Hello World,
There is so much happening in India right now and not all of them are valid as per the constitution of India. All the states and union territories, especially the newly formed ones are facing the heat from the right wing administration running its consecutive second term and Tamilnadu is no exception.
However, Tamilnadu’s problem is more complex than what it seems to be. As it turns out, the anti-human right wing administration is a common adversary Tamilnadu shares with the rest of the nation. What set’s Tamilnadu apart is the presence of internal adversaries.
Right now, we need to look into the mechanics of this internal adversaries and how there exists a commonality in the unfairness that is persisting under the careful leadership of the said internal adversaries. Here’s why: Decades of political control with ‘Dravidian’ parties in Tamilnadu has had its fair share of good, bad and the ugly. Right now the ugly is blowing up on the face of every Indian citizen living in Tamilnadu.
Decades of rule by Dravidian parties rallying on the ‘Dravidian’ or ‘Dravidam’ brand had integrated the local population of Tamilnadu and for the best reasons worth considering in positive light, Tamilnadu, grew up to be a tolerant state embracing diversity. No wonder Tamilnadu has developed and progressed much farther than the rest of India in comparison.
While the state of Tamilnadu continues to be under the stronghold of the Dravidian politics, it is now obvious that the state has to battle so many issues both with the state government and the central government. Most of those battles end up rendering the Tamilnadu population losers and the trend has reached a tipping point now.
When we look at the problems faced by Tamilnadu, across the spectrum ranging from political or ecological, the governments responsible in the past had in one or the other way contributed to their entry, growth and propagation. Since most of the post-independence timeline until now had been under the Dravidian parties’ control, it is only logical to attribute the responsibility of such failures to them, their functionaries, political philosophy and the way they treated Tamilnadu every time they held the state government here. No denial that, under the Dravidian parties’ rule(s) the state of Tamilnadu has had its fair share of development. However, looking back now, it is very clear that the development was not even across the board and a select few had been prioritized over the rest.
The criteria for this prioritized development is embedded in the fundamental Dravidian philosophy which in geographical terms encompasses the states Kerala, Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Karnataka along with Tamilnadu. It is a fact that the Dravidian philosophy always had a stronghold largely in Tamilnadu and the political leaders ranging from Periyar to Karunanidhi have always driven the Tamilnadu population to accept the concept of Dravidian politics for the most part. Periyar’s writings and speeches towards his final years indicates that he did believe in the Dravidian philosophy covering people from all 4 south Indian states but he had to admit openly many a time that except for those in Tamilnadu, the rest of the states did not really perceive the inclusive Dravidian philosophy as it should have been.
Fast forward to now and look back into the past 30 years, the social order in Tamilnadu has steadily shifted much to the ignorance of the Tamilnadu population that Tamilnadu is not what it was intended to be. Social discrimination is on the rise and people are getting killed for their ethnicity and the associated concepts of impurity, all amalgamated in the name of god and religion, cleverly substantiated by the insignificant stone inscriptions, exclusively installed inside the temples that the kings built.
The caste based hatred is on the rise and couples are being killed for marrying outside their caste, especially when one of the couple is a Dalit. The concept of caste based preference especially in marriages is a longstanding social evil Tamilnadu is struggling to defeat but it has to be noted that there are many couples hailing from different ethnic identities who married against their families intent and are happily married. In some cases, the families have also dropped their caste feelings and they are living happily as well. What is disturbing is the social-stigma-driven-insults these inter-cast couples and their families have to bear while living happily. So, yes, social harmony comes at a cost that a few are willing to pay and only a few of those end up living to tell their tale.
This caste based hatred and related crime is one of the many issues gripping Tamilnadu but if you look closely, a few groups tend to remain prominent in their claim of superiority and their oath to destroy those ‘lower’ to them, should they infringe on their racial superiority. These few caste groups tend to be large in number, in some cases across Tamilnadu or dominant in number in the regions they are living within Tamilnadu. Try mapping the presence of the same groups in the Dravidian political parties and you will quickly notice that these groups are pretty much the controllers or key decision makers within the Dravidian political envelope.
