Letter from Chennai: TN politics exploit caste conflict

While the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was thwarted in its plans to hold its scheduled 'yatra' yesterday, Tamil Nadu seems to be witnessing another manifestation of 'Hindutva' revivalism.

The Chennai city police last week registered a First Information Report (FIR) against DMK chief and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi for a speech he made recently in the course of his participation in a minorities' meet called to protest against the anti-conversion (Religious) bill passed by Jayalalithaa's government.

The case was filed before a magistrate by a local lawyer in which Karunanidhi was accused of having said "who is a Hindu? A good man would say the word 'Hindu' means a thief'".

Premnath, the complainant alleged that this comment had hurt Hindu sentiments. Yesterday Karunanidhi suggested that Hinduism was not a religion but a way of life.

He said he had merely quoted a statement in a Hindi encyclopaedia published by the late Congress leader Kamalapathi Tripathi.

The encyclopaedia states that when Iranians had embraced Islam, they had interpreted the word Hindu as meaning a 'kafir', 'ghulam' and 'lutera'. He said that he himself had not spoken disparagingly about Hinduism, and in fact had said that such meanings of the word were unacceptable to him.

As for the case, he said he was ready to face any case. "Go ahead and file (a case). I will come in person and explain what Hindu religion is. Now, anyone pointing out blind beliefs and unacceptable practices is labelled anti-Hindu" he added.

The Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP has criticised Karunanidhi for his supposed sacrilege. The Hindu Munnani, a version of the VHP in Tamil Nadu, in a statement yesterday said that Karunanidhi should be punished.

The minorities are seething against the State Government's Anti Conversion bill and some Dalit leaders have appealed to the Governor of the State, Rama Mohan Rao not to give his assent to the bill.

The Dalits and minorities are planning to organise a protest rally to the Governor's house in Chennai on December 9 against the Bill. The All India Democratic Women's Federation (AIDWA) has described the bill as "unjustified".

In the midst of this 51 'Dalit' families of Chockadevanpati village in Madurai district have threatened to convert to Islam as a protest against the district administration's failure to secure land for them. They have set December 6 as a deadline. The dalits blame the high caste Hindus of the area for pressurising the administration.

The land the Dalits were claiming was the one on which they had been living for the past 21 years. Local polls could not be held in the area since 1996 because of the caste prejudices.

Meanwhile, the Jayalalithaa government is waging a legal battle against the Government of India's Archeological Survey of India over the latter's notification of September 21, bringing the Arunachaleswar Temple in Thiruvannamalai under the 'Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains' Act.

The state government went to the High Court and said that it had declared Thiruvannamalai as a heritage town as early as in 1993.

The ASI's move would interfere with day to day worship and repairs and so on. The living temple would be converted into a tourist centre and the sanctity attached to the temple would be lost. The MDMK and the DMK for once have also opposed the ASI' s notification along with their arch enemy, the AIADMK.

DMK's Karunanidhi has appealed to Prime Minister Vajpayee to step in and settle the dispute between the State Government and the ASI. Last Wednesday, November 13, the High Court stayed the ASI notification.

Jayalalithaa on her part, after getting the Anti (Religious) Conversions bill passed, has now further donated four months' salary to the Annadanam schemes in temples for poor feeding! The Sangh parivar has cheered both the moves.

The appeal by Nallakannu of the Communist Party not to divide Tamil Nadu on caste and communal lines sounded like a cry in the wilderness.

But then, Tamil Nadu has always had a caste factor in its politics. In the 20's, a whole new movement was born as a result of the British bias in favour of the Brahmins. Ninety five per cent of the government servants in the then British Raj came from the two per cent Brahmin population of undivided Madras presidency.

It was then that E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker(Periyar), tried to make the Congress party truly representative of all communities. A little later the Justice Party was born, but it represented the upper caste Hindu majority.

Then after the country became Independent, C.N. Annadorai and other living contemporary luminaries like Karunanidhi and Anbazhagan decided that the Dravida Kazhagam should not remain merely a Social Reform and Rationalism organisation, but should enter electoral politics. The DMK was the result.

The DMK was representative of the backward classes generally and the Dalits or Harijans were just a part of this huge vote bank.

The Dalit organisations of today are trying to militate against this historical fact. And the situation holds all the ingredients for caste conflict.

This situation was further complicated by the existence of minorities including the Christians and Muslims. In the southern districts of Tamil Nadu particularly, this amalgam has often led to social explosions. Coimbatore after the serial blasts and mayhem of the past is still volatile.

The Dalit threats to convert to other religions for monetary advantage or special government treatment has often been no idle threat.

In the current context, Jayalalithaa may be trying to buy peace with the BJP government at the Centre even as she mollifies the majority Hindu castes. She may also be thinking of the future, of emerging as an alternative to the BJP in national politics.

She apparently believes sincerely that in spite of the minority and dalit protests she can hold her vote bank intact at the time of any election, including poll for Lok Sabha.

It is interesting that even as she is kept at arms length by the BJP government, officially, VHP leaders have sung her praises and the State unit of the BJP is entirely prepared to ditch ally DMK and support her.

Her only reluctance to a tie up with the BJP may be because very few observers believe that the BJP will get sufficient numbers to form either a new government or a coalition when general elections are held next.