Tamil Nadu has a burning problem.
This is a disturbing trend that no other Indian state has shown over 40 years.
Take a look:
* When Tamil movie superstar Rajinikanth’s marriage was on the rocks in the 1980s, an anguished fan doused himself with kerosene outside the star’s house in Chennai and burnt himself to death (Source: The Name is Rajinikanth by Gayathri Sreekanth P.289-290).
* At the height of the anti-Hindi agitation in 1965, eight people burnt themselves to death in Tamil Nadu (then known as Madras).
The New York Times (January 27, 1965) wrote about the death of 22-year-old Sivalingam in Madras in a fiery blaze on January 26, 1965. Two days later, another person did the same.
Was Sivalingam the first person in Tamil Nadu to ignite this fiery form of protest?
* When Karunanidhi was arrested by his arch rival M.G.Ramachandran in September 1981, 11 people immolated themselves. Five died soon afterwards and the rest must be suffering a living death if they are not already dead.
* In mid-1983, 15 people in Tamil Nadu are said to have immolated themselves over alleged atrocities against their Tamil cousins in neighboring Sri Lanka.
* In October 1984 when the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and one-time film star M.G.Ramachandran fell ill because of a kidney ailment, 100 people attempted self-immolation and 10 died.
According to the New York Times (October 29, 1984 P.A17), the Continue reading »
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