The Hindu : T.N. 'not in a hurry'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 06, 2002

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T.N. 'not in a hurry'

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

CHENNAI July 5. With the Centre's nod for the move to arrest the MDMK general secretary, Vaiko, not forthcoming, the Tamil Nadu Government, in a tactical shift, is adopting a "wait and watch" policy in the POTA case.

According to Government sources, dropping of charges is not a viable option after taking a tough stand, but the administration is ``not in a hurry'' to decide if and when to arrest Mr. Vaiko.

Having registered the case after Mr. Vaiko left the country, the State Government might use the period until his return to Tamil Nadu on July 12 to keep in touch with the Centre on the sensitive issue. The BJP-led NDA, of which the MDMK is a constituent, is supportive of Mr. Vaiko.

The sources explain that if the intention had been to directly proceed against Mr. Vaiko, the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, would not have felt the need to first write to the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani. Being the first case under POTA, the Government wanted to proceed with caution.

Meanwhile, the MDMK clarified that it would not support any organisation, including the LTTE, which indulged in violence on Indian soil.

The MDMK supported the LTTE only because it was fighting for the legitimate rights and honour of the Sri Lankan Tamils. The party presidium chairman, L. Ganesan, who chaired a meeting of senior functionaries including Union Ministers M. Kannappan and Gingee Ramachandran, here, said they were happy with the stand taken by parties in the NDA on the issue.

While continuing to support POTA, the party hoped that the Union Government would take note "of the manner in which it was being misused by the State Government".

MDMK functionaries in Madurai, who were booked under POTA along with Mr. Vaiko, are reported to have gone underground fearing arrest, hours after the cases were registered against them at the Tirumangalam taluk police station on Thursday. The police are still awaiting a "green signal" from the Government to effect the arrests though the Madurai district police and `Q' branch sleuths tried to keep a tab on the accused.

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