Once upon a time, a temple musician named Muthuvel and his wife Anjugam lived in Thirukkuvalai village of Madras province. They named their children Shanmuga sundarathammal, Periyanayagam and Karunanidhi. The last mentioned joined EVR’s anti-Hindi movement at the young age of 14 years. He attained fame as a writer in Tamil cinema. Coming under the influence of Periyar, he became a leader of the Dravidian movement that swept Tamil Nadu. He became the second Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 1969 and served as a beacon of light for the Dravidian movement and Tamil pride throughout his lifetime. He passed away on August 7, 2018. He served the “Makkal” (people) as Chief Minister for almost 20 years, spanning over five terms.
In the five decades between 1969 and 2018, Karunanidhi’s party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and his “Makkal” (Children) flourished throughout Tamil Nadu and beyond. The temple musician’s family had the entire State dancing to their tunes. DMK stood for rationalism and atheism following in the footsteps of EVR or “Thanthai Periyar” or Big Daddy. They celebrated atheism by cutting “Poonal” or sacred threads of Brahmins. Staying true to “true Indian secularism”, DMK’s atheism was always restricted to insulting Hinduism and cosying up to Islam and Christianity. Being steadfastly opposed to North, Hindu, Hindi and Sanskrit, Karunanidhi’s extended family has members ironically named Kalanidhi, Dayanidhi, Udayanidhi, Arulnidhi and Dayanidhi Alagiri. That is a family full of “Nidhi”, the Sanskrit name for treasure. They sure have increased their fortunes and “treasures” with every “Nidhi” added to the family. To complete the irony, there is a Vedamurthy too in the Karunanidhi family, also known as Gopalapuram family.
We must view the recent controversy over ‘Sanatan Dharma’ with this background in mind. Udayanidhi Stalin, whose first name is derived from Vedic Sanskrit, was speaking at a conclave aiming to “Eradicate Sanatan Dharma”. He exhorted people to treat ‘Sanatan Dharma’ like dengue and malaria mosquitoes. While there was outrage on Twitter, Priyank Kharge, son of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and DMK leader TR Baalu, too, joined this controversial issue. DMK Member of Parliament, A Raja, has gone a step ahead and claimed Udayanidhi was “soft” on ‘Sanatan Dharma’. He believes it is more like HIV and leprosy. Hindu organisations have taken offense and demanded action against Udayanidhi and Raja. Cases have been filed against them, along with Priyank Kharge.
Periyarism has dominated Tamil Nadu politics, even though Periyar himself was side-lined like “curry leaves” by his own disciples during later years of his life. Tamil Nadu has been ruled, either by DMK or AIADMK for over five decades, during which the Brahmins have turned into endangered species. Hence, it remains a mystery as to why has caste-ism not been eradicated in the heartland of Dravida politics? Who should be held accountable for this failure to curb Brahminism or ‘Sanatan Dharma’? Let’s find out the culprits who failed to eradicate ‘Sanatan Dharma’.
Flaunting his Christian Identity
Some time ago, Udayanidhi had announced on social media that he’s married to a Christian and that the Sanghis would burn when they find out that he’s a Christian too. Having had influential pastors like George Ponnaiah and pro-evangelical celebrity influencers like Kamal Haasan, Christianity hasn’t succeeded in eradicating ‘Sanatan Dharma’ in Tamil Nadu, that could have been Dravidanadu. Dravidian movement like the LTTE has thrived with the support of evangelical organisations. “Islamic franchises” like Al Umma and National Thowheed Jama’at have failed in this utopian Dravidian endeavour. DMK has taken “pride” in demolishing centuries old temples, selling temple lands and allowing illegal encroachments inside the temples. In spite of that, ‘Sanatan Dharma’ survives in the land of magnificent temples. So whose failure was that?
Between “Cholas were not Hindus” and “Eradicate Sanatan Dharma”, a lot of water has flown from Karnataka into Tamil Nadu through Kaveri. Those waters have brought Kuppusamy Annamalai with them and he is creating waves across Tamil Nadu. The real problem is his regular exposure of humongous corruption cases involving Gopalapuram family. He’s been relentless and consistent with proofs. DMK has drawn a page out of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s book. When there are corruption charges against the Government, attack Hinduism, so that all attention is diverted from corruption. Communists of Kerala attacked Sabarimala and their Comrades from Tamil Nadu are targeting ‘Sanatan Dharma’. While this tactic may have helped DMK temporarily, it has put Congress and other I.N.D.I.A partners in soup.
Mamata Banerjee, whose party has successfully orchestrated several anti-Hindu riots in West Bengal, has advised Udayanidhi to “treat all religions equally”. Essentially, eradicating Hindus is fine; making public statements about it is not. Meanwhile, a controversy has been created to quell a controversy that was created to bury the controversy associated with corruption allegations. Entire opposition, “Soros-wadi” media and social media went on “India Vs Bharat” overdrive. Whatever gains the opposition unity could have made in the recent months, have been undone by Udayanidhi’s attack.
While most “secular” parties have maintained a deafening silence, the Supreme Court appears to be facing its first major challenge since the CJI went into activist mode. Within weeks of Chief Justice Chandrachood demanding suo moto action against “hate speech” by Governments, a petition signed by 262 eminent citizens has reached his table. It demands action against Udayanidhi. Does a call to “Eradicate Sanatan Dharma” amount to hate speech? It would be interesting to find out if the CJI finds enough hate in this speech to be recognised as “hate speech”.
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