From: sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara Pandian)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
Subject: Re: Solution to Ayodhya problem, by TN chief minister.
Date: 12 Dec 92 01:52:21 GMT
Organization: Washington University, St. Louis Mo.
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


  [ Some news clips that pertain to this discussion - SP ]

  Source : "The Times of India"
  Date : Nov 26, 1992.

            Hurt Jaya may be costly for Cong
            ________________________________

                  By  SUBHASH KIRPEKAR

               The Times of India News Service

    NEW DELHI, Novembr 25.
    WHEN Ms Jayalalitha attended the National Integration Council
 meeting, wearing a saffron sari, she  was  openly  demonstrating
 how  much she was distanced herself from her ally, the Congress,
 and  how close she had moved to the  BJP-VHP-RSS  combine on the
 temple issue. 

    She has understandably drawn immediate flak from Mr V.K.Rama-
 murthy, TNPCC President, who was accused of converting the state
 Congress into a branch office of the AIADMK after he had strongly
 supported her on the Cauvery water dispute. The Tamil Nadu Chief
 Minister also drew flak from her predecessor, Mr M.K.Karunanidhi
 DMK leader, for betraying the Dravidian culture. And the Left 
 parties in Tamil Nadu have joined the chorus against her.

   But she has been congratulated by the BJP president, Dr Murali
 Manohar Joshi for the stand she took at the NIC, which was
 boycotted by the BJP-VHP combine. Curiously enough, both Mr Rama-
 murthy and Dr Subramaniam Swamy have accused her of becoming a
 "mouthpiece" of the BJP-VHP combine.

    [ some part deleted ..]

 UNSATISFACTORY MEET: When she did meet the Prime Minister before
 the NIC meeting, sources said she came away with the impression
 that he had not given her enough time (the meeting lasted just
 15 minutes) was indifferent, and had not shown any concern over
 the recent floods in Tamil Nadu. She had brought along two video
 cassettes to be shown to the Prime Minister, but his disinterest
 put her off. Obviously, Ms Jayalalitha does not enjoy with Mr Rao
 the kind of equation she did with Rajiv Gandi.

   At the NIC, Ms Jayalalitha virtually took on not only the Prime
 Minister but also Mr V.P.Singh, Mr Indrajit Gupta and others. Piqued
 earlier by Mr Rao's attitude during their meeting, she added to her
 four-page printed speech two more pages, which were type-written and  
 xeroxed. She undoubtably said almost all the BJP-VHP combine would
 have said at the NIC.

  While Ms Jayalalitha gave evidence of her having moved close to
 the BJP, the NIC meeting also witnessed the Left Front moving close
 to the Congress on the Ayodhya issue. Apparently, Ms Jayalalitha
 feels satisfied with Mr Advani's conditional support to her. The 
 BJP supports her in fighting the LTTE and forces of seperatism and
 terrorism. But it has made it clear that it would not condone the
 corruption and the onslaught on the Press in Tamil Nadu. It has also
 expressed appreciation of the chief minister's interest in the
 management of temples in Tamil Nadu and on the redrafting of the
 minorities education Bill in the State Assembly. 

 AGAINST DISMISSAL: At the NIC, Ms Jayalalitha opposed any threat of
 dismissal being issued to the UP government and wanted congenial
 conditions to be created for the conduct of 'kar seva', keeping the
 public opinion in mind.

   She said that even if the BJP was isolated at the NIC as had been
 pointed out by Mr Indrajit Gupta, it could not be denied that "outside,
 among the masses, the desire to build a temple at Ayodhya represents
 the aspirations of the majority of the people in this country". 

   Neither did she think that the Prime Minister's efforts to bring the
 two parties to collect evidence could prove or disprove the claims of
 the respected parties on the disputed site in Ayodhya and "solve the
 issue." She said that the Prime Minister was aware of this and "hence
 the question of a reference to the Supreme Court on the basic issue of
 the existence of a temple on the disputed land has been raised." In 
 her view, this would only amount to "chasing the will-of-the-wisp."

   The question of the masjid, according to her, should be left as it is.
 "We need not open a Pandora's box and try to find out whether a temple
 existed in its place prior to the A.D. 1528." The leaders of the country
 should promote communal peace and harmony as enjoined upon them by the
 Constitution, she said.

  MAJORITY RIGHTS: The government, according to her, had a responsibility
 to ensure that the majority community enjoyed its rights as peacefully
 as the minority. "More specifically, with respect to the Ayodhya issue,
 this would mean permitting a construction wished by the Hindus to come up
 on the site acquired by the UP government." The existance of a legal
 difficulty could not be used as an opportunityto postpone a decision as
 with each passing day it may prove to be "more and more difficult for the
 government to face the emotional upsurge of a defiant people."