It is irony at its best when one comes to realize that this situation of caste-driven politics is the exact opposite of the Dravidian philosophy that Periyar envisioned was a caste and religion free society where all men and women were equal working together to run a disparity-free economic system. No wonder, Periyar, in his final days started advocating Tamil pride while insisting that the non-Dalit-non-brahmin communities refrain from copying the brahmin-style social stratification. He had realized that the sense of caste pride had taken over the minds of some of his followers and that they are merely using the anti-brahmin rhetoric to reclaim the lost status for their own caste as opposed to everyone. I am basing this on the fact that Periyar’s followers disagreed with him on exclusive social service without electoral politics and that is how Anna, Karunanidhi and others left Periyar’s movement and started the political party confirming their intent to participate in full time electoral politics. What ensued later is pretty much what happened so far, and as it turns out, is also responsible for this blog post at this point in time.
Right now, the issues plaguing Tamilnadu have their roots in corruption largely involving Dravidian parties and their ongoing application of vote bank consolidation on the basis of caste, the very thing that is nothing more than an insignificant lie carefully installed in our society, cleverly meshed with faith systems that were developed under the patronage of kings who fell for this idea that their dynasties will rule for ever, if they build these faith systems and integrate their citizens using these faith systems. Kings were largely illiterate rich stakeholders and their choices had to backfire eventually, a consequence of which is the democracy we live in today. If the temples, statues, gods, castes, religions, practices, hymns, positive energies, vibrations were all really true, those kings would probably be ruling even now. Fake news had influenced governments in the ancient periods as well and Monarchy is the best example that singlehandedly substantiates that. Tamilnadu, right now, is not immune to fake news even now, Thanks to Maridhas and the Illuminati junkies. Corruption of the past is coming to back to bite Tamilnadu and it is getting worse by the day.
Look at the key personalities who show up when you look up any issue now and you will see these faces seem very different. Try looking up their backgrounds and you will notice that these stakeholders have their roots in the Dravidian political parties. Try getting one step deeper and look up their ethnic identities and you will notice that they are directly or indirectly related to the very groups who continue to insist on social hierarchy based on castes. Try going one step further and look up the history of those ethnic groups and you will notice Karnataka and Andhra all over the place. Try looking up what percentage of Tamilnadu these ethnicities make up to and you will arrive at figures ranging between 45-55%.
This is where the commonality of the persisting unfairness makes its presence felt. Communities of people from other cultures came into my land, settled here and have taken control of the political sphere as well. Nothing wrong here when we look at it through the democratic lens. However when the same groups openly violate the constitution on many accounts and continue to escape as ‘their brethren’ hold the political fort, things start to clear up for the average Tamilan who is forced to reconsider his acceptance of the ‘Dravidan’ tag. He agreed to being a Dravidan and embraced Dravidam as the fundamental political philosophy and in the process let every other culture enter his land, take over them and build ‘their communities’ on the same. All this in the name of Dravidam and what he has got in return is nothing but a new social order filled with a different kind of social injustice, corruption and ever-growing disparity. Those who have their roots to Krishnadevaraya/Pallava kingdoms and have their ancestry originating from regions that are currently with Karnataka, Andhra and Kerala are the ones who continue to hold on to the political and economic power. These Non-Tamils who now call themselves as Tamils rely on the government orders their caste leaders fought for which declared the ‘warrior nature’ of their respective castes and the temple stone inscriptions which declare them as warrior clans who protected these lands. It is very difficult to ignore the fact that these ‘Tamilified’ groups continue to hold on their original culture and use it as a reference for favoritism when they get to any position of authority in any domain. We cannot ignore the fact that there are individuals in every group who strongly believe all humans are equal. However they remain quiet when they see their fellow human establish deliberate disparity based on the hidden side of their cultural heritage that connects them with cultures outside of Tamilnadu.
