The limits of sectarian politics
Vote bank politics is quirky. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu has of late discovered that there is virtue in temples. And for a party founded on anti-god ideology it's quite a turn around. The original version of the DMK was the DK, founded by E V Ramaswamy Naicker. The wall space in Tamil Nadu then was filled with abusive slogans against Hindu gods. “He who believes in God is a fool.” “If you see a snake and Brahmin, kill the Brahmin first” these were some of the most often sighted slogans, on temple walls. They often bracketed Hindus with Brahmins. The films, the medium the DK used effectively to spread its ideology often made fun of the Hindu priests, rituals and the devout.
The new-found love of the DMK ministers for temples and community feasts in the temples might be confusing the DMK cadres. But the changeover comes after a hard look at the political calculus.
Ever since the DMK came back to power in the recent elections it has been giving sufficient hints that it is not all that anti-Hindu and was willing to woo the Hindu vote-bank too, if there is one. The reasons that prompted the Kazhagam’s rethink are the surprise win it registered in some constituencies, which were till now perceived as Herculean for the DMK. The Tanjavur seat, with considerable population of Tamil Brahmins and other upper castes returned a DMK candidate. Observers believe that their votes came as a protest to Jayalalithaa’s move on the Kanchi Acharya. Though there were no loud protests in the state on the issue, it was simmering, a fact most pre-poll analysts rejected.
One of the senior ministers in the Karunanidhi cabinet recently called on the Kanchi Acharyas. Though there were murmurs of protests within the ruling set up, Karunanidhi put an end to the matter saying he would call for an explanation and left it at that. He also restored the full ritual rights of the Acharyas in the Rameshwaram temple, which had been denied by Jayalalithaa’s government. The Acharyas traditionally had the right to enter the sanctum sanctorum and perform puja rituals there. Under the AIADMK rule, after the manipulated cases on the Acharyas, they were denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum.
The DMK government also announced that it would allow non-Brahmins to be temple priests. Though overtly it seemed an objectionable move, several Hindu reformers welcomed it as it would help fight religious conversions. A major factor of discrimination would have been thus removed. Some religious leaders had initiated such a move over three decades ago, in the wake of the Meenakshipuram conversion in Tamil Nadu. Conveniently for the DMK, the move has been stayed by the Supreme Court.
Karunanidhi has of course been assiduously pandering to the minority community as was demonstrated in his giving VIP treatment to the terrorist Madani, a prime accused in the Coimbatore blasts.
It is an irony that Jayalalithaa who in the early days in her office wore her pro-Hindu tag on the sleeves ended her term with an anti-Hindu image. Not only did she go back on several measures but was at pains to convince the fanatic sections of Christians and Muslims, that she was more Dravidian in practice than the allegedly atheist Karunanidhi. She felt, there was no use cultivating the pro-Hindu image in the predominantly Dravidian polity. She rolled back the anti-conversion bill, she did what no other chief minister anywhere had done—arrested and jailed the most revered acharyas of Kanchi and used the official machinery to spread canard against them. Political analysts then attributed her moves to her eagerness to garner the minority vote.
The DMK and the AIADMK have had their cadre vote share intact and have won the elections alternatively on the floating votes. The octogenarian DMK leader must have realized that this was as good an opportunity as any to swing some of that vote base to his DMK. Especially if the mantle has to be passed on to his son.
There are limits to communal politics. Today, in Uttar Pradesh, the SIMI overdrive has put Mulayam Singh on the defensive. Mayawati is tirelessly coaxing the so-called upper castes. Gone are the days of tilak, taraju and talwaar. In the Bihar assembly polls Ramvilas Paswan canvassed for votes on a blatantly communal plank, offering a Muslim Chief Minister and projecting a duplicate Osama bin Laden. But the Muslims were not swayed. The Kerala Marxists who solicited votes in the company of Christian and Muslim communal sects are now facing a foul music, which they are unable to stop. After all, politics demands some level of intellectual honesty.
The new-found love of the DMK ministers for temples and community feasts in the temples might be confusing the DMK cadres. But the changeover comes after a hard look at the political calculus.
Ever since the DMK came back to power in the recent elections it has been giving sufficient hints that it is not all that anti-Hindu and was willing to woo the Hindu vote-bank too, if there is one. The reasons that prompted the Kazhagam’s rethink are the surprise win it registered in some constituencies, which were till now perceived as Herculean for the DMK. The Tanjavur seat, with considerable population of Tamil Brahmins and other upper castes returned a DMK candidate. Observers believe that their votes came as a protest to Jayalalithaa’s move on the Kanchi Acharya. Though there were no loud protests in the state on the issue, it was simmering, a fact most pre-poll analysts rejected.
One of the senior ministers in the Karunanidhi cabinet recently called on the Kanchi Acharyas. Though there were murmurs of protests within the ruling set up, Karunanidhi put an end to the matter saying he would call for an explanation and left it at that. He also restored the full ritual rights of the Acharyas in the Rameshwaram temple, which had been denied by Jayalalithaa’s government. The Acharyas traditionally had the right to enter the sanctum sanctorum and perform puja rituals there. Under the AIADMK rule, after the manipulated cases on the Acharyas, they were denied entry into the sanctum sanctorum.
The DMK government also announced that it would allow non-Brahmins to be temple priests. Though overtly it seemed an objectionable move, several Hindu reformers welcomed it as it would help fight religious conversions. A major factor of discrimination would have been thus removed. Some religious leaders had initiated such a move over three decades ago, in the wake of the Meenakshipuram conversion in Tamil Nadu. Conveniently for the DMK, the move has been stayed by the Supreme Court.
Karunanidhi has of course been assiduously pandering to the minority community as was demonstrated in his giving VIP treatment to the terrorist Madani, a prime accused in the Coimbatore blasts.
It is an irony that Jayalalithaa who in the early days in her office wore her pro-Hindu tag on the sleeves ended her term with an anti-Hindu image. Not only did she go back on several measures but was at pains to convince the fanatic sections of Christians and Muslims, that she was more Dravidian in practice than the allegedly atheist Karunanidhi. She felt, there was no use cultivating the pro-Hindu image in the predominantly Dravidian polity. She rolled back the anti-conversion bill, she did what no other chief minister anywhere had done—arrested and jailed the most revered acharyas of Kanchi and used the official machinery to spread canard against them. Political analysts then attributed her moves to her eagerness to garner the minority vote.
The DMK and the AIADMK have had their cadre vote share intact and have won the elections alternatively on the floating votes. The octogenarian DMK leader must have realized that this was as good an opportunity as any to swing some of that vote base to his DMK. Especially if the mantle has to be passed on to his son.
There are limits to communal politics. Today, in Uttar Pradesh, the SIMI overdrive has put Mulayam Singh on the defensive. Mayawati is tirelessly coaxing the so-called upper castes. Gone are the days of tilak, taraju and talwaar. In the Bihar assembly polls Ramvilas Paswan canvassed for votes on a blatantly communal plank, offering a Muslim Chief Minister and projecting a duplicate Osama bin Laden. But the Muslims were not swayed. The Kerala Marxists who solicited votes in the company of Christian and Muslim communal sects are now facing a foul music, which they are unable to stop. After all, politics demands some level of intellectual honesty.
1 Comments:
Mayawati is inviting Brahamans to join her party. Well it is like the game of Python and rat . No matter what rat does , it will always be constricted by Python. As the history has shown.
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