Muthukumarasamy suicide - If this doesn't shake your conscience, nothing will

Tamil Nadu Government seems to have mastered the art of ‘covering up’. This could be the only State where anything and everything can be covered up without anyone being questioned. Let’s not forget the fact that this was the State government that managed to cover up something as big as 61 people being killed in a building collapse and no official was punished or even pulled up. The trend continues even now...without any hitch or glitch.

How it all happened...

Senior engineer Muthukumarasamy, who was working with Tamil Nadu's Agriculture Department gave up his life by throwing himself before a train...Reason - he could not withstand the pressure exerted by the Tamil Nadu Agriculture Minister SS Krishnamoorthy's (now sacked) office.

The senior engineer wanted to go by the book in recruiting drivers for the agriculture department but the Minister’s office had other ideas. They wanted Muthukumarasamy to flout rules and sanction the list that was given by the Minister. The Senior Engineer refused to do so. Result – he was hounded by the Minister, his personal secretaries, agriculture department officials and the local AIADMK functionaries.

The Minister & his men were allegedly baying for his blood. They wanted him to compensate the loss. The calculation is simple - each driver's post is up for sale for Rs.200000/-.  So they wanted Muthukumarasamy to pay 14 Lakh rupees. The Minister’s PA’s kept calling him, the officials threatened him & the local AIADMK politicians were humiliating him and unable to handle the mounting pressure (read torture) he ended his life.

Role of Opposition Parties

Now comes the real story…The issue gets reported by Junior Vikatan & is picked up by the PMK & Congress party. The demand for CBI inquiry & arrest of the Minister grows. The Minister is sacked from the AIADMK District Secretary post & 2 days later dropped from the Tamil Nadu Cabinet. No reasons given whatsoever!!! And as expected the case gets transferred to the CBCID. 

The worrying factor in all this is the way Tamil Nadu opposition parties have been reacting to this issue...Every major political party in the State seems to have set a limit for itself, only issuing statements and sound bytes. The main opposition party DMDK is nowhere in the scene..Maybe they are yet to wake up from the deep slumber. The MDMK's fire brand leader Vaiko is unusually silent probably chalking out a strategy on how to get back into the AIADMK's fold for the 2016 assembly elections. The BJP, which is dreaming of making inroads into the state claiming to be an alternative for the Dravidian parties is lying low. There is a reason for it - AIADMK's support to the land acquisition bill in the Rajya Sabha is more important than justice for an honest officer like Muthukumarasamy.

The DMK kept issuing statements but conducted an agitation (clubbed with Anti-Land acquisition bill) a month after Muthukumarasamy committed suicide. Its leader M Karunanidhi forgot to speak about Muthukumarasamy during the agitation & DMK’s heir apparent participated in the agitation at Thiruvarur district while the issue was burning in Tirunelveli.

Citing a bit of history is important here - I hope MK Stalin is aware of DMK Chief M Karunanidhi’s infamous ‘Needhi Kettu Nedum Payanam’ (Walk for Justice) that took place during the MGR regime in 1980-81. C Subramania Pillai, the jewel verification officer working with the TN govt’s Hindu Religious & Endowment Board was probing into the theft of a diamond studded lance. When he found out the involvement of some AIADMK members he was murdered in cold blood inside the Tiruchendur Subramanya Swamy Temple premises. 

Then opposition parties were raising the issue and were clamoring for an Inquiry commission. Even though the DMK was on a weak wicket then, an aggressive M Karunanidhi launched a massive campaign called ‘Needhi Kettu Nedum Payanam’ from Madurai to Tiruchendur. Karunanidhi accused the then ADMK minister R. M. Veerappan and alleged that he was involved in the temple heist & the murder. With pressure mounting from all sides finally the then Chief Minister M G Ramachandran, gave up and order a probe headed by C.J.R Paul, which was known as the Paul Enquiry commission. The commission report had adverse remarks against the then Minister RM Veerapan. The report was leaked by M Karunanidhi & later the matter was hushed up but that’s part of history. The point here is M Karunanidhi managed to achieve his goal. Now, the circumstances are no different… May be the DMK heir apparent should take a lesson or two from the nonagenarian leader. 

While TN Congress Chief has been vocal about the issue, the Left parties are holding demonstrations in some parts of the State, the new entrants in the state dared to take on the mighty AIADMK. Close to 70 volunteers belonging to the Aam Aadmi Party stormed into Chief Minister O Pannerselvam’s residence demanding a CBI probe into the death of Muthukumarasamy and were put behind bars for 10 days. From Tirunelveli the issue was now lying at the doorstep of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister. The regional media which is mostly controlled by political parties made it seem like yet another protest. Party workers storming into the residence of a Chief Minster can’t be a 10th story on the news bulletin…Here the role of the media too is highly questionable. 

Vulgar Governance?

If this is the state of the opposition parties…the Government seems to be competing with them in terms of proving who is most incompetent. It’s been almost 40 days and the government hasn't spoken about it and neither has there been a single statement from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister or any other ministers on this issue. Everyone thought that the government was under pressure and that's the reason why they ordered a CBCID probe in the first place, but now political parties claim that it was to ensure a royal cover up.

Unlike in the IPL betting case where daily statements & press briefings were given to the media, the CBCID is also rather quiet on this case.  Even off the record information is not being shared. There is no clarity on who was questioned and the status of the investigation. Instead, information maligning the image of the engineer was selectively leaked to some newspaper.

With the involvement of the AIADMK bigwigs…the State government is adamant and unwilling to order a CBI probe as it will open a can of worms.

The Role of Civil Society

Where have the activists gone? Where are the Human Rights groups? Where are the public interest litigants? Where are the ‘Fact finding teams’? Where are the government employees?

If the political class fails…it’s the job of the civil society to wake them up. But what if it’s a collective failure? People like Muthukumarasamy will continue to be crushed by the system. There are many other unknown faces who are being hounded by politicians. Not all government employees are corrupt. There are some honest men too. 

57 year old Muthukumarasamy, was a normal government servant belonging to the salaried class. His retirement was due in December 2015. He had a family; he was a husband and a father. He had no post retirement plans…all he wanted was to get both his sons married and breathe easy just like every other person. Now his family is in hiding & has already paid a heavy price.

Muthukumarasamy’s only crime - he was honest. 


Courtesy: Google Images