The Rediff Interview/G K Moopanar

'Which party has a national outlook? A national party says one thing in Karnataka and something else in Tamil Nadu'

Is it due to the selfish interests of its leaders that the Congress party is dying slowly ?

I don't want to comment on that. I can't go into another party's matters. How can I? That's not fair. I can say only this. A time has come for them to sit and discuss in detail.

You have been advocating Kamaraj rule in Tamil Nadu. Does that mean after sometime you will move away from the DMK?

We have got a long way to go for that (to happen). We have completed only one year. Another four more years to go. Let's see. But we cannot forget Kamraj rule. We are still having it, we have not forgotten it. What should be done, how should be done, has to be worked out in future.

Moving away from the DMK?

Whatever it is. How to do it, what to do has to be discussed in detail. Not now.

The ideologies of the Congress and the Dravida parties are not the same and they have opposed each other all the time in the state. So, is it difficult going along together?

To some extent, it was easy. In some areas, it was difficult. For example, the question of Hindi, we differ from them.

Now the DMK government is giving a lot of emphasis to Tamil and are trying to change everything to Tamil.

We are not opposed to Tamil.

It appears they are trying to keep English also away.

English cannot be forgotten. In fact in Tamil Nadu, everybody is asking for English. How can you ignore English? It has to be there. You don't want Hindi, and you want some other language to be the link language. That can only be English. But they want to give much more emphasis to Tamil because it is their mother tongue. It is not correct to ignore your mother tongue totally.

But why this over-emphasis on Tamil?

I feel it is the right emphasis. Over-ignoring also is not right.

In almost all the states we see that there is an over emphasis of the local language or the mother tongue.

Yes, that's there is every state. That's why English became our link language.

Is it happening because of their hatred towards Hindi

Can't say. They may be more attached to their mother tongue. Mother tongue is easy for the people to understand. You need some language as a link also. That is why we have English. Hindi and English have to come together. We have got a long way to go for that. It is a question of the sentiments and feelings of the people. Until people accept Hindi, we can't do anything. Even Panditji was forced to give an assurance that English will continue as the link language. That's what we adopt now.

South Indians even now feel that Hindi is being imposed on them.

It is not a question of imposing Hindi. Somehow or the other it has become the national language. So, naturally they will try to make everybody understand Hindi. That is what is happening now. It is a very difficult position.

Now we see in almost all the states there are fights over river water. Is this a good sign?

Not at all.

Rivers are our national property, but the states fight as if the rivers belong only to them.

We should have nationalised the rivers long back. Now it is very difficult. Only the tribunal can give a decision now. Both the parties sitting together and coming to an understanding is not happening at all.

Is it not the right time to have a proper understanding between these states now that you have parties from all the states at the Centre?

Which party has a national outlook, you tell me? Forget about the regional parties, they stand for their region only. A national party says one thing in Karnataka and something else in Tamil Nadu. In the same way, in Andhra they say something and in Karnataka something else. What do these national parties do? They don't want to give up local interests.

So, even with these regional parties at the Centre, it is not possible to have a proper understanding.

Even with one party rule, it was not possible. When the Congress was there in every state, an understanding did not come about. Why? I was there at that time but we couldn't bring about an understanding. The Congress was there in Andhra, Karnataka, Kerala, still nothing happened.

Jayalalitha says this government is being vindictive towards her. Is it so?

How can you call it vindictive? You know what had happened here. All that the government is doing now was promised openly during the election campaigns, wasn't it? People accepted that and voted for us.

Do you feel people have started feeling a kind of sympathy towards her now as was shown in the Pudukkottai by-election?

I can't say there is sympathy. Only the anti-establishment votes went that way in the Pudukkottai by-election, that's all.

Do you think the anti-establishment votes came because ordinary people might have felt sympathy towards her as she is a woman and she was sent to jail?

If it is totally vindictive, I can agree. But we are not vindictive. These are all promised and mentioned in every propaganda. We openly said, yes, we will take action, we will file cases against them, we will put them in jail and we will confiscate the properties. Didn't we say all this? We only followed that.

After Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, it was alleged that the DMK harboured LTTE cadres. Now you have an association with such a party.

The propaganda was there then. Later on, they found t is not correct.

Many Congressmen also said that then.

Yes, at that time it was suspected and they said it also. So many people who propagated it very violently now, say, it is not so and that they (the DMK) are not connected with this (the assassination).

G K Moopanar's photograph: Sanjay Ghosh

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