State as supplicant

It might have been entertaining if it wasn't so tragic. More than 100 days after Veerappan carried away Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar into...

It might have been entertaining if it wasn8217;t so tragic. More than 100 days after Veerappan carried away Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar into the Sathyamangalam forests, the queue outside the residence of a certain Pazha Nedumaran is lengthening. Apart from the kidnapped film star8217;s sons, there is a nine-member delegation from the Karnataka film industry, PMK leader S. Ramadoss, and a former minister of the state government. Their mission: to persuade the sulking Nedumaran to reconsider his decision to pull out of the negotiating team headed towards the forests for the umpteenth time to plead with Veerappan for Rajkumar8217;s release.

On his part, Nedumaran sports an injured air: a few days ago the Leader of Opposition and TMC leader S. Balakrishnan accused him of being quot;anti-nationalquot; in the Assembly. It may be relevant here to recall that before making it into media headlines as the emissary-in-chief on Veerappan8217;s insistence of the all-new negotiating team in the ongoing kidnap drama, the Tamil Nationalist Party leader was infamous for exhorting Tamils in India to quot;register yourselves as Tamil nationalsquot; and not as Indian citizens in the ongoing census enumeration. It is understandable that the abducted film star8217;s sons and his well-wishers should beat at all doors, even Nedumaran8217;s, in the hope of securing his release. What is tragic here is that after having carried out the abduction, Veerappan is also masterminding Operation Rescue.

The tragedy lies in the state8217;s unresisting collusion with Veerappan to elevate a Nedumaran to the position of power he is in today. This effete abdication of responsibility by the concerned governments has been best chronicled in the Supreme Court8217;s deservedly harsh pronouncements. Denouncing the government8217;s quot;package dealquot; and quot;unholy barterquot;, the apex court has ruled out dropping charges under TADA/NSA against certain detenus as demanded by the brigand and the granting of bail to them. The bench has questioned whether the whole affair was a quot;ploy adopted by them to keep Veerappan out of the clutches of the lawquot;. The tragedy also is that despite the court8217;s ire, and in spite of being so unambiguously halted in their tracks, the state governments show no signs of a rethink.

There is no evidence that the strategy of negotiation through quot;third party emissariesquot; pursued so far one that has not only been questionable in intent but has also completely failed to deliver is being discarded and a new one is being thought out. Basically, the queue of supplicants outside Veerappan8217;s chosen emissary8217;s door reveals that the state governments continue to rely on the brigand8217;s goodwill to resolve the ongoing crisis. As the drama stretches on, it is displaced now and then from the media spotlight by other issues. But this lull must not be allowed to detract from the horror of a thief thumbing his nose at the law of the land so successfully and for so long. The photographs of the wan-looking sons of Rajkumar in Nedumaran8217;s home do not merely capture a family8217;s moment of distress and tribulation. They speak also of a nation8217;s shame.