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Journalism of Courage
It’s been 19 years since 2004 when Koose Munisamy Veerappan, one of the most feared criminals in the country, was shot dead by a Special Task Force (STF) in Operation Cocoon. However, despite the passage of time, Veerappan’s mysterious persona continues to captivate the public’s curiosity.
The dreaded poacher, who once operated from the dense forests of South India, single-handedly held Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to ransom for close to a decade. In all these years, many attempted to get close and uncover more about his life and crimes, but Netflix, with its next original ‘The Hunt for Veerappan‘, is aiming to bring first-hand accounts from individuals who were close to him and the officials who tirelessly sought to capture him.
The trailer of the documentary, which dropped a week ago, gave a glimpse of how there has never been a criminal like Veerappan and how he was a “wild animal in human form”.
The documentary projects to speak about how the hunt for Veerappan became one of the longest and costliest manhunts in the history of India and how the man, who is labelled as a poacher, went on to become the ‘Robin Hood of India’.
Ever since the trailer was released, there was curiosity about how the family of the most feared man would react as there have been instances in the past where they have taken legal steps to stop such works as they feared that they put them in a bad light.
Speaking to indianexpress.com, Vidhya Veerapan, the 32-year-old elder daughter of the forest brigand, who runs a school for kids in Krishnagiri, opened up about her view about the crimes her father committed and what she wants to say to the people who still idolise Veerappan.
Speaking about her initial reaction after watching the trailer, she said, “I haven’t watched it fully. I don’t know the full content of the documentary but I am curious to see how people around the world will react to a documentary about my father. I just saw them using words like ‘wild animal in a human form’ to describe my father. My mother also checked with the Netflix team but they assured her that the documentary will not be one-sided and it will showcase the reality.”
Commenting on how the craving for knowledge about Veerappan remains unabated even after so many years, Vidhya said, “I think it’s more about the desire to know the reality. Everyone wants to know what pushed Veerappan to an extent like this. I am not sure how many people would be aware of the economic situation that prevailed earlier. The people residing around the forest area were following what their ancestors did for a livelihood. They did not commit a crime by aiming for a luxurious life. I am not justifying their act but I just want to tell you that whatever they did, it was for the next meal on their plate.”
She said though many had previously made documentaries and films on the life of Veerappan, they have not been able to fully capture what really happened to him.
“Not many were ready to fully research and present numbers along with data. People claim he killed 2,000 elephants and murdered over a hundred people but where is the evidence? They needed to also showcase the atrocities committed by the police, informers against women and the other public. Will they speak about how people were randomly picked and shot with their hands tied inside the forests and how officials erased the records of their existence? Or will they speak about how the police destroyed the properties of the temple built by my father?” she asked.
“Not just Appa, many had been doing this but why was he targeted alone? Several other gangs were operating. Also, what about those who received the ivory or the sandalwood? What action was taken against them? Appa spoke for the people. He stood for their rights and was against the wrongdoings of the forest officers, local politicians and others. Yes, he committed crimes but after a certain point of time, he stopped everything after he understood how he was being projected outside and gained more knowledge about society as a whole. He wanted the world to understand him better,” Vidhya added.
There have been several reports about the horrific crimes that Veerappan had committed and how it continues to haunt the families of several policemen and forest officials of both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka who were affected by him.
When asked what’s her stand on this and the widely perceived notion of how Veerappan is considered an evil force by many outside, Vidhya said that is not the ground reality and even now, most of the lingayats and tribal people in the border areas of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu respect her father.
“Those people adore him. I have seen how they still consider my father a god. I believe in the words of those who watched my father from close quarters, I don’t take the noise outside. If people believe and speak based on whatever they have heard, they are ignorant is what I feel. I haven’t spent much time with my father. I last saw him when I was studying in Class III at my grandfather’s village but If I need to build an identity within myself about my father, it will be based on the words of those who had watched him closely,” she added.
Veerappan belonged to an influential OBC community and it is believed that he did bring about a lot of welfare for the people of the villages bordering the forest. In fact, the ‘Robin Hood’ narrative also came from his acts.
Vidhya says her father’s generous aid was not restricted to just one caste or community which he belonged to. “He was genuinely concerned about the Sri Lankan Tamils. Even in the interviews he gave to the media, he always cared about the welfare of the public,” said Vidhya.
She also claimed that since her father was helping the locals, the residents of the villages bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, who had no real connection to Veerappan, were tortured by the STF and the effects of the torture continue to affect them.
“Many people in the villages around the forest who were suspected to have helped my father were brutally tortured by the STF. Many who sustained electric shocks during that time are affected by it even today and they are not able to do any work. Recently, a person whose parents were brutally killed in front of him, informed me that he came to Chennai to see if he can avail government benefits under the Sadashiva Commission (formed to inquire into the alleged atrocities committed by the STF against residents of villages bordering two states). The case is still on and the government is yet to provide them the required help,” she noted.
When drawn a parallel between Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar’s son Sebastian Marroquin who asked filmmakers not to glorify his father’s exploits which may set a bad precedent for the youths, and asked what message she would like to pass on to the youngsters who admire Veerappan, Vidhya said drugs are different. “They cause great damage to society and affect the public and are no way near to what my father did,” she said.
She reiterated that her father did not live a luxurious life by committing the crimes and had to run day in and day out without proper shelter or food. “He had only one motto — to do good for the people. However, I would like to advise the youngsters that picking up arms is not the right way to fight against the system.”
Vidhya, who currently serves as the state vice-president of the OBC wing of the BJP, resides in Krishnagiri with her family, including her husband, mother Muthulakshmi and her sister Vijayalakshmi. Her mother is a member of the Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi (TVK).
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