Madurai: MDMK general secretary Vaiko ‘wept’ at the mike after his cadre tried self-immolation at a party rally against the proposed Neutrino project at nearby Theni. Local MDMK youth wing functionary Ravi, 25, was rushed with severe burns to the Apollo Hospital where doctors said his condition caused concern.
The senseless suicide attempt happened shortly after Vaiko was to start his 10-day padayatra “to create awareness on the impact of the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) project on the farm lands”.
Ravi doused himself with petrol from a can he had brought and set a lighted match close to the dais. Those standing nearby threw sand over him and covered him with thick cloth to douse the fire.
“He stood moaning in shock. It was a ghastly sight”, said an eyewitness.
Breaking down at the mike, Vaiko recalled how the spirited Ravi would always greet him with a smile and regretted he had taken the extreme step towards suicide.
“Mother Nature, please save that brother”, said the MDMK chief wiping tears.
While claiming he often counseled his cadres against attempting immolation for causes, he also listed out the various followers who had died immolating themselves for one ‘cause’ or another in the past, starting with the five who had perished in flames when he launched his party after being thrown out of the parent DMK.
Ironically, DMK working president M.K. Stalin inaugurated Vaiko’s neutrino padayatra from Madurai to Theni now.
“Such senseless and brutal suicides can be avoided, at least minimised, if only the Dravidian leaders stop glamourising them as acts of bravado and hail those involved as martyrs--garlanding them, printing their posters, even erecting their statues”, said senior BJP leader M. Chakravarthy.
“Nowhere else do we witness such senseless dying, whatever be the cause. None committed suicide even during the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984. There are no such suicides in the north, in no part of the world, not even in China”, he said.
