Last week, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced that the state government would install a statue of Karl Marx in Chennai. Glorifying Marx, Stalin stated that the Dravidian government wants to honour the revolutionary global figure.
“Though many made history, it was Karl Marx who altered the course of history. His thoughts laid the foundation for world revolutions and the various changes the world has witnessed so far. It is with this spirit of ‘everything for all’ that we presented our Budget on March 14, coinciding with Marx’s death anniversary,” Stalin said. “I believe it is appropriate to erect a statue of Marx in Chennai, where the trade union movement began a hundred years ago.”
DMK and Communism
What prompted the Dravidian leader to propose this idea so suddenly? When it comes to the DMK’s founder, E. V Ramaswamy Naicker, his relationship with Communism was marked by ambivalence. He never held a consistent ideological stance toward it. In his collected works, he is quoted in a 1943 speech in Trichy as saying:
“All the talks on communism in our country are bogus. Our youths must keep away from such talks. What is the work they do? Their eyes are always on the leaders of the Justice Party. Their work is to criticise the Muslims and the rich. They are not concerned with the evil caste system or the reactionary propaganda of Gandhi. They do not care about Rajaji, who wants only Brahmins to live happily. They are not bothered about the Congress party that upholds the Varnashrama Dharma. They ignore the fact that khadi is symbolic of a barbarous age. The communists are dominated by the very evil forces I mentioned. So I appeal to the youth—beware of these communists. Communism here, as it is, is a sugar-coated poisonous pill.”
Notably, it was under DMK Chief Minister Annadurai’s tenure that Tamil Nadu witnessed the infamous massacre of Dalits who were protesting for higher wages. Rather than condemning the perpetrators of the crime, Periyar criticised the Communists who stood with the Dalits. At a public meeting in Sembanur Kovil on January 12, 1968, just days after the massacre, Periyar declared:
“The Communists were responsible for the Nagai Taluk massacre (Keezhvenmani massacre). They were responsible for the deaths of 42 people.”
Yet now, Stalin claims that the DMK and Communism are ideologically aligned. In 2022, he said:
“The relationship between the Dravidian parties and the Communists dates back to the beginning of the last century. It was Periyar who translated the Communist Manifesto into Tamil. We Tamils even had a tradition of naming children after Russian revolutionaries… After all, my name is Stalin. Do I need to say more to prove our relationship?”
When DMK Wanted to Secede from India Fearing a Communist Takeover!
In a startling revelation, Wikileaks had reported that during the Emergency, the DMK considered seceding from India. At the time, K. Rajaram, then Labour and Housing Minister of Tamil Nadu, asked a U.S. diplomat in Chennai if the United States would assist in the event that the State decided to break away from India.
According to the report, the U.S. representative responded that it was an internal matter of India and the U.S. would not support such a move. Rajaram reportedly told the diplomat:
“These younger people believe the USSR and other Communist nations are supporting Mrs. Gandhi in her efforts to kill democracy here. If she succeeds, Communist influence will grow and Tamil Nadu should secede.”
The cable also mentions a conversation between the diplomat and a local educator who had told then Chief Minister Karunanidhi that if the rest of India were to fall under a Communist dictatorship, the U.S. might help. Karunanidhi is said to have replied that the U.S. would not take any new steps in Asia after Vietnam.
The “Cutting South” Agenda Behind the DMK–Communist Bonhomie
Although Communist parties and the DMK have traditionally contested elections together, the relationship has always been uneasy. DMK leaders have long feared being ideologically swallowed by Communism. However, under Stalin’s leadership, this ideological alliance has grown stronger, not merely as an electoral arrangement, but as part of a deeper strategic partnership.
At the centenary of the Vaikom Satyagraha last year, Stalin was the chief guest and inaugurated a memorial for E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker in Vaikom, in the presence of the Kerala Chief Minister. This was widely seen as a political exchange of legacies—a move that became more evident with the subsequent announcement of Marx’s statue in Chennai.
During the event, the Kerala Chief Minister once again launched his fierce attack on Sanatana Dharma, seemingly to curry favour with Stalin. A key feature of this strategy is the effort to alienate Sree Narayana Gurudevan from Sanatana Dharma, attempting to portray him merely as a Kerala counterpart to Periyar. But history says otherwise—it was Sree Narayana Guru who led the Vaikom Satyagraha with intellectual depth, spiritual strength, and financial backing.
By disregarding the leadership and support of Sree Narayana Guru, the CPI(M)–DMK alliance’s “Cutting South” agenda—elevating Naicker as the sole ‘Vaikom Hero’—amounts to a historical distortion and injustice. The Satyagraha, organized entirely under Hindu reformist leadership long before Communism’s rise, cannot be seamlessly embedded into the Communist “Renaissance” narrative.
A proper historical account must recognize the roles played by organisations such as the SNDP, NSS, and Arya Samaj. To sidestep these truths, the CPI(M) inserted Periyar into the narrative, forging an opportunistic alliance with the DMK based on mutual gain. The declaration of a Marx statue in Chennai is the clearest sign yet of this ideological bartering.
Chinese Interests in Tamil Nadu
It’s worth noting that Chinese intelligence networks have been increasingly active in Tamil Nadu. Given its strategic location near Chinese-controlled Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu has become an area of interest. Could this geopolitical aspect be influencing the DMK’s promotion of Communism?
In 2022, intelligence reports revealed that left-aligned trade unions in Tamil Nadu were receiving support from Chinese sources. During the labour strike in Foxconn, a Taiwanese company, in Chennai, agencies alerted authorities to the possible role of Chinese operatives in escalating tensions. According to a media report, the intelligence report stated: “The knee-jerk reaction to substandard canteen food causing ill health to a few staff members points to an international plan to destabilise industrial hubs.”
The note added that China was displeased with Apple’s pivot toward Indian manufacturing. Until recently, 48% of Apple’s components were made in China. But with rising tensions between the U.S. and China, Apple began shifting its supply chain to India. “China’s supply chain got tangled in the US–China trade war,” the report notes, as India emerged as a viable alternative.
In addition, several pro-China think tanks have emerged in Tamil Nadu under the guise of promoting cultural ties between the state and China, often with the DMK’s backing. Therefore, in this context, the DMK’s closeness to Communism should not be viewed solely through the lens of the CPI(M)–DMK electoral alliance. It must also be examined in light of China’s strategic objectives and influence operations in the region.
Will Communism Consume DMK From Within?
It seems that Stalin and DMK hope to forge a grand alliance of parties with Dravidian and Communist legacies to promote divisive agenda of Cutting South. Stalin is well aware that Periyarism alone cannot help countering the growing influence of BJP in the region.
The real question now is whether Stalin’s embrace of Marxism is a tactical move to forge a pan-South Indian political party or a strategic blunder. Will Communist ideology slowly erode the DMK’s grassroots identity and overtake it from within? Will it backfire and prove self-defeating for DMK?
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