October 19, 2004
 

I dont know if the fact that the Tamil Nadu police caught Veerappan has anything to do with yesterday's heavy downpour in Madras and other parts of Tamil Nadu. I doubt it, given that Veerappan was killed yesterday night. But still its tough to not see the coincidence. In Tamil, we frequently say "bayangarama mazhai peyya pogardhu da" if a totally unexpected event occurs, something like say Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi greeting each other cordially in public. Veerappan's killing certainly warrants a cyclone, if we go by that scale!

The Special Task Force established by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have done a superb job in eliminating this menace. He has killed so many elephants, smuggled so much of ivory, hacked down so many sandalwood trees, killed so many able police officers & commandos, kidnapped several people and held them hostage to ransom. He deserved to die the way he did. Perhaps now, the people of Gopinatham will heave a sigh of relief that the stigma associated with them is gone forever.

Interestingly though, I noticed that his famous moustache, possibly modelled on 'Sivaji' Ganesan's portrayal of Veera Pandiya Kattabomman, seemed trimmed. Invariably, this raises questions on whether it was really Veerappan. It is extremely critical that the STF completes the DNA testing as soon as possible to confirm that it was really him.

It is pathetic though to see the TN government indulge in one-upmanship with political rivals over the elimination of Veerappan. Jayalalitha harped on the fact that she had done what the DMK had not. Damn it. This removes a big problem between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri issue is still around, as is the issue of the moratorium on movies. Perhaps this is the best time for both states to practice the Pervez Musharraf doctrine - eliminate the maximal positions and the issues will resolve by themselves tomorrow.

Nitin dramatically announces that we got him, in true Texan ishtyle. Any chance of a daaku-mentary?

Labels: kannada, karnataka, musharraf, pakistan