politics and media anarchy, Tamil Nadu must take the cake, no doubt.

This is one state where the ruling party or the chief minister treats the main opposition party or its leader as persona non grata. There will be no political debate, no social contacts, or even occasional face-to-face pleasantries.

Even chance meetings will be scrupulously and meticulously avoided. President Bush may exchange pleasantries with Osama bin Laden, but not Jayalalithaa with Karunanidhi or vice versa. Both the Dravidian parties function like virtual war camps. In a democracy, both the government and the opposition have a responsible role in ensuring good governance and that is the reason leader of the opposition is always given the status of a cabinet minister. But Tamil Nadu will have none of it. Chief minister and the leader of the Opposition treat each other as outcastes and if they were to have powers, they would banish each other out of Tamil Nadu.

Such is the animosity and that percolates to the lower level as well as the media. This is not to say that it all started with Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa with the former disrobing her in the T Nadu assembly hall and the latter, as a revenge, arresting him midnight in a typical emergency era style. It started with the times of M G Ramachandran. When his party could not make it to the winning post, he would not go anywhere near the Assembly. If Jaya is the chief minister, Karunanidhi would stay away from the House, and Jaya would do the same if MK sits in the Fort. That is the tradition of Tamil Nadu.

Now, we have a piquant situation in the state. Jaya had won the mandate for the Assembly and Karunanidhi, with his recent Lok Sabha landslide, has cornered the key portfolios at the Centre. Central ministers from Tamil Nadu, atleast a dozen in number, will function as if the state does not have a government of its own. So far, there is no record of central ministers meeting the chief minister even once to discuss the developments of the state. While Karunanidhi controls SUNTV through his grand-nephews, Jaya has direct control over Jaya TV which is almost an official media of the government. The media war between the two has crossed all levels of decency and ethical behaviour. Journalistic ethics is anathema to these two channels. Besides, both have newspapers to boot. Objectivity is something that they would never allow to creep into their journalistic exercise lest their “pre-historic Tamil culture”is polluted.

The present crisis at the Kanchi Sanakara Mutt with the arrest of Jayendra Saraswati in connection with a murder case has to be viewed in this context whatever the grand stand both the Dravidian parties might have taken over the rule of law and equality before law. Will Jayalalithaa explain how the law took its course after the dramatic manner in which she arrested Karunanidhi at midnight along with the then union ministers? What is the present state of the case today. If the highest judicial forum had been convinced of her steadfastness in upholding the rule of law, why were her cases transferred to the neighbouring state. Of late, she has been talking that she and her government have been functioning without personal likes and dislikes so as to uphold the rule of law.

That is a convenient cover for her vindictive politics whether it was the arrest of Vaiko under POTA or raid in the office of the Hindu or the way she proceeded against Karunanidhi’s son Stalin. Capturing sandalwood smuggler Veerappan dead was also part of this vengeful exercise though for right reasons. And that was the starting point perhaps for all hell to break loose at the Kanchi Sankara Mutt.

The link between ‘Nakkeeran’ editor Gopal and bandit Veerappan is an open secret and all the audio and video cassettes brought by Gopal from Veerappan used to be released to the media by Karunanidhi and if the Karnataka ex-Police officer’s version has to be believed, Kannada actor Rajkumar’s ransom money to Veerappan was routed through Karunanidhi. When Veerappan, an OBC, who could not be apprehended by successive governments both in Karnataka and T Nadu for more than two decades, how can Karunanidhi digest credit going to his arch rival in the most barbarous political climate of the state.

He had to settle the score and pay her by the same coin for having eliminated his fan. Ex-employee of the Sankara Mutt Sankararaman’s murder came handy and Nakkeeran Gopal was unleashed for the so-called investigation. No investigative report will be published in T Nadu without motive. Veerappan’s death has to be avenged and who can be a wonderful target than Sankaracharya to embarrass Jayalalithaa It is too early to say whether evidence was fabricated against Kanchi seer or he walked into Karunanidhi’s trap with his own (mis)deeds. Before Karunanidhi could wean away whatever OBC bank is left with Jayalalithaa using Veerappan’s death, she struck with the tool handed over to her by Karunanidhi himself. That explains the haste with which Kanchi seer was arrested from Mahabubnagar in Andhra Pradesh.

An interesting fall-out of this vindictive political climate of T Nadu is the way both print and electronic media have been purveying news, views and pure fiction, more so, the regional Kendra of Doordarshan, PODIGAI. On 17th and 18th November in Podigai’s prime time news bulletin, there was not a mention of the case against Kanchi seer being argued in the Magistrate court or High Court. On 17th Jayalalitha made a suo motu statement in the Legislative assembly as a public prosecutor would present his case in the court. That was the first statement made by Jayalalitha in the sensational murder case involving highly respected seer of South India. Bail petition had come up for hearing in the Madras High Court on the same day. While these two were the lead stories for the national media, they were not newsworthy for Doordarshan’s regional Kendra. It was a different matter that a major part of the news bulletin was devoted to Jaya’s statement in the Assembly in Jaya TV and SUN TV would make a mention without showing her picture.

On 18th November, Kanchipuram magistrate heard the police plea for police custody and the seer was brought from Vellore to Kanchipuram and produced before the court. The High Court in Chennai concluded the hearing on the bail petition and the ruling was adjourned. Not a word in Podigai. Interestingly, on the same day, Jaya TV made a lengthy narration in graphic format on the arguments of the public prosecutor and not a mention of what the defence lawyer Ram Jethamalani had to say. It was completely blacked out.

Why did Doordarshan Regional Kendra behave the way it did while DD News (Delhi) did not black out the news? Thereby hangs a tale and it must be traced to the vindictive politics of T Nadu. DD may come under the purview of Information and Broadcasting ministry. Who is the Telecommunications minister? Thiru Dayanidhi Maran! Can the local DD officials afford to annoy him after seeing what happened to Raj TV network? In Tamil Nadu, it can be only SUN TV and none else under the sun(pun intended).

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