One man has reason to laugh at all the tough talk on the need to crack down on terror: Abdul Nasser Mahdani, key accused in the 1998 Coimbatore serial blasts that targeted BJP leader L K Advani and killed 58 people and left several more injured.

While the Left and the Congress in Kerala—Mahdani is a leader of the Muslim hardline People’s Democratic Party in the state—both are falling over each other in trying to woo him, in Tamil Nadu where he is in prison, Chief Minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi has bestowed new life upon him.

In fact, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan’s plea for ayurvedic treatment for Mahdani “languishing in prison for more than eight years, having lost weight drastically from 104 kg to 54 kg,” seems to have “moved” Karunanidhi.

For, ever since he was sworn in as Chief Minister, the atmosphere has been upbeat in the high-security prison here, housing Mahdani and 166 Al Umma prisoners, mostly arrested for the Coimbatore blasts.

Thanks to Karunanidhi, a team of 10 masseurs and four senior Ayurvedic doctors began their “high quality treatment” on Mahdani, who has been housed in the prison’s hospital wing since 2001.

The 35-day treatment, which began on July 5, costs nearly Rs 50,000, said K G Raveendran, medical director of the Aryavaidya Chikiysalayam Research Institute, providing the specialized therapy for lumbar and cervical spondylitis caused by strain on his spine. His right leg was amputated some years back.

While the prison manual says that a prisoner pays for the cost of any private medical treatment he avails, the Tamil Nadu government is using taxpayers’ money to pick up the bill for Mahdani’s “dhara” and “pizhichil” (the ayurvedic massages).

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