Slain LTTE chief Prabhakaran disrupts bonhomie in INDIA bloc in TN
The admiration video and the subsequent Congress retaliation did not go unnoticed
LTTE chief V Prabhakaran
CHENNAI: An otherwise united INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu on Monday suffered a minor dent after the alliance’s leaders sparred over admiring slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran on Heroes Day.
Congress MP from Sivagangai Karti P Chidambaram criticized DMK’s Thamizhachi Thangapandian (South Chennai MP) over her ‘eulogizing’ Prabhakaran as an iconic personality she would love to dine with.
“Eulogising Prabhakaran doesn’t sit well with anyone in @INCIndia. To gloss over the dastardly assassination of Rajiv Gandhi along with 17 Tamils is not acceptable. This Prabhakaran Veerappan Tamil Nationalism is as fringe as Hindutva Nationalism,” Karti posted on the micro-blogging site ‘X’.
Eulogising Prabakaran doesn’t sit well with anyone in @INCIndia. To gloss over the dastardly assassination of Rajiv Gandhi along with 17 Tamils is not acceptable.
— Karti P Chidambaram (@KartiPC) November 27, 2023
This Prabakaran Veerappan Tamil Nationalism is as fringe as Hindutva Nationalism https://t.co/VZJztVMXWP
Karti posted his reservations a day after Thamizhachi, in a candid video posted on social media, described “Honourable national leader Prabhakaran” as the historic personality she would like to dine with. The South Chennai MP was also heard saying in the short video that she would tender an apology for “Mulllivaikkal” where the last leg of the Eelam war ended. The video was made public a day before “Hero’s Day”, the annual event in the Tamil Tigers calendar during which martyred soldiers were honoured.
The admiration video and the subsequent Congress retaliation did not go unnoticed. VCK Deputy General Secretary Vanniarasu rushed to the defence of the DMK MP and said that Prabhakaran had waged an uncompromising battle against the Buddhist Sinhala majoritarianism and for the minority Tamil Eelam people.
“Sanatana Hindutva seeks to establish majoritarianism. Methagu Prabhakaran’s politics will never be supportive of Hindutva ideology,” Vanniarasu posted on the ‘X’ site and sought to know from ally Karti as to how long would they (Congress) degrade Tamils by using the assassination of Thiru Rajiv Gandhi?
“It is time for the Congress to bring about a change in its stand. Nobody is celebrating Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. He chose his end. To support Methagu Prabhakaran is to oppose Hindutva,” Vanni added, triggering a fresh debate in the alliance over the Eelam dispute.