"If I am blamed, Indira Gandhi and MGR are even more guilty"

I don’t think it will cause us political problems. It is only Jayalalitha who blames us for the Rajiv Gandhi assassination and no one else. Even former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, who made a charge that we had sent messages to the LTTE during our earlier rule in1989-91 (which we have denied), has said that we are not to blame for the assassination.

* How do you propose to deal with the adverse references to the earlier DMK regime? Will you continue to cooperate with the Commission or boycott it as you had done earlier?

Once the full report is released by the Centre, we will submit a point-by-point reply to the references made to the DMK. We will not boycott the commission. That decision was taken when there was a move to delete the measures of the Centre from 1981 from the terms of reference. Once that was included, we cooperated since the training camps organised by the Indira Gandhi government in the early ’80s for the Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups formed part of the proceedings. We do not regret that decision.

* Do you agree with the Jain Commission’s view that you have aided and abetted the LTTE and its clean chit to the MGR government?

I am not sure if the commission has come to that conclusion. Only a section of the media has selectively published the extracts which seem to be politically motivated. We hope that the commission would have made adverse references to the assistance provided to the LTTE and others by Indira Gandhi and MGR, who announced in the State Assembly on April 27, 1987, that he would give Rs 4 crore to the LTTE, and paid it the same day. If I was supposed to have helped the LTTE, they were more guilty of it than me. If the commission report does not include this, then it would mean it is one-sided and partisan.

* How do you assess your own relationship with the LTTE? Can the DMK absolve itself of the charge of encouragement?

It cannot be said that the LTTE was close to us. In fact, the Centre sent a communication to the Jayalalitha government on Sept 28, 1993, that it had received information that the LTTE planned to eliminate’ me in order to promote V. Gopalsamy (former DMK MP and now MDMK leader). The Centre also wanted the AIADMK government then to make proper security arrangements for me. The Jayalalitha government wrote to me on Oct 2, 1993, on the report of an LTTE threat to eliminate me, and suggesting a security arrangement, and I accepted the security. That being the case, how could anyone think that I was close to the LTTE?

* What do you have to say about the charge in the report that your government in 1990 had not taken proper action against the killers of EPRLF leader Padmanabha, and this paved the way for the Rajiv killing?

It is incorrect to say that the Padmanabha killing had led to the Rajiv assassination. If that is so, the earlier AIADMK government is to blame for it, having allowed an explosion in the Meenambakkam airport at Chennai in which 30 persons including some foreigners died. Just because someone escaped or some action could not be taken in time, does it mean that there was a conspiracy on our part to murder someone?

* Jayalalitha says that support to the LTTE prior to the Indo-Sri Lanka accord is different from backing it after the 1987 accord. How do you view it?

It was Jayalalitha who supported the LTTE even after the accord. I have placed before the Jain Commission several statements made by her in press interviews and at public meetings between 1988 and 1990 backing the LTTE, even in the presence of Rajiv Gandhi. On Feb 22, 1988, she admitted she had met LTTE representatives in Chennai. On March 21, 1988, she demanded that India immediately halt military operations against the LTTE and call Prabakaran for discussions. On the other hand, when an LTTE delegation led by Anton Balasingam wanted to meet me in 1990, I told them to come through the proper channel (Government of India), and this was carried by The Indian Express.

* A point made by the commission is that while MGR fell in line with the Centre’s policy after the 1987 accord, you had continued to support the LTTE in contravention of the Delhi policy. Your comments.

That is not true. I had abided by the Centre’s policy and acted accordingly. The then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and V.P. Singh in the 1989-1990 period had asked me to hold discussions with the LTTE and others with a view to bring about a compromise and a smooth solution to the Sri Lanka Tamil issue. I had also told the groups that Tamil Eelam was not feasible and that they must accept State autonomy. In fact, Rajiv Gandhi himself praised my stand at election meetings in Tamil Nadu on 6.11.1989.

* Are you confident that your ties with the TMC will continue?

I don’t think this will affect our relations with the TMC or affect the stability of the Gujral Government.

* Jayalalitha wants Central government action against you.

I don’t want to comment about it. She is merely trying to divert attention from the corruption cases against her. The assassination investigation was undertaken during Congress rule by P.V. Narasimha Rao at the Centre and Jayalalitha as CM in TN. The trial has been completed. No DMK member is an accused in the case. We have nothing to worry about.

* What kind of steps do you think the Centre will take regarding the Action Taken Report?

I cannot comment on it except to say that everyone is bound to expect that the Centre would go by the evidence and the truth while preparing the ATR.