The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani’s veiled demand for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka during a Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) led fast in Chennai on Friday has surprised political pundits. Advani, who has consistently opposed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants the issue to be resolved through negotiated political settlement and not by "brutal use of force".
During the BJP-led-National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime, Advani, then home minister, opposed the former defence minister George Fernandes, over his support to the LTTE. Fernandes was even asked not to host Tamil nationalist leader P. Nedumaran or other LTTE supporters.
Advani’s new stance has upset conservative politicians like Subramanian Swamy of the Janata Party. Swamy said that Advani's statement at the fast was not in line with BJP's zero tolerance policy on terrorism. Swamy who is believed to be supportive of BJP’s ideology, said that there can't be any talks with Tamil Tigers and India must support the government of Sri Lanka in eliminating the LTTE.
During the release of the Tamil edition of BJP leader Narendra Modi’s quotes on education yesterday, Thuglak editor, Cho Ramaswamy, criticized Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi for demanding a ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Cho compared Eelam to Kashmir implying that India should oppose secessionism in both.
The crowd, largely of BJP supporters erupted in defiance, forcing the police to intervene to maintain order. Advani seems to have recognised this latent pan-Tamil solidarity even in his party supporters in Tamil Nadu.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), which is close to the BJP, has long been trying to project the Sri Lankan conflict as a Buddhist genocide of Hindus in Lanka. Even the LTTE attempted to enforce a traditional Tamil dress code for women, in the late 1990s, in areas they controlled. The LTTE brand of nationalism, thus appeals to a section of the Hindu right.
Left without an alliance partner in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Advani has joined the bandwagon of politicians attempting to ride on a wave of sympathy for Sri Lankan Tamils caught in the crossfire between the LTTE and Sri Lankan forces. He is also attempting to get close to subtle Tamil chauvinists like Vijaykanth in order to bolster support for his party in the General elections.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has promised to field three “forward community” candidates from Tamil Nadu in these elections. Currently Jayalalithaa and S. V. Sekhar, both of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), are the only Brahmin members of the states legislative assembly. None of Tamil Nadu’s Members of Parliament are Brahmin. Brahmins are a little more than three per cent of the state’s population and are considered BJP’s core vote bank in the state.
Brahmin leaders like S. V. Sekhar are getting close to the BSP, whose ranks have swelled with defectors from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), a pro-LTTE party. The BSP’s Tamil Nadu and Puducherry units are openly supporting the LTTE in their rallies.
The BJP is attempting to mobilize the Hindu vote bank on this issue. During a protest in Coimbatore on January 30th, against the killing of Tamil Hindus in Sri Lanka, BJP leader S. R. Sekhar was quoted saying, “"The BJP is the only party, which is viewing it as a Hindu problem. The whole nation will be responding. The Central Government is not responding because they are thinking it's a Tamil problem alone.”
The BJP is clearly interested in exploiting the Sri Lankan Tamil issue for national mobilization, something the other national parties have failed to do.
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