A few days ago, former union minister and DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran was trending on social media for a viral video in which he claimed that while English-educated South Indians worked in IT sector and other white-collared jobs, Hindi-speaking folks from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar cleaned toilets in Tamil Nadu. More information on the clip, which emerged later, clarified that Maran had actually uttered those words to emphasize the importance of English education and not to demean our fellow citizens from the north. The former Union Minister also issued a clarification after a fact checker put the video in context.
Earlier this month (December 2023), DMK MP Senthilkumar casually referred to the Hindi heartland i.e. Hindi-speaking states in central part of the country such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as ‘gomutra states’ (cow urine states), and that too, while addressing the Parliament. This casual reference triggered a massive outrage among all Hindi-speaking politicians who condemned the DMK and Tamil Nadu for using such derogatory language while referring to their brethren from the Hindi-heartland.
All this had happened even as the DMK was yet to recover from the massive blow to its image as a core member of the INDIA alliance after the DMK scion and TN Sports minster Udayanidhi Stalin ’s address at a Tamil Nadu Progressive Writer’s Association event on eradicating Sanatana Dharma went viral. The Sports and Youth Welfare Minister compared Sanatana Dharma with mosquitoes, dengue and malaria and went on to add that these ‘malaises have to be destroyed and not just opposed.’
The Sports and Youth Welfare Minister compared Sanatana Dharma with mosquitoes, dengue and malaria and went on to add that these ‘malaises have to be destroyed and not just opposed.’
To put things in perspective, the above mentioned event took place at the Periyar Building on EVK Sampath Salai in Chennai where far worse statements against Hinduism have been made in public by leaders of every stature in Tamil Nadu and is well-known to all. But, in this age of vitriolic social media outrage, that clip which went viral across the nation virtually put an end to the DMK’s role in the INDIA alliance led by the Congress party, desperate to win the Hindu voter back into its fold.
The BJP, which lost no time in taking the video across the country to spew hatred against DMK and Udhayanidhi for taking a vow to eradicate the basic doctrine of Hinduism (according to many following the religion), ensured that almost all national parties in the Hindi-heartland had no choice but carefully distance themselves from the DMK, aware of the liability they would be burdened with (for an association with the DMK) during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and rightfully so.
The DMK and Stalin have clearly become a burden in the INDIA alliance, at least for a section of the alliance members, putting the Congress in a fix as the Dravidian party has been a staunch alliance partner even during the most difficult times.
This was all the more evident when Bihar CM Nitish Kumar snubbed DMK MP T R Baalu at the INDIA alliance meet held on December 19 when the latter asked for an English translation of his speech in Hindi at the meeting. Nitish rebutted him stating that Hindi was our national language and everyone was expected to know it in the presence of TN CM MK Stalin whose party rose to power riding on the back of the anti-Hindi agitation led by his father and DMK stalwart M Karunanidhi.
The DMK and Stalin have clearly become a liability in the INDIA alliance, at least for a section of the alliance members, putting the Congress in a fix as the Dravidian party has been a staunch alliance partner even during the most difficult times.
While MK Stalin has proved his mettle in holding the party together following Karunanidhi’s death as well as in steering the government forward without much struggle, barring a few lapses such as during the recent floods in Chennai, his statesmanship at the national level has failed to live up to the reputation that his father built as a kingmaker in the past when he was integral to holding the UPA alliance towards a win in the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
While criticising Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism), propagating Hindi-hatred etc. might work among the audience at Periyar Building in TN, such statements made in the Parliament, not just against Hindi or Hinduism but against any religion or language on such a platform is just distasteful and only fuels more hatred. In today’s world where social media is omnipresent recording our every move, any politician worth his salt should avoid such comments in every forum or face the consequences of such actions.
For instance, these casual utterances by DMK leaders, which do not really have any motive except for reiterating the party’s stand which is already well known, might have actually gifted enough firepower to BJP to destroy the INDIA alliance unless they distance themselves from the DMK, both of which can bring nothing good for the ruling party in TN.
With the BJP going out of the way to appease the TN voters and the PM quoting Thirukural at every possible occasion, often even more than Stalin or EPS, such loose talk by DMK leaders can only be a setback not just at the national level but even within TN, which continues to be a Hindu-majority state.