Tamil organisations find demands reasonable

Tamil organisations find demands reasonable
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

BANGALORE, AUG 7: What is vexing Karnataka's Tamil organisations is that Veerappan achieved through coercion what they had always pleaded for.

``We are not happy that there will be Thiruvalluvar statue just because some forest brigand demanded it. We want it of the state government's own volition,'' Thenira Udaya Kumar, state president of Thiruvalluvar People Welfare Association said.

Tamil organisations found many other of Veerappan's demands reasonable, such as the release of TADA detenues. But they are not happy with the way Veerappan has done it. ``We firmly believe that Veerappan's organisation is one of the 400 terrorist organisations of this country,'' C Ramamurthy of the Karnataka Tamilar Munetra Kazagham said.

The demands should be met because Rajkumar's well-being is at stake. ``Whatever demands he has made, must be accepted for the sake of the state, particularly its linguistic minorities,'' said Ramamurthy.

But Udaya Kumar felt that violence has been kept in check only because Rajkumar was captive. ``If the demands are accepted now, there could be trouble later. Once Rajkumar is released, Tamils in the state will be targeted. Ordinary Tamils who live on the streets and don't have any protection, will be hit first. Only Rajkumar can stop them.''

They were sure that Veerappan would not dare hurt Rajkumar. ``Veerappan doesn't usually call people `Sir'. But that is how he refers to Rajkumar,'' R S Maran of Karnataka Tamilar Kazagham said.

``Some Tamil militant organisations are remote-controlling Veerappan. In the past, his demands were more personal,'' he said. For anyone even contemplating violence against minorities, Maran has this message: ``There may be 33 lakh Tamilians living in Karnataka, but narrow-minded people should remember that there are 44 lakh Kannadigas in Tamil Nadu.''