The 334-page autobiography of MK Stalin was recently released by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Chennai:
Marked by a sense of alienation ‘like a saint’, the late DMK patriarch and his father M Karunanidhi handed him over to the police during the infamous Emergency, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin recalled in his autobiography.
Recalling his entry into the Central Prison in Chennai after his arrest in 1976, Mr Stalin described his prison time as a ‘torture camp’ in his autobiography, which erupted with lamentation.
Although shocking, it gave’Power‘ (strength) to a person ideologically committed to face anything. “That day, I found the strength to face anything,” said Mr. Stalin.
Emergency was imposed by the then Indira Gandhi government in 1975 and was in force till 1977. The period was infamous for the widespread arrests of opposition political leaders and cuts to civil liberties.
Mr. Stalin’s 334-page autobiography in Tamil, ‘Ungalil Oruvan‘ (One of You) Part I, was recently released by Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi.
Hours after the dismissal of the DMK government in Tamil Nadu led by Mr. Karunanidhi on January 31, 1976, Mr. Stalin recalled that the police had arrived at his Gopalapuram residence looking for him. However, he was at that time in Mathurantakam, a nearby town.
When police officers said they had orders to search the house to find out whether Mr. Stalin was available, Mr. Karunanidhi told him, ‘by all means’ and informed him that his son was out of town. and will return home the next day. , Also, Mr. Karunanidhi ‘offered’ to have himself arrested.
The chief minister recalled that he and others feared that ‘Thalaiwari‘ (Party chief Mr. Karunanidhi) could have been arrested, but ‘the prison wind was blowing towards me.’ When he reached home the next day, February 1, 1976, Stalin said that his mother Dayalu Ammal and wife Durga were crying, the Stentorian voice of Thalaivar advising that one should be prepared for all kinds of sacrifices in public life, the family The members should calm down.
“Get ready, the police are looking for you,” Mr Stalin said, quoting his father and party chief Mr. Karunanidhi. Later, police officers arrived after Mr. Karunanidhi informed Mr. Stalin that he was back home. “Stalin is here, take him away,” Karunanidhi told the police officers.
The chief minister said that since he was arrested under the Internal Security Act (MISA), he was not sure how long the imprisonment would last.
Mr Stalin said that although his father had been the state’s chief minister for years until the government’s dismissal, he did not have a trace of authority when he dealt with the police.
Like an ascetic, with a sense of detachment, his father, Mr. Karunanidhi, sent him to prison, Mr. Stalin said. The Chief Minister said that Karunanidhi does not regret at all that his son is going to jail.
Karunanidhi’s face showed that like many members of the DMK, his son Stalin had also gone to jail.
Describing that when he was taken to the prison, several armed personnel were on guard at the fortified prison entrance, he said that this scenario would make one wonder whether the man in the prison was a terrorist.
“I’ll describe the moaning, blood-soaked scenes (from the prison) in the other party (of his autobiography). I’ll take you to jail too. I’m waiting at the prison entrance! You wait too!” Mr. Stalin concluded the first part of his autobiography in a dramatic manner.
Born on March 1, 1953, Stalin was about 23 years old at the time of his arrest in 1976. He served in various positions in the DMK and eventually became the party chief in 2018.
He became an MLA for the first time in 1989 from the Thousand Lights constituency of Chennai and was re-elected thrice from the same constituency.
In 1996, he was elected mayor of Chennai Corporation and was re-elected in 2001. However, he had to be ousted from power by the AIADMK, which enacted a law that also barred elected representatives from holding local body posts.
In 2006, he became the Minister of Municipal Administration in the DMK government under Mr. Karunanidhi and became the Deputy Chief Minister in 2009.
Under his leadership, the DMK seized power in 2021.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)