When we look up the current state of right wing politics in India and its implications on Tamilnadu, it is absolutely difficult to ignore the fact that those who have aligned themselves with the Northern Hindutva Political ideologies are the internal adversaries calling themselves Tamils while not necessarily operating out of their Tamil skins. They have beneath the Tamil skin, another skin of their own, involving non-Tamil cultural aspects which, for some reason untold, dominates over their self-proclaimed Tamil identity. In came the right wing political groups promoting Hindutva and these Non-Tamils jumped ship without skipping a heartbeat. Some of these Tamilnadu based political outfits had far-left propaganda built on strong Tamil identity and the moment they joined the Hindutva bandwagon, they became irreversibly far-right and anti-Tamil in ever sense of the phrase.
Does this mean that the Tamils let others in and the others used the Tamils for their benefit and have ignored the growth of the Tamils? At this point, I really don’t know and I sincerely hope my assumptions are wrong in all directions but I am afraid I am not going to find any grain of evidence to confirm that expectation. All Tamilans did was embrace diversity and accept everyone in the name of Dravidam and all they have now left are the burden of dead farmlands, dead farmers, failed medical aspirants, dead medical aspirants, unemployment, rising caste based violence, inflation and socio-economic disparity with the scales unfairly set against the…….I really hate to say this but I have to…..the original natives of Tamilnadu.
The right wing Hindutva political wave from North India is here and is struggling to set foot in Tamilnadu politics. However, the vegetarian brahmins (brahmins in other states eat meat and some even eat beef) have always been on their side and they are integrating these Tamilans with a Non-Tamil history/ancestry one at a time. The so-called warrior clans who claim racial superiority are so desperate for the re-affirmation of their kingly glory from the past and all they have is the by-product of the brahmin texts/temple-practices/stone-inscriptions for their support. They don’t want to give up on their racial identity and they willingly accept with any faith system that approves of their ‘warrior clan’ status, bringing them closer to ‘brahminhood’.
While the warrior clans are busy finding their place within the Northern Hindutva ideology, falling for every right wing propaganda possible, the rest of the Non-brahmin-Non-Dalit groups are slowly getting attracted to the right wing ideology solely as a consequence of their over-exposure to Hatred-against-Dalits. The odd ones are still out there, believing the fact that all humans are equal, across all groups but their position as of now is so uncertain that they are still wondering if it is really necessary to have an opinion on this.
Please note that my view is not that certain groups are evil because of their respective ethnic background, social status within the Hindutva framework and perceived history. That has never been the case and that will never be. All humans are equal and there is no other way of looking at it. However, I am at a point where I have to clarify my thought process which in my view is that when we look at all the unfairness that has been persisting and look up those responsible for them, it becomes difficult to ignore the fact that certain groups, largely Non-Tamils who are now naturalized as Tamils owing to their settlement here are in the background enjoying the benefits of the Dravidian political framework they carefully setup without disturbing the opportunities for their caste/language groups alone while deliberately ignoring the Tamilans. Yes, there are Tamilans who are partners in crime with them. An entire race cannot become a slave to foreign powers without having traitors within and the Tamil population is not immune to this in anyway. I am forced to ask myself the reason for this strange commonality that arises when I put the persisting state of unfairness imposed on Tamilnadu.
I am therefore forced to ask:
Why is that every time something important was/is decided for my state Tamilnadu, it is almost always someone who has his roots elsewhere (but is a formalized Tamilan now)?
How come all the groups who hold their caste pride high in public and consider hating Dalits as vanity call the important shots in all possible political frameworks in Tamilnadu?
How come all those who blindly support the Northern Hindutva ideology in Tamilnadu have their history spreading in other parts of India and outside?
How come Tamilnadu hasn’t had a Tamilnadu native (who does not have a history of migrating to Tamilnadu during any non-Tamil dynasty’s rule over Tamilnadu) as the CM in a long time across multiple governments? Is it coincidence or a consequence of a carefully structured chaos?
