No Way But Surrender is one of the best chronicles written on the 1971 India-Pakistan war especially about what happened in the Bay of Bengal and how Pakistan’s eastern arm was literally chopped off by the Indian Navy. The book was authored by none other than Nilakanta Krishnan, arguably one of the best naval commanders the country has ever seen! Krishnan, was the Flag Officer Commanding in Chief of the Eastern Command and led the Indian Navy from the front. He commanded INS Vikrant, the Second World War vintage aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and strategized the mouse trap which literally paralysed the naval wing of East Pakistan.
The reader may ask what is the relevance of this book at this juncture when there are no war clouds around other than the occasional pinpricks initiated by a bunch of Mullahs and Moulavis ruling Pakistan by proxy. The title No Way But Surrender aptly portrays the situation faced by the Pakistani military in 1971 following the brilliant manoeuvring by Indian defence forces under the overall command of General (later Field Marshal) Sam Maekshaw.
No Way But Surrender – for AIADMK too?
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]T[/dropcap]he two warring factions of the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu face a similar situation following the death of party supremo Jayalalithaa Jayaraman. Though there were some expectations that the two factions may initiate moves for a possible merger, things have not moved an inch further even as the credibility and strength of the AIADMK is fast eroding and depleting. The only option available for the AIADMK (Amma) faction led by V K Sasikala and the AIADMK (Puratchi Thalaivi Amma) group led by former chief minister O Panneerselvan is to bury the hatchet and merge into each other to strengthen the parent organisation. If they do not merge, the AIADMK is in for disintegration, destruction, demolition and an untimely demise that too during the centenary year of party founder M G Ramachandran.
The State and the country was saved by the apex court!!!
V K Sasikala, who became the general secretary of the party by default is serving her jail sentence in the Disproportionate Assets case. She has been sentenced to four years imprisonment by the Bangalore Special Court which was upheld by the Supreme Court. The supreme leader of the AIADMK is serving her term in Parappana Agrahara Jail as an ordinary criminal convict. She may be able to come out only by 2021. By that time, she would have become a non-entity in Tamil Nadu politics as the rule of the game is that “Out of sight Out of Mind”. Moreover, it may not be possible for Sasikala to regain whatever goodwill she had with the people before setting out to Parappana Agrahara on February 15, 2017, literally from the Centenary Auditorium of the Madras University where hectic activiries where on to swear her in as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu! The State and the country was saved by the apex court!!!
But before leaving for Bangalore, Chinnamma ensured that her hold over the party and administration remained intact by appointing her nephew T T V Dinakaran as deputy general secretary of the party. Dinakaran, who was bent upon becoming the chief minister, decided to contest the R K Nagar bypoll necessitated by the demise of Jayalalithaa. But he forgot the fact that the general public are not asses. The going was tough for Dinakaran and it was good the Election Commission of India rescinded the poll. Had the election took place as per the schedule, it was doubtful whether Dinakaran would have got back his security deposit. Such was the public resetment against him and his Mannargudi Clan. Within days of the election getting rescinded, Dinakaran was arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the attempt to bribe officials of the Election Commission of India through a professional conman by name Sukesh Chandrasekhar. Even as this news is written, Dinakaran is cooling his heels at Tihar Jail in connection with the case. He is also facing trial in two Foreign Exchange Regulation Act violation cases in Chennai’s additional Metrolpolitan Magistrate Court.
[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]W[/dropcap]ith both aunt and nephew in different jails as convicts and under trial prisoners, the AIADMK has become a rudderless ship. Chief Minister Edappady Palaniswamy is not a natural leader and lacks charisma. The Tamil Nadu government is in an auto pilot mode even as the regional satraps are waiting with daggers to finish off their rivals at the appropriate moment. Smelling blood, the DMK leaders are hovering over the AIADMK camp. For M K Stalin, the working president of the DMK, this is a God sent opportunity to take a bite at the chief minister’s chair. If he gets one or two dozen MLAs from the AIADMK camp, Palaniswamy may have to make it back to Edappadi in Salem district to resume his organic farming and dairying. Stalin is unleashing all the weapons in his armoury at the AIADMK camp to destroy the AIADMK party. But the two factions of the AIADMK are engaged in a tussle and blaming each other for shifting the goal posts frequently.
The AIADMK does not have a single leader worth the name to stand up to the charisma of MGR or Jayalalithaa. A collective leadership alone could salvage the AIADMK from its present morass.
Maithreyan, a medical doctor-turned-politician and the livewire of the Panneerselvam faction had said well in advance that for the talks to begin, the rivals should throw the entire Mannargudi clan out of the party, order a CBI probe into the demise of Jayalalithaa and transfer the properties owned by Jayalalithaa to the party coffers. K P Munusamy, another OPS strongman, had made it clear time and again that these three conditions are non-negotiable. But the EPS faction is enmeshed in a state of lethargy and indecisiveness. For them, Sasikala and Divakaran, are saints and God sent messengers despite the fact that the law enforcing agencies have proved that they are ordinary criminals.
The AIADMK does not have a single leader worth the name to stand up to the charisma of MGR or Jayalalithaa. A collective leadership alone could salvage the AIADMK from its present morass. The statements made by leaders of various political parties in Tamil Nadu make it clear that none of them want the AIADMK to survive as a single party. The DMK leadership feels that it could devour a section of the AIADMK while the Congress, which is full of leaders and devoid of any cadre, hope that it could usurp a portion of the dedicated AIADMK cadre. The Lefts, especialy the CPI(M) and the CPI are always waiting in the side-lines to subvert major political parties since the Communists have not taken off from where they started!
It is interesting to note that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) are the only political parties which have not uttered anything which would hasten the process of disintegration of the AIADMK. Team PGurus in its previous despatches from Chennai had asked a number of questions to Panneerselvam which remain unanswered. Panneerselvam opened up against Sasikala and clan only when he was eased out of the chief ministership. What was he doing during the December 6, 2016 to February 5, 2017 period when he was the commander of Fort Saint George? Let him make it clear that he does not want to the chief minister or party general secretary. Let Edappadi Palaniswamy understand the fact that he is no match for Jayalalithaa. A trip across Tamil Nadu and interaction with local population proved that Palaniswamy is not acceptable to the people. He entered the chief minister’s office as a proxy and he continues to be a proxy as well as servile to the clan.
If the two factions in the AIADMK merge and become one, they could save Tamil Nadu from two families, the Mannargudi and the Karunanidhi clans. One canot rule out the possibility of these two families coming together in the future… But that is for tomorrow… and Tomorrow is Another Day… The two sides have No Way But Surrender to reality.
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1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
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