Some celluloid “heroes” of Chennai to prevent Prabhakaran being given to India for Gandhi killing

Walter Jayawardhana

Various “patriotic” sections of the South Indian film industry have questioned the wisdom of controversial director K. Bharathiraja and other activists planning to launch a desperate attempt of public agitation to save Velupillai Prabhakaran wanted for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s murder and a man working with other extremist organisation for the division of India, sources said.

Some even accuse that he had not even been elected properly as the Directors Council President.

Prabhakaran wanted by Interpol for various crimes including that of the Gandhi assassination is surrounded by the Security Forces.

He has appealed to Bharathiraja and other contacts in the Chennai’s film industry to save him from falling into the hands of the Indian law authorities after being captured by the Security Forces.

Prabhakaran’s and his intelligence Chief Pottuamman’s plea to save them reached the film industry personnel after attempts of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (MDMK) leader Vaiko’s attempts failed to stop the Security Forces from marching towards of Kilinochchi. Sri Lanka has promised to hand him over to India to try for the Gandhi murder if they are able to capture him alive.

Some sections of the Chennai film industry, who are in support of the LTTE policy of dividing India on racial lines have responded by organising to hold a rally of film industry personnel together with members of the organisations like that of MDMK to agitate against Sri Lanka’s anti-LTTE offensive at Rameshwaram, in the state of Tamil Nadu on October 19.

Using the same trade union sources which illegally held copies of the film Prabhakaran some months ago, pro-LTTE elements are attempting to support this movement of saving the LTTE, which is a banned organisation in India.

These elements illegally held the film Prabhakaran, since they did not want Tamils to see the illegal kidnappings of the poor children in North to make them into child soldiers, the subject depicted in the film.

Critics have alleged that if film industry personnel were true Tamil patriots how come they did not want the Tamil people to see how small Tamil children were mercilessly being destroyed by Prabhakaran and his LTTE, as cannon fodder of his war. Attempts by the United Nations and other humanitarian organisations to stop the Tamil children’s sorry plight have so far failed.

Tamils in Kilinochchi and Muluaitivu have been disfranchised by Prabhakaran for more than two decades and the South Indian film industry friends of the LTTE have shown no concern of it.

Bharathiraja has said his celluloid heroes and heroines will wear black bands in support of Prabhakaran, during these October 19 agitations. He also said he would organise a film industry strike between October 18 and 20 to bring pressure on the Indian Government to stop the anti-LTTE drive of the government.