That Tamil Nadu is infested with extremists has been Pon Radhakrishnan's pet theory for over one-and-a-half years. The Union minister's regret is that neither the AIADMK government nor the police or its intelligence wing has taken him seriously. His latest peeve seems to arise from the opposition by farmers to the Salem-Chennai 277 kilometre-long eight-lane expressway. Many farmers are miffed that their lands are being taken away to build a greenfield expressway when the existing 4-lane highways could be widened.
"Naxalites, Maoists, Muslim extremists and extremist groups who promote secessionism in the name of Tamil have infiltrated many organisations. There is a chance that they could have infiltrated the media too,'' said Radhakrishnan on Wednesday, hinting at an elaborate conspiracy to derail projects by design.
The Kanyakumari MP believes that the Jallikattu protest at the Marina beach in Chennai in January 2017 was an experiment for the extremists to gauge the public mood.
"Should not the government give a free hand to the police to act tough against the extremists? The government should protect the people of the state and not the extremists. Such a government is not required," said Radhakrishnan.
Police personnel in Tuticorin baton charge at a protestor. PTI
Police personnel in Tuticorin baton charge at a protestor. PTI
Why Radhakrishnan needs to be taken seriously is because he is a member of the Narendra Modi government. The question to be asked, therefore, is that when the minister says that such a government 'is not required', is he reflecting New Delhi's opinion that the state government should be shown the door? Is the home ministry convinced that the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu has gone for a toss? Has the MHA shared information with the Tamil Nadu government through official channels on the extremist elements operating in the state? Tamil Nadu minister D Jayakumar has, in fact, asked Radhakrishnan to share information with the state, if he has any.
Is this also a hint to the Edappadi Palaniswami regime that it needs to crack down on so-called extremist elements or risk interference from Raisina Hill? Is this why the police in the past week has arrested several anti-Sterlite activists and those opposing the Salem expressway?
Two, how responsible is it for a Union minister to float his conspiracy theories about the probability of a Naxal presence in the media? He is talking about an institution that is already battling a crisis of credibility. This is, to my mind, step one of a process of intimidation. The theory has been floated, given currency. The second step will be to label specific people and sully reputations.
A closer look at the kind of people who have been arrested in the last one week would give a fair idea about why the 'urban Naxals' theory has been floated. These include advocate Vachinathan, who has been providing legal assistance to the protesters against Sterlite in Tuticorin, lakes activist Piyush Munush, student activist Valarmathi and actor Mansoor Khan, who are all opposed to the Salem project. In addition, some 260 people have been arrested in Tuticorin and charged with having taken part in the violence on 22 May. Any farmer who has objected to their land being marked for acquisition for the highway has been detained at the local police station.