| Published on 16-04-2007 In National |
| Viewed 1530 times |
| Tamils and the self-respect movement |
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Written by
R. Bhagwan Singh |
The undisputed architect of the self-respect movement of the culture-rich Tamils was Thanthai (father) E. V. Ramaswami Naicker, reverentially referred as Periyar (the wise elder man) by his followers, of whom there are several thousands across not just Tamil Nadu but wherever the Tamil Diaspora is spotted across the world. Periyar died at a ripe old age but only after ensuring that the strong upper crust of the backbone of the Tamil elite was broken beyond repair and redemption. He must, in that sense, have gone a happy old man but then, did he? In fact, if Periyar were alive today, he must be a very miserable witnessing all those revolutionary reformist changes he had campaigned for in a society wrought with caste and class discriminations, seriously threatened.
The reason for this dismal situation is not difficult to see--just look at the political polemics of all those purporting to be the worthy torchbearers of his social philosophy. So long as the AIADMK founder M. G. Ramachandran a.k.a. MGR was alive, his archrival and DMK president M. Karunanidhi, also known as Kalaignar (littérateur) was busy fighting the movie star, idolized by millions of Tamils down the generations as Makkal Thilagam (star among the masses) and Puratchi Thalaivar (revolutionary leader). After MGR's demise, Kalaignar is now wasting his fading energies battling Ms Jayalalithaa, whose claim to the invincible MGR legacy is the mere fact that she had acted in several films as his heroine.
It would be political dishonesty for the Amma, as she is now hailed by her minions, to claim that she deserved the MGR mantle because the late hero had willed it to her; in fact, her rivals had during the nasty war of succession between the heroine and the widow, had pointed out that MGR got printed in the party organ, Anna, that Jayalalithaa had fallen from his grace and all party members were forbidden from having anything to do with her.
But then, honesty appears an absolute anathema in recent Dravidian politics—look at the ease with which the Amma transformed the media picture of her presenting MGR with a silver mace at an AIADMK rally into a party propaganda portrait depicting the passing of the leadership mantle to her by the Puratchi Thalaivar. And thus it was that she could emerge in quick time post-MGR as the Puratchi Thalaivi. That was one of the important puratchis, revolutions, of the Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu. There are many more, such as the seamless conversion into her feet-touching foot soldiers of several Dravidian stalwarts who had abused her in the most vulgar terms even though that went against their Periyar's preaching that women should be shown respect.
Corruption, not just in state administration but also in social and moral values, is another Dravidian puratchi. If a very corrupt politician in the 1960s and 70s made a few lakhs on a government contract, his successors lifted the limits beyond the eighth digit. It was not just the 'technology' of their massive multicolour cutouts that the Dravidian leaders exported to awe the counterparts in other states, their expertise to turn into crorepathis in the briefest period in office was equally inspiring to their ilk across the country.
It must go to their credit to have demonstrated so loudly that everything has a price-tag and the brave would surely make it to the winning post, never mind if that meant crossing a few forbidden lines on the track.
As for the corruption of the Dravidian moral and social values, nothing can perhaps demonstrate that better than the exhibition of servile sycophancy on the AIADMK platforms when its Amma is in attendance. Even men and women much older than her fall at Amma's feet in such intense devotion as if they have entered the sanctum sanctorum of the most popular Hindu goddess---that reminds how they even compared her to Mother Mary during one of her birthday banner shows.
Things are only slightly better at the Anna Arivalayam, the rival DMK's headquarters in Chennai. His thondars (followers) may not queue up to fall at the feet of Kalaignar but they would do everything else to stay in the competition with the AIADMK cousins. And unlike the AIADMK, where the Amma and Chinna Amma (Sasikala Natarajan) call all the shots or almost all, the DMK prides itself as being one big family, rather, Big Family.
The family factor extends to yet another Dravidian party as well—the PMK of Dr Ramadoss and his son Dr Anbumani. And even to the Congress of the late G.K . Moopanar and his minister son Vasan, where the current state unit president M. Krishnaswamy pulled all the punches getting son Vishnu Prasad as a member of the state legislature.
On the other plank of Periyar's controversial anti-God campaign, the grand old rationalist has failed there too, since barring a handful of black shirts within his Dravidar Kazhagam and its splinter outfits--fractured not on principles but on other 'material' conflicts--the rest of the 'self-respect' brigade has gravitated towards the Creator, seeking His divine approval of all their wealth amassment even while pretending to be serving the people. While MGR would quietly slip into his temple close to the Kerala border now and then, his pupil Jayalalithaa is extremely proud in flaunting her faith in Almighty. The DMK camp stinks of superficial Periyarism since a majority of its members are religious and party chief Karunanidhi does not mind these days sharing platform with Sai Baba and Mata Amritanandamayi albeit ducking behind the 'it's all for the public cause' façade.
So what would Periyar have done if he were to be alive today and amid these Dravidian parties that now and then proclaim loyalty to his socio-political philosophy of campaigning for the underdog's self-respect? It is another matter that the great social reformer had scant regard for most of these politicians and their parties but then, would they have given him a chance to climb on to their platforms and proclaim disapproval?
While I must leave that question open, I cannot resist the temptation of attempting what obviously is a useless exercise and appeal to Periyar's thambis (brothers) to honestly practice his tenets of self-respect and social justice. Instead of merely pat their shoulders for getting a poor Brahmin abused in 'Periyar', the movie. |
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