   [ Some part about the Cauvery water dispute deleted ]

    "The need to obey orders of the judiciary could not be stressed
 selectively. Therefore, I think it is wrong to threaten the UP govt.
 with dismissal,: Ms Jayalalitha told the NIC. Significantly, she did
 not stay for the adoption of the one-line resolution by the NIC, which
 gave a free hand to the Prime Minister to deal with the Ayodhya situation
 as he deemed fit.

             *      *      *       *      *

           ' Jaya's moves no threat to Rao Govt'
          ______________________________________
   
              The Times of India News Service

  BANGALORE, November 25: The Tamil Nadu chief minister, Ms Jayalalitha's
 alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not been formalised
 yet, but is apparent, and poses no threat to the Cental gvernment's          
 stability, the Janata Party leader, Dr Subramaniam Swamy, said here
 yesterday.

    If the AIADMK- Congress alliance splits, six of the 11 Tamil Nadu MPs
 will not vote with her and the AIADMK Parliamentary and legislative
 party will disown Ms Jayalalitha, Dr Swamy said at a Press Conference.

   Dr Swamy listed four grounds for seeking the Tamil Nadu CM's resignation.
 They are an unprecedented rise in the level of corruption in the state;
 crude and unconstitutional suppression of the Press with 44 cases being
 slapped on it; a record of sorts in terrorising honest bureaucrats,
 particularly an IAS officer, Mrs Chandralekha; and the CM's utter failure
 to control the LTTE activities.

  Dr Swamy alleged that Ms Jayalalitha had sent her men to Paris and 
 Singapore to negotiate with the LTTE leaders, offering them financial
 support in exchange for sparing her life. He said that she was indulging
 in cheap propaganda against him because she found it difficult that
 someone was gaining such popularity in her state. He declared that his
 organisation's ( Tamizhaga Nallatchi Iyakkam ) mission was to remove
 Ms Jayalalitha.

            *     *     *       *     *     * 

   Editorial : Nov 26,1992 ( Times of India )

                   Limits to Pique
                   ________________

     Judging from the Tamil Nadu chief minister Ms Jayalalitha's
 utterances this week in New Delhi, it is clear that the relationship
 between the Congress and AIADMK is turning sour. The two had worked
 together so far largely because the AIADMK and the Congress, parti-
 cularly under Rajiv Gandhi, shared a common perspective and animosity
 towards the LTTE. On the strength of this Ms Jayalalitha herself 
 reaped an electoral windfall after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. But
 with the passage of time hostility towards the LTTE has not been 
 sufficient to sustain comradely feelings between the two parties. 
 Added to this Ms Jayalalitha's pronounced impatience with criticism.
 Even in the best of times, she is imperious in dealing with her
 admirers and harsh with her critics. She was certainly not amused 
 when Mr Subramaniam Swamy catalogued, with his characteristic bravado,
 her government's main failures in a bid to stoke dissidence within
 the party. What is more she has now chosen to convince herself that
 the unreliable Swamy is fomenting trouble at the behest of the Congress
 President, Mr Narasimha Rao. The discordant note struck at the National
 Integration Council meeting was meant, therefore, to advertise her
 pique with the Congress leadership. While she might have some perfectly
 valid grounds, like tardy assistance for cyclone victims of Tamil Nadu,
 to be annoyed with the Central government, her breaking ranks with the
 Congress on the Ayodhya issue was ill-advised. She has clearly allowed
 her personal feelings to get the better of her political needs and
 vulnerabilities.

      If Ms Jayalalitha carries any further her flirtation with the BJP,
 she would be running the risk of going against the grain of political
 culture in her state. Moreovr, it would be unrealistic for her to
 believe that the Congress would reconcile itself to playing the second
 fiddle to her party indefinitely. She may find mr G.K.Moopanar rather
 irksome but he does represent a COngress proclivity that refuses to cede
 politically any state for long, just as the National Conference discovered
 to its discomfort in 1983. Therefore, the Congress President cannot possibly
 be expected to ask the Moopanar faction to ceast and desist from criticising
 the AIADMK regime. However, Mr Narasimha Rao cannot pretend that the war
 against the LTTE has been won or that it can be successfully waged without
 Ms Jayalalitha's enthusiastic support. Nor can the Prime Minister do
 entirely without the AIADMK's help in the Parliament. It would be a pity,
 therefore, it hurt feelings and sloppy political management are allowed to
 snap Congress- AIADMK alliance, especially at a time when the Prime Minister
 and the polity can well do without another source of political uncertainty.
     
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil