North-South Divide: Divide and Rule Formula of Dravidian Politics

The Dravidian politics, particularly the one propagated by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), is going through a makeover to assert the relevance of the ideology. The shift became more apparent when MK Stalin assumed the office of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 2021.

This rebranded Dravidian political ideology is even more detrimental to the unity and integrity of the county than its previous version. This new version of Dravidian politics makes compromises with anti-national forces and threatens peaceful coexistence in the country. Emphasising regressive regionalism and propagation of Hinduphobia are the major elements of this ideology. The following are some examples to understand the divide-and-rule policy of Dravidian Politics 2.0.

On March 5, 2023, MK Stalin and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan attended the 200-year celebration of the upper cloth rebellion in Nagarkovil, Kanyakumari district. Leader of extremist political outfits called VCK and a MP, Thirumavalavan also was present in the meeting. These leaders in their speeches, tried to brand Sanatana Dharma as an evil force and the single reason behind all kinds of vices in Indian society. It was depicted as a cruel ideology, which is still used as a tool to establish socio-political hegemony and oppression. Therefore, in the opinion of these leaders, Sanatan Dharma need to be defeated at any cost.

Campaign against Sanatan Dharma

MK Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan not only alleged that the Sanatan Dharma deprived lower caste women right to cover their bosom but also stated that the Travancore state which followed Sanatan Dharma levied tax on the breast of lower caste women. Further, they said that to mark her protest against this draconian taxation a woman removed her breast and became a symbol.

First of all, in Travancore there was no taxation on the breast of lower caste women; it is true that there was a taxation called Mulakkaram (breast tax) and Talakkaram (head tax) in Travancore but it had no connection with the breasts of women except in its name. This tax was levied ­­from employers based on the number of male and female labourers are employed. Further, the removal of the breast by a lower caste woman to protest against the non existent tax is also a fake narrative propagated by some vested interest groups in recent times. There is no doubt that the propagation of these kinds of blatant lies by two Chief Ministers needs to be regarded as part of a grand strategy to create enmity between two sections of society.

Moreover, the upper cloth rebellion is depicted as a protest movement by Shanar women for their right to cover their breasts like the upper caste women. In fact, non-coverage of their bosom by women was not considered a social stigma or sin in Kerala society till the advent of colonisers. The habit of covering their bosom was rare among women of Kerala, irrespective of their social division. In this context, it will be interesting to note that even the bosom of women deities of Kerala was not covered. Nevertheless, the European protestant missionaries made it a point of conflict. It was despite the fact that the converted Christian women had the practice of wearing jackets. And there was no legal objection to it. But the protestant missionaries, particularly those belonging to the London Missionary Society, instigated the Christian converts to violence. For them, the upper cloth was just a pretext for narrative. Interestingly, the violence and riots in Travancore by missionaries started in 1813; this was the time the British Parliament modified the charter of the English East India Company and included a pious clause in it. During the so-called upper cloth rebellion, large-scale destruction and desecration of temples, and mass conversions to Christianity took place in southern Travancore. These disturbances continued for nearly five decades, and most of the time, the missionaries had the support of the English East India Company.

Nevertheless, a British official himself has given testimonies on the deeds of missionaries. And it was none other than the British Resident of Travancore Lieutenant-General W. Cullen (Resident 1840-1860), who held a view that the missionaries aimed at raising ‘an Independent unconstitutional authority which might unsettle, if not all together subvert, the existing political arrangement of the native state’. His views were in the context of the missionary-supported rebellions. Travancore Dewan Madhav Rao also shared similar views on the riots. M K Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan are now trying to use the fake narratives created around these communal disturbances, instigated by the colonial missionaries, to create further societal troubles and divide.

Serving colonial Masters

In his speech at Nagarkovil, M K Stalin also expressed his gratitude towards English colonists for giving justice to Indians. There is no surprise element in the statement of M K Stalin. The legacy of the Dravidian movement itself is of the colonial project of divide and rule. It was the British colonial masters and the protestant missionaries like Caldwell and G U Pope who laid the foundations of Dravidian separatist ideology. The Dravidian project was an antidote to the rising Hindu sentiment and quest for freedom among the natives. By introducing Dravidian separatism they eased the resistance against the colonisation project.

The Dravidian ideology is based on an imaginary ethno-racial identity. The Dravidian politicians always used it to target the perceived opponents of Dravidian identity. Namely the Aryans, Brahmins or the so-called Hindi-speaking north Indians and largely the Hindus. The recent campaign and attacks targeting people from the northern states of India and northeastern states of India need to be seen in this background. During the controversy over the attack on migrant workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu, fearing political fallout, the Chief Minister and the Government have said that the allegations are baseless and the Government is committed to protecting the migrants.

