More Than A Minority Matter

A Kerala Police report that Tamils residing in Idukki district may force a redrawing of borders has Tamil Nadu’s politicians up in arms

PC VINOJ KUMAR
Chennai

AN INTELLIGENCE report of the Kerala Police, which says the growing Tamil population in Idukki district can be a threat to Kerala’s territorial integrity, has snowballed

into a controversy with political parties in Tamil Nadu yelling themselves hoarse. The report dated November 17, 2006, which was filed by the deputy superintendent of police (SB-CID) of Idukki district to the additional director general of police (Intelligence) SB-CID, warns the state government that it could lose Devikulam and Peermedu taluks of Idukki district to Tamil Nadu if the Tamil influx is not controlled.

Moreover, the two taluks had witnessed agitations for a merger with Tamil Nadu during the 1950s, when the first States Reorganisation Commission was redrawing the state boundaries. Even Tamil Nadu had demanded that the taluks be given to it.

Reacting to the report, a copy of which is with TEHELKA, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has expressed concern about the welfare of Tamils living in Devikulam, Peermedu and Udumbanchola taluks of Idukki district.

The report apprehends that the Mullaperiyar dam issue would lead to demands from the Tamilmajority taluks to join the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu controls the dam situated in Kerala’s Idukki district through an agreement signed between the erstwhile princely state of Travancore and the then Madras government in 1886. As per the agreement, Travancore gave 8,000 acres for building the dam on a 999- year lease for an annual rent of Rs 40,000. In 1970, the two state governments gave the agreement their stamp of approval, stating that the “rights, liabilities and obligations of parties under the principal deed have devolved on the government of Kerala and the government of Tamil Nadu, they being successors in interest”.

While Tamil Nadu demands that Kerala should implement the Supreme Court order to raise the storage level of the dam from the existing 136 ft to 142 ft, Kerala has argued that the dam is too old and weak to store more water.

Drawing the state government’s attention to the agitations in Tamil Nadu on the Mullaperiyar issue, the report says that various political and social organisations of Tamil Nadu want the taluks ceded to it. “Regional political parties like the PMK and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) are also supporting the agitation,” says the report.

It further states that these parties were demanding that the Devikulam and Peermedu taluks be given to Tamil Nadu since they have a Tamil majority. “After the establishment of Kerala, both in Devikulam and Peermedu taluks as well as in Udumbanchola taluk, the Tamil population has considerably increased. Tamils move in as daily wage earners and traders. Initially they stay in rented houses, and then become the owners. Finally they settle down in Kerala after obtaining election photo-identity and ration cards,” says the report. As a remedy, it suggests stricter controls in the issuing of voter ID cards and ration cards to Tamils.

The PMKs state propaganda wing leader, A. Vyianarasu, claims the Kerala government has recently directed the Idukki district administration to take action based on the SB-CID report. “Tamils in Devikulam and Peermedu taluks would be reduced to second-class citizens and we may soon have in Kerala a situation similar to Malaysia or Sri Lanka,” he says. The party’s founder, Dr S. Ramadoss, says he plans to take up the matter with the Kerala government and also with the Centre. “Tamil Nadu has a large number of people from other states, including Malayalis. They all live peacefully here. It is very unfortunate that Tamils are being treated in this manner in other states,” he told TEHELKA.

BOTH THE PMK and the MDMK deny that they have raised the demand for the amalgamation of Devikulam and Peermedu with Tamil Nadu. “There is no such demand. But it is true that Tamil Nadu lost the two taluks because of KM Panicker, who was a member of the States Reorganisation Commission. Panicker belonged to Kerala and had properties in the two taluks. He didn’t want them to go to Tamil Nadu,” says MDMK headquarters secretary KS Radhakrishnan. This is a common charge voiced by many parties in the state. Thamizhar Desiya Iyakkam leader Pazha Nedumaran says he would campaign for the inclusion of the two taluks in Tamil Nadu if the Central government were to constitute the Second States Reorganisation Commission, as is being speculated.

Professor Rajendra Babu, head of the Malayalam department at the University of Madras, who assisted in translating the SB-CID report for TEHELKA, was wary of its contents. “The Kerala government should not congratulate officers who file such reports. It has to take into account the interests of Malayalis living in states such as Tamil Nadu. We experience no discrimination in Tamil Nadu and are free to settle down and work anywhere in the state. That’s how Tamils should be treated in Kerala too,” he says.

Babu also points to the age-old cultural and linguistic ties between the two states and says nothing should be done to spoil this relationship. “The Malayalam language is derived from Tamil. The first Malayalam department in the country was established at Madras University in 1927. The Tamil Nadu government extends full support to our department. It generously allocates funds and treats us at par with the Tamil department,” he adds.

M. Nanda Govind, the state president of the Confederation of Tamil Nadu Malayali Associations, says 43 lakh Malayalis presently reside in Tamil Nadu. “Ten lakh Malayalis live in Chennai alone. Last year, the Tamil Nadu government declared Onam a public holiday in several districts including Chennai. Nothing should be done to disturb this harmony,” he says. Nanda Govind had earlier written to the Kerala chief minister demanding protection for Tamils living in the state in the wake of reports of violence against Tamils following the bifurcation of the Palghat Railway Division. He said he would take up the issue of Devikulam and Peermedu taluks as well.

When contacted, Kerala ADGP (Intelligence) Jacob Punnoose said that the Kerala government has no intention of harming Tamil minorities living in any part of the state. “The ADGP (Intelligence) receives several reports each day relating to various issues. The government in general and the home department in particular would not endorse such reports and opinions without going into their merits. The letter you are mentioning is about oneand- a-half years old. It is not the view of the government and no decision has been taken to restrict the distribution of election ID cards and ration cards to Tamils in Peermedu and Devikulam. People are living there in harmony, irrespective of the language divide,’’ he said.

Punnoose also maintained that Tamils in Kerala have absolute faith in the impartiality of the police. “The police on its part would not engage in any act that would create tension among the people.” Nevertheless, the Kerala Police have infused life into a matter that was as good as dead.

With inputs from KA Shaji in Thiruvananthapuram

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vinoj@tehelka.com