Rajnikant, Jaya on hit-list of Tamil extremists in wake of Veerappan crisis

Rajnikant, Jaya on hit-list of Tamil extremists in wake of Veerappan crisis
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

CHENNAI, SEPT 15: Tamil superstar Rajnikant and AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha have been targeted for attack by Tamil extremist groups in a fallout of the hostage crisis involving Rajkumar because both hail from Karnataka originally.

Fans of Rajnikant are now seething with rage because the extremists have accused him of being an outsider who has betrayed the cause of Tamil interests.

Jayalalitha had been lambasted for demanding deployment of the army to nab Veerappan. This, the extremists claim, has exposed her true colours.

In a six-page pamphlet, the extremists, who have now teamed up with Veerappan, have harshly criticised Rajnikant.

Circulated secretly in Salem, Mettur, Mechery, Tharamangalam and other areas yesterday, the pamphlet devotes three pages to criticism against Rajnikant, who had expressed his willingness to go to the forest to secure the release of Dr Rajkumar and the three others who have been held in captivity since July 30.

The pamphlet claims that the film star is a life-member of the Kannadachaluvali Vattal Paksha of Vattal Nagaraj.

``Rajnikant (Sivaji Rao) remains a staunch supporter of the Kannada Chaluvali Movement right from the days when he was a head load worker. He used to be in the forefront when business establishments of Tamils were ransacked as was evident when the Tamil movie Kanchi Thalaivan

, allegedly depicting Kannadigas in bad taste, was screened in Bangalore, the pamphlet quoted Nagaraj as saying.

The pamphlet then recalls the atrocities committed during the 1991 December anti-Tamil violence in Karnataka. ``Has Rajnikant ever uttered a word of sympathy for the victims of that violence, allegedly instigated by former Karnataka chief minister S Bangarappa, Dr Rajkumar and Vattal Nagaraj,'' it asked.

The pamphlet quotes Nagaraj as having said that Rajnikant was their boy (meaning a Kannadiga).