Anti-North Narrative

But while making this statement they conveniently concealed that the phobia against north Indians and Hindi-speaking people are created by their own ideology and leaders. The ‘street pani puri sellers’ jibe made by DMK minister K Ponmudy targeting the Hindi speakers not only was a derogatory remark against economically weaker sections but also was aimed to pitch one section of the county against another. There are many DMK functionaries among those who make derogatory and abusive remarks against the North Indians in public forums. These people try to create a fear psychosis among the Tamil people that the North Indians are occupying Tamil Nadu and snatching away the jobs and businesses of Tamils in Tamil Nadu. During the anti-CAA protests, fringe elements used this anti-north Indian sentiment to target the business establishments run by people from the north. The media and social media also play a vital role in this hate campaign; for example, while reporting a quarrel between two groups on a train over a seat, the media and social media handles in Tamil Nadu organised propaganda using headlines like ‘North Indian Atrocities in Train’, ‘North Indians Refused Seats in Train for Tamils’ and ‘North Indians are Occupying Tamil Nadu’.

Such campaigns, even by media, are not accidental ones. Since the time DMK came back to power under MK Stalin, the DMK leaders are constantly trying to fan hatred. Dravidian stock comment by Stalin is an example. By that statement, he was trying to regenerate a false notion that the South Indians are a different ethnic group as compared to the North Indians. In his Nagarkovil speech, also,­­­­ Stalin attempted to create this division by mentioning an imagined attack and dominance of another cultural group on Tamils. Here it’s easy to assume that by the statement, he was referring to the already redundant Aryan invasion theory. Another imaginary concept which is now propagated is the ‘Dravidian Model of Governance’. According to DMK, this is the best governance and economic model which is available in India. If the distribution of freebies as part of elections and universalisation of corruption is accepted as a good model, then it can be regarded as the Dravidian model.

Targeting Governor

‘Ondriya Arasu’ propaganda is another unnecessary controversy created by the new DMK regime to undermine the unity and integrity of the county. The DMK leaders insisted, including in the assembly, that they would not use the word Madhya Arasu or Central Government but only use the word Ondriya Arasu which is Union Government, to denote the central Government. To justify their arguments, the DMK leaders said they only follow the Constitution. Unfortunately, the DMK men only used the constitutional pretext to win their argument. A closer observation of the DMK’s history and their deeds and statements at present will give a clear picture of divisive politics. For example, on the same issue, they hurled abuses against the Governor of the State, who is also the constitutional head of the State, for the simple reason that he disagreed with their stand.

What MK Stalin and Pinarayi Vijayan are now trying to do, using the fake narratives created around this communal disturbance, is instigated by the colonial missionaries to create further troubles and divide in society

Not only this issue, they are using every available opportunity to target the position of Governor. There is only one reason behind these blatant attacks. The DMK want to rule the State based on their whims and wishes without any sort of intervention. But the Governor questions their authoritative approach and unconstitutional decisions. The DMK and its allies don’t like such valid interventions. Therefore, as part of a strategy to demean the Governor’s position, the DMK and its partners indulged in propaganda. Use of derogatory remarks like RSS agent, BJP agent, Brahmin fascist, Hindutva fascist, Hindi-speaking outsider, etc. to brand the Governor is part of their propaganda strategy.

DMK, its Leftist allies and other extremist groups are now in the process of cultivating secessionist tendencies in South India

Further, the DMK leaders also demand the removal of the Tamil Nadu Governor. On the other hand, another Dravidian group TPDK bats for the abolition of the post of Governor itself. It will be interesting to note that the ideological predecessor of DK and DMK, the Justice party was a tool in the hands of English colonial governors of Madras presidency to implement their divide-and-rule policy. DMK’s problem with the present Governor may be that he was not appointed by the colonisers but by a democratically elected nationalist government.

The DMK, its leftist allies and other extremist groups are now in the process of cultivating secessionist tendencies in South India. For example, the leftist in Kerala nowadays intentionally tries to depict criticism against them as an attack on the Malayali identity. Till recently this kind of identity politics was unknown to Kerala society. The Cutting South programme organised by Kerala Media Academy is another veiled attempt and glaring example of how these forces inject secessionist tendencies.

EV Ramaswamy Naikar agenda

It seems the effort to project EV Ramaswamy Naikar as the symbol of South Indian social renaissance by DMK and its allies also is part of an agenda. Vaikam Satyagraha centenary celebration function held recently at Vaikam, Kerala, literally became a venue for projecting the legacy of Ramaswamy Naikar. In fact, he was just a participant in the Satyagraha. The real leaders of the Satyagraha movement were Gandhi ji, Sri Narayana Guru, TK Madhavan and Mannathu Padmanabhan. All of them were spiritually inspired by Hindu philosophy. Portraying an atheist like Ramaswamy Naikar as the leader of the movement to under mine the real heroes of the movement cannot be regarded as accidental. Further, in the inaugural session of the centenary celebration MK Stalin said that it was after his suggestion, Pinarayi Vijayan decided to organise a programme on Vaikam Satyagraha.

These examples will give a clear picture that Dravidian politics is preparing to implement its new brand of divide-and-rule policy. Further, the target of this new version of Dravidian politics is nothing but the Hindu society and its cultural ethos.