Eelam horror triggers rounds of compassion

Ever since the news spread that Vellore jail authorities had infor-med the condemned prisoners Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan in the Rajiv Gandhi case that they would be hanged in the wee hours of September 9 following the President’s decision to reject their mercy pleas, the state has been united by compassion for the convicts.

All political parties in the state, with the glaring exception of the Congress, have raised their voice against capital punishment.

The depth of the emotions stoked by the issue can be gauged by the fact that one self immolator, 20-year-old Sengodi of Kanchi Makkal Man-ram, is dead while others were saved in the nick of time.
The Congress, for obvious reasons, stands isolated on what is seen as a pan-Tamil issue.

Rendered meek by the infighting and various shades of opinion within the state, the party has not even stood united on whether the conspirators should be hanged or not.

However, the issue has been marked by serious competition between chief minister Ms Jayal-alithaa and her bete noire Mr Karunanidhi to score points over each other in playing the Tamil card.

Ten years ago when the Supreme Court confirmed the capital punishment to four persons including Nalini, wife of Murugan, whose sentence was commuted to life term by the Karu-nanidhi government in 2000, there was no hue and cry from the civil society.

Only a few marginal Tamil groups spearheaded the mercy campaign then but they failed to strike a chord with the masses.

The present imbroglio has had an echo even in distant Kashmir. However, the sentiments are not to be viewed as anti-national.

The feeling persists that the genocide towards the end of the civil war could have been averted had the Central government cared to advise restraint on the Sri Lankans, headed by president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

India’s failure to stop the killing of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils in a brutal war two years ago is still fresh in the memory of the people of Tamil Nadu, which is why sympathy is growing for the three men.

Their prolonged incarceration running now to 20 years and the change in political and social discourse over the years may be another factors for this outpouring of sympathy.

Noted film director Manivannan, who has 50 movies to his credit, said that two decades after his assassination, Rajiv Gandhi is no more seen as the charming national personality among TN youths who have started questioning the two-decade long imprisonment of the three who were not key conspirators in his assassination.

Mr Karunanidhi, once seen as the champion of the Tamil cause, has more or less lost the primacy following his failure to stop the war in Lanka despite being a major partner in UPA.

Ms Jayalalithaa is astutely trying to occupy that space by demanding economic sanctions against Colombo and by passing a resolution unanimously in the Assembly seeking clemency for the three.

Sensing the public upsurge in favour of sparing the noose on the three prisoners, she dramatically changed her stand overnight.

Pro-Tamil parties and groups had rallied behind her in 2011 elections to defeat Congress-DMK combine and obviously she does not want to lose that goodwill. In the long run, the movement against death penalty would also benefit three of her party men, who were sentenced to death in a bus burning case.

Writer Gnani says the tragic end of Eelam war in 1999, which resulted in the killing of thousands of innocent Tamils, has triggered the change of heart in TN.

Attributing increased human rights awareness for the current upsurge, PUCL national secretary V. Suresh says there has been a continuous discussion and debate on rights violations during the Eelam war.

Mr Manivannan said there is a feeling of Tamil nationalism among youth who are upset with New Delhi over their indifference towards Tamils plight. “After 2009, Tamil youth may not have rallied under a single organisation but there is a collective sense of betrayal by Delhi for Tamil cause,” he said.

Scheme for rehabilitation of sex workers

New Delhi, Sept 2 (IBNS) The Central Government is implementing ‘Ujjawala’, a comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation since 4 December, 2007, said a minister on Friday.



The Minister of State (I/C) for Women & Child Development Smt. Krishna Tirath stated in Lok Sabha on Friday that the Scheme is envisaged for women and children who are vulnerable to trafficking and those who are victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation.

However, sex workers who are voluntarily in the trade and wish to be rehabilitated, can also avail of rehabilitation services provided under the Ujjawala Scheme.

The Minister informed the House that under the Scheme, 76 Protective and Rehabilitative Homes have been sanctioned, in the country, which can accommodate upto 3800 beneficiaries.

These Rehabilitative Homes are given financial support for providing the inmates basic amenities such as food, clothing and shelter, medical care, legal aid, education in case the victims are children as well as for undertaking vocational training and income generation activities to provide the victims with alternate livelihood option.

Tirath said that a comprehensive study on ‘Girls and Women in Prostitution’, conducted in 2004, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, had estimated that there were about 2.8 million prostitutes in the country of which 36% are children.

It is to be noted here that the Supreme Court vide its order dated Fe 14, 2011 had asked the State and Central Governments to prepare schemes for rehabilitation of sex workers in all cities in India by giving them technical/vocational training.

Subsequently, vide order dated July 19, 2011, the apex court has a panel which will make suitable suggestions to the Court on different aspects including rehabilitation of sex workers who wish to leave sex work.

The court has asked the panel to first take up the problems of sex workers in the 4 metropolitan cities i.e. Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.

The panel has met three times to discuss the issues before it.