Karunanidhi turns pro-brahmin as caste war flares up in TN bureaucracy

N Sathiya Moorthy in Madras

Casteist sentiments are rearing their head again in Tamil Nadu's bureaucracy. And a hapless Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, burdened by the 'non-performance' of many of his ministers, has been forced to adopt a 'pro-brahmin stand', despite the Dravidian movement's known antipathy towards the community.

''My government does not differentiate between brahmins and non-brahmins when it comes to initiating action against corrupt officials,'' Karunanidhi thundered at a recent public meeting, after film star Sathyaraj referred to the issue.

''Some people say Karunanidhi is filing cases only against non-brahmin officials, and that I do not have Tamilian (read non-brahmin) feelings,'' the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham leader said. ''Our government does not differentiate between Tamils and non-Tamils, brahmins and non-brahmins in such matters,'' he added, listing out the names of brahmin bureaucrats from the previous Jayalalitha government who are now facing corruption charges before various courts.

If Karunanidhi's declaration was meant pacify non-brahmin sections of officialdom, it did not serve its purpose. 'Whisper campaigns' continue in secretariat corridors and senior bureaucrats ascertain the caste of journalists before being interviewed.

The non-brahmin bureaucrats lobby is unconvinced by the chief minister's assurance. They cite the case of IAS officer Uma Shankar in this regard. An upright scheduled caste officer, Uma Shankar was the Madurai sub-collector, instrumental in exposing the 'cremation ground scam' when the AIADMK was in power.

He was lately the vigilance bureau's joint commissioner, the government department entrusted with investigating various corruption cases against erstwhile AIADMK ministers and their bureaucratic beneficiaries.

Uma Shankar did not see eye-to-eye with his immediate superior S A Subramani and was grounded some time last year, before being shifted to the non-descript computerisation wing earlier this month.

There was a minor ruckus in the bureaucracy when the national media took up cudgels on behalf of Uma Shankar, without giving it a casteist colour.

So disturbed was Karunanidhi that he let Chief Secretary K A Nambiar answer questions on this subject at his media briefing. ''Uma Shankar was transferred at his request and anyway most of the work at the vigilance department has been completed,'' said Nambiar.

No one has taken Uma Shankar's place at the vigilance department and sections of the bureaucracy complain that his transfer has helped a few errant officers, brahmins incidentally, to go scot-free.

Uma Shankar, they pointed out, was investigating allegations against some bureaucrats and had come up with a draft when he was grounded. All sensitive files were also routed directly to the vigilance commissioner, superseding him.

Referring to the long list of brahmin officials read out by the chief minister in public, one officer claimed that many of them have escaped arrest while their non-brahmin counterparts were harassed, raided, arrested and imprisoned. ''The government contested their bail applications, tooth-and-nail,'' he said.

In this context, the official pooh-poohed the claim that the Centre's sanction was required before proceeding against the officials. ''Why did they not think of it when they arrested non-brahmin officials earlier? No sanction was sought or obtained before they arrested former TAMIN chairman A N Dhyaneswaran,'' he said.

In the case of IPS officials like Veeraraghavan and Hariharane both brahmins, who have been arrested, ''the cases against them do not pertain to the Jayalalitha regime, but to the DMK rule of 1989-91'', the official added, as an after-thought.

According to these bureaucrats, a powerful brahmin lobby at the Centre has been stalling cases against their kin. Karunanidhi, they alleged, is unwilling to displease the brahmin lobby at the Centre, which, he reportedly feels, was behind his two earlier dismissals as chief minister.

One silent victim of this brewing trouble has been former industries secretary A Cyriac. Hand-picked by the chief minister on assuming office last year for his insight and straight-forwardness, Cyriac was reportedly found ''not fast enough'' in clearing the files sent by Union Industry Minister Murasoli Maran, who has been taking a personal interest in the state's development. ''At any other time, the bureaucracy would have made an issue of it, but now they have no time for such trivia,'' an official said.