NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Padmashree awardee Dr H Sudharshan, who is working for the upliftment of the Soligas tribe, has said that he is willing to live with Veerappan, who is currently holding former Karnataka minister H Nagappa hostage.
"No mediations, no emissaries. No demands to meet. Nothing. I will stay with him and try to convince him to surrender before the court of law," Dr Sudharshan, who has also received the Right Livelihood Award, told rediff.com on Wednesday.
Dr Sudharshan and Veerappan are of the same age and they even live in the same forest area, but the two have never met. Both are well known -- though for completely different reasons.
As a graduate in medical science, Dr Sudharshan came to B R Hills in 1980. He had heard of the Soligas and wanted to live with them.
Inspite of strong resistance from the tribals, he stayed in their podu [settlements]. There was no contact for many months.
Finally the ice broke. He became namma doctru [our doctor] and established the Vivekananda Grirjana Kalyana Kendra [Vivekananda Tribal Welfare Centre].
Intelligence agencies feel that Dr Sudarshan is a potential target for Veerappan. For this reason the state government has provided him with round-the-clock security.
"Let him kidnap me. No need to kidnap me. I will go to meet him if he desires so. If I get an opportunity to do so, I would be glad. I will use that as an opportunity to convince him. I will tell him about the wrong way he has adopted," said Dr Sudharshan, who is also Director of the Karnataka Vigilance Commission.
"I will take this job as a continuation of my fight against corruption. I consider him as a product of our corrupt system," he added.
"Successive Special Task Force chiefs failed to nab Veerappan due to their flawed approach. They never took Veerappan as a product of corrupt system. They tried to consider him as an ordinary forest smuggler and harassed his contacts, especially the tribals. Instead of lawful people, the unlawful brigand commands respect here. At least they should change their approach now," he said.
"Now, out of humanitarian concern, I am trying to establish contacts with the brigand. We are trying our best in this regard and would try to secure Nagappa's release," he said.
EXTERNAL LINKS: The Right Livelihood Award The Soligas of Karnataka
Tell us what you think of this report
