The Hindu : National : A relieved Gopinatham breathes easy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004

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National

A relieved Gopinatham breathes easy

By R. Ilangovan

Villagers in Gopinatham burst crackers on Tuesday. — Photo: P. Goutham

GOPINATHAM, OCT. 19. After a decade in the shadow of death, fear and shame, the non-descript village of Gopinatham, the birthplace of Veerappan, sprung to life today.

The jubilant villagers, many of whom are close relatives of Veerappan, celebrated his death by bursting crackers and distributing sweets. This village on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border, which remained alienated from the outside world for long, started showing signs of rejuvenation.

"We are sad, of course. But we are also happy as we can now restart our normal life after 17 years of suffering," said Veluchamy (56), who was a childhood friend of Veerappan.

For the first time in several years, the village shandy witnessed a huge crowd, with people from the surrounding hamlets going on a buying spree. "Our goods will no longer will be subjected to stringent checking and we will be spared probing questions from the police personnel," he added.

Women started venturing into the nearby forests to collect firewood. Cattle were allowed to graze freely.

For the villagers, the ordeal began in 1987, when the poacher killed the Tamil Nadu forest official, Chidambaram. In 1990, he struck again, killing a Karnataka forest officer, Srinivas. That was when the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka formed their respective Special Task Forces.

"He killed my husband Kottinaicker just because he travelled in a police jeep to Kolathur. Now I am struggling to make both ends meet," said 60-year-old Govindamma. The fear he instilled in the villagers by killing Kottinaicker is still fresh. The Karnataka Minister Nagappa's cold-blooded murder alienated him totally from his kith and kin.

The villagers were put under 24-hour surveillance by the Karnataka STF personnel. This virtually transformed the village into an open-air prison. The intrusion of "aliens" into their close-knit community sowed the seeds of suspicion among them, leading to many an unpleasant incident.

"We suspect each other and try to maintain a stony silence," said Kuppusamy, a peasant who once had a "harrowing experience at the hands of the Tamil Nadu STF men" a few years back. He claimed he was pulled out of his hut and kicked in the groin. "I do not blame them. The STF men are jumpy and trigger-happy. Veerappan's notoriety was such."

For him and hundreds of other villagers, Veerappan's death has ensured freedom. Now, they only want to put their bitter experiences behind them.

The village, nestled among high mountains and dense forests, is rich in water sources. It is known for its high quality turmeric and cotton. Paddy also contributes to the village economy. Almost all the villagers are small and marginal landholders and depend on forest produce. But for the past two decades, they were not able to sell their produce to outsiders.

The frisking by the STF men and round-the-clock surveillance deterred people from coming into the village. As a result, the village economy collapsed, throwing almost all of them virtually on the streets.

Though many of the villagers benefited from Veerappan, the fact remains that the village, which once maintained a stony silence, has heaved a sigh of relief following his death.

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