Are you really different Sarath? | T. S. V. Hari

Published on 12-02-2008 In National

Viewed 1774 times

Are you really different Sarath?

Ramanathan Sarath Kumar Nadar is the complete name attributed to the relatively new political kid on the block by a globally acclaimed reference website.

That Sarath Kumar has been one for almost twelve years now is something else altogether.

Yet, he has made some attempts to be different after the first political conference of the Akila Indiya Samathuva Makkal Katchi (All India Egalitarian People's Party – a name sounding nice in part and outlandish due to its prefix asserting a national character) held at Madurai, Sunday.

Apart from announcing appreciably that there will be no multi-crore-rupee jamborees in the future (at least one senior functionary of the party had expressed his abhorrence in the matter), Sarath has talked sensibly about linking the southern rivers, thought aloud about a realistic solution for the vexed Lankan Tamils' issue with inputs from the central and state governments, advocating 33 percent reservation for women across the board and endorsing the need for every one in the state to learn an additional language other than Tamil and English.

Obviously, Sarath has had first hand experience of seeing the DMK MPs and Union Ministers spewing venom against Hindi in the state and conversing freely in the same tongue at the Centre and has been cheesed off by the double standards.

Even as the temple city came to terms with yet another re-packaging of a political party within a span of three years (the earlier one was the essay of Vijayakanth with a bigger, more unruly crowd) another actor-politician Karthik revealed the germination of a political tie-up which makes the whole thing interesting because the Nadar-Thevar combine south of Vaigai River will cause all and sundry to sit up and take notice next year when the parliamentary elections are held.

But, it will not be a cakewalk because sizeable sections from both the communities have strong political likes and dislikes within and beyond the confines of the All India Forward Bloc and Kumar's fledgling outfit. Further, one has to think of other vote-banks – especially the Dalits.

Yet, it might accord the 'supreme star' a chance to find a safe constituency to contest successfully and become an MP in his own right a la CN Annadurai who had founded the DMK a shade over half a century ago.

One also has to admit that Sarath has cleverly indicated to his supporters that while he will remain secular, he will not antagonise any section of the population through any of his acts.

This has a peculiar bit of significance.

By expressing a fleeting thought for an alternative route to the Sethusamudram Project, he has endeared himself to staunch believers in Hinduism – who are certainly in a majority in the southern edges of Tamil Nadu and think that a causeway linking Rameswaram and Thalaimannar was built by Lord Ram thousands of years ago.

But, by endorsing the controversial project, Sarath has tried to assuage the feelings of those who presume that it will bring prosperity to the region.

But, is Sarath really different?

The answer will depend on what his takes are on the following parameters:

[1] Has the AISMK commissioned a study about the socio-political/financial/ecological implications/viabilities of linking the rivers in the south or accessed the existing pointers expressed in earlier documents hinting at this? While the Cauvery tangle may not affect his immediate political constituency but the Mullaperiyar imbroglio will.

[2] How much of the several millennia old Lankan Tamil history is Sarath aware of? Does he, for instance, know that the Sinhalese majority (accused of denying basic rights to the isle's minority) has more Indian roots than the Tamils there? Further, though Muslims in Sri Lanka speak Tamil, they identify themselves differently. And then there are the two sections rarely discussed in India – viz. the Tamil business community in Colombo and those in the tea estates in the centre of the island whose well-being is more imperative from an Indian perspective than mere jingoism.

[3] Is Sarath's welcome take to eschew regional chauvinism backed by an action-plan to introduce other languages (and more importantly English itself) in a better manner to the youths of the state? Can he demonstrate to the people at large that he means business by tying up with employers beyond the borders of Tamil Nadu or within it to assure a viable future to those who strive more?

[4] While the epithet "fair-Kamaraj" sounds good, has Sarath consulted enough experts like the late Congress leader did to (a) create an entirely new crop of businessmen, (b) rejuvenate sick industries and (c) identify new ones with a steady power supply in southern Tamil Nadu? Has he addressed the crying need of developing infrastructure in the area or sourced investors who will fund and sustain them in order to ensure enduring faith in his party from all sections of the society – with particular emphasis in the south?

[5] Assuring 33 percent reservation for women across the board is a lofty ideal all right. But, has this translated into appointments of the adequate number of those from the fairer sex in his party's executive committee?

[6] Has the actor-turned-politician created a trade-union wing for his outfit? Has he formulated policies to increase productivity and reduce strain of workers (the order of the day in the length and breadth of the nation) and created his party's outlook vis-à-vis the blue collars? If yes, why didn't he spell them out at his first party conference?

[7] The Sethusamudram project's financial angles and defence conundrums have more polemics than the simplistic views expressed by Sarath. Has he examined those as well? If yes, couldn't he have justified the plan with more facts? If not, couldn't he have waited a little more to express his views?

Of course, more questions can be asked, for raising queries is the easy part.

Successful mass leaders' careers always depended upon the coming together of several socio-politico-economic circumstances.

Sarath must remember that the DMK, its challenger – the AIADMK and Andhra Pradesh's Telugu Desam are some of those parties that captured power at the expense of the Congress in the south riding the crest of a wave of regional pride and lost it from time to time due to its leaders' inability to spot socio-economic catastrophes even if they stared in their leaders' faces.

Sarath can, however, count himself lucky for the Tamils are presently looking for serious alternatives to the Dravidian parties which have achieved little else than empty rhetoric, tall promises and a doling out a lot of unproductive freebies.

But channelling this feeling of emptiness into a win-win situation for his party and the masses at large will take some doing on Sarath's part if he must emerge as a force to be reckoned with in 2011.

2 Comments

Blog

Print