CM’s poetic and political muse

This was M. Karunanidhi in his poetic avatar: Throgathaal Ennai Thulaithu chendra thozhargal silarum...

This was M. Karunanidhi in his poetic avatar: Throgathaal Ennai Thulaithu chendra thozhargal silarum (some friends who pierced me through betrayal)/ Thol meethu kai potu thunaikku vanthu vittom enbathum kanavuthaney! (wasn’t it a dream people putting their hands on my shoulders to support me?). To those who had watched the ugly power struggle unfold between Karunanidhi’s family and the Marans, these words said it all. While Karunanidhi refused to speak to the media about that episode, his poetry revealed what he really felt about it.

For many years now, the DMK patriarch has been in the habit of writing wistful poetry, tinged with sarcasm, bitterness or sadness, to suit the occasion. Dayanidhi Maran had been Karunanidhi’s blue-eyed boy and a permanent fixture in his life after the 2004 Lok Sabha election, when he made his political debut. He had been spotted frequently at public functions supporting the frail Karunanidhi. But after the sordid family drama that broke out in Madurai earlier this year, and which ended in Maran being dropped from the Union cabinet, thatha (grandfather), as Dayanidhi calls Karunanidhi, let his feelings flow through a poem, forcefully titled,

Ninaivugalin Porpaatu (war song of memories). When the poem appeared in Murasoli, the DMK organ, on May 19, it was clear that there was no scope for any rapprochement with the Maran family.

Known for his brilliant literary skills, Karunanidhi — who began as a script-writer in films — has devoted several columns in Murasoli to his poetry. Soon after his party’s victory in the 2006 assembly election, he had penned a poem which many read as a softening on his part towards his arch rival, Jayalalithaa. Appearing a day after the results, the poem, titled ‘Election victory’, firmly informed partymen that the DMK would not practise politics of vengeance.

However, Karunanidhi’s latest bout of poetry-writing — a touching elegy for S.P. Tamilselvan, the LTTE’s political wing chief killed in an aerial attack on November 2 — kicked up a storm. The situation has been further aggravated with the arrest on Monday of MDMK leader, Vaiko, and several pro-LTTE leaders and supporters. These leaders were detained under Section 13 (1) (2) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act ‘for attempting to take out a rally in support of a banned organisation without permission’. Even as he was dragged away from the podium by the police, Vaiko was heard shouting: “Karunanidhi appears to be only fooling the people. Even before the ink has dried on the elegy he has written for Tamilselvan, he is creating problems for us.”

Karunanidhi’s poetic tribute to Tamilselvan — “a face always smiling; a heart that broke down all opposition; a youthful man with a heart as strong as the Himalayas; a commander who developed at the footsteps of Balasingham, the old lion; a noble youth who considered his life manure for his liberation struggle; one who was like life to us, like a brother to us, oh, Selva, he who etched his fame on every Tamil heart, and every Tamil home, where have you gone?” — is likely to prove a handy missile for his detractors, with former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa prime among them of course.

His ally, Congress, too was hardly thrilled. On Monday, members of the state Congress legislature party unanimously adopted a resolution which said Karunanidhi’s elegy brought “tears of blood” to their eyes. While Karunanidhi dismissed the elegy as a “humanitarian gesture towards a fellow Tamil”, Jayalalithaa stepped up her demand for his government’s dismissal for “glorifying a member of a banned outfit” whose leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was still wanted for the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

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The poem, nevertheless, provided an interesting insight into Karunanidhi’s thoughts on an outfit he had warily distanced himself from since the dismissal of his government in 1991 for “encouraging” the outfit and even “passing on official secrets conveyed to him by then Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar.”

With the arrest of Vaiko and others, Karunanidhi is seen to be doing a tight rope walk — trying not to be branded as an ‘anti-Tamil’ by paying tributes to Tamilselvan and trying not to antagonise his Congress allies by preventing pro-LTTE groups from displaying open adulation for the banned outfit.

No doubt, the verses would continue to flow from the veteran politician, whether to subtly hit out at his detractors or convey his anger or sadness on an issue that has touched a raw nerve. But the strident reactions to his latest piece of poetry, the elegy to Tamilselvan, could stem the spontaniety of Karunanidhi’s poetic flow. At least that of a politically sensitive nature.