How come all those who still hold the ‘Dravidam’ card high and recall Periyar every now and then, refrain from working towards abolishing caste and religion from the essential framework of our society?
How come, in Tamilnadu’s caste list, the first two are Adi Andhra and Adi Karnataka but I do not get a chance to see Adi Tamilar in Karnataka or Andhra caste lists? (I am still searching and I hope I haven’t seen the correct list yet but as of now my inability to find such a placement stands good).
Periyar was indeed correct in mentioning that we Tamilans were outspoken about the concept of Dravidam including all 4 south Indian states but the other 3 states did not hold a similar opinion except for a few references that might have been a consequence of the support Tamilnadu leaders drummed up over the course of their respective political careers.
The way I see it, Tamilnadu currently has a priority list based on which people get preference across various systems, government, commercial, cultural, economic etc. The priority list is as follows:
4. Typically Non-South Indian
5. Non-Tamil South Indian
6. Naturalized Tamilan with a Non-Tamil Background [Warrior Clans]
7. Tamilan with nothing other than Tamil Background
I feel so embarrassed to present the priority list above as I consider such a task against the fact that all humans are equal. However, I am afraid, given the current circumstances, if I continue to ignore the priority list above, in a few years from now, I will not remain alive to ask for justice. My ethnicity might be a reason for my elimination from the game and there will be no voice to ask why I am denied my constitutional right as those who can ask will not consider me as ‘one of their own’. I sound paranoid to myself as I write this but what keeps me from deleting this is that there is nothing else I see beneath all the layers of tricky names, semantics, groupings and definitions that vary by the day and are subject to a million factors. One statement said by one individual a few decades ago makes him unfit for everything in this entire universe but a few murders in the name of beef or a few suicides in the name of NEET are just outliers that should be ignored for the sake of growth. The groups which expect me to think so do not speak Tamil natively. Anyone who says Modi can give growth and progress does not speak Tamil natively. There are some native Tamil speaking fools who do so but they are the outliers in Tamilnadu. All those who are in Tamilnadu, enjoying Tamilnadu but choose to support Modi tend to fall within the priority list of 1-to-6 above. I sincerely hope I be proven wrong for my being wrong means we can still continue to have an inclusive Tamilnadu as we have always had so far. I think we collectively have reached a fork, thanks to identity politics, we now have to make a choice. Every choice comes with a price tag and the situation is not really demanding a spot payment.
At this point, I promise, even under the circumstances where the current social order might redesign the game to systematically eliminate me and my fellow Tamils, should I reach a stage of last resort for my survival, I will pursue it with the belief on the fact that all humans are equal. I have come to realize that I belong to a group that considers ‘Pirappokkum ella uyirukum’ and there is no way I can find myself violating that.
As for the ongoing sabotage of Tamilnadu by Northern Hindutva terrorism, I am afraid, we as a country are looking at the brink of a civil war and Tamilnadu will be one of the first locations to witness it. I have made up my mind regarding that and should such a situation prevail forcing me to take a side, I will be left with no option but to take up the constitution of India and use it to back my fellow Tamilans in every sense of the statement. If Modi is giving jobs and growth, Modi supporters can very well remain in ModiLand. If they are afraid of their family’s safety (in the North) and concerned about having access to a reliable inclusive economy (in the South), they need to make sure their political orientation does not hurt the life of the economy they choose to migrate into. Everyone’s welcome but Tamilnadu and Tamilans are about done tolerating the systematic destruction of their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. If the Dravidian political philosophy does not make the necessary changes to accommodate fairness, the rising visibility of the commonality of the persisting unfairness will drive the Tamil population away from Dravidam forever. That point, should that materialize, will remain a point of no return. All we need is to live together and all we need is a fair chance for all, including Tamilans of Tamilnadu. Just my thought.
If you care to ponder a little over this in a different view, here are some podcast episodes from Pagutharivu Podcast dealing with this topic:
