News Brief
After Saint-Poet Thiruvalluvar, DMK Now Tries To Portray Freedom Fighters V O Chidambaram, Muthuramalinga Thevar As Dravidians
M R Subramani
Nov 20, 2020, 05:12 PM | Updated 05:12 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
After having clothed Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar with a white dhoti and removing his ash marks on his forehead, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is now trying an encore on freedom fighters such as V O Chidambaram and Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar.
On 18 November, the remembrance day of V O Chidambaram (VOC), who fought the British valiantly by floating a shipping firm and going to jail for defying their authority, one of DMK’s top leaders Kanimozhi Karunanidhi tweeted that it was a “remembrance day” of VOC.
Kanimozhi, daughter of the late M Karunanidhi, neither recalled the hardships of VOC nor praised his sacrifice in the tweet. But the tweet of the DMK parliament member from Thoothukudi Lok Sabha constituency displayed the picture of the freedom fighter without the traditional ash and kumkum marks.
On social media, Kanimozhi was immediately confronted why the kumkum mark was missing and she was criticised.
Some reminded her how VOC sold his properties to run a ship only to defy the British and finally ended up selling kerosene at Mannady in Chennai.
Her tweet also reminded social media of how she had also stripped another freedom fighter and All India Forward Bloc leader U Pon Muthuramalinga Thevar of his ash marks.
The comments on the ash and kumkum marks come on the heels of the incident on 4 November when DMK president M K Stalin had reportedly thrown away ash given as prasad when he visited Thevar’s memorial on his birth anniversary.
Quite a few eyebrows were raised but Stalin told the media that it concerned his outlook on religion and he would not regret it.
Tamil actor and state assembly legislator Karunas had demanded an apology from Stalin for the act.
Stalin claims to be an atheist and hence is seen in public as being a rationalist.
At the same time, his wife Durga, who has now begun appearing in the party posters along with Stalin, is a staunch believer in god.
She has been seen visiting various temples over the last few years with critics saying she was seeking divine intervention for DMK regaining power and Stalin becoming the state chief minister.
The DMK has been accused of trying to “Dravidianise” freedom fighters and saints such as Thiruvalluvar in the name of Tamil.
One person said on social media that the DMK would not have dared to do such things had the people opposed the draping of Thiruvalluvar in a white robe and removal of ash marks on his forehead.
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
M.R. Subramani is Executive Editor, Swarajya. He tweets @mrsubramani
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.