The trademark dark glasses, the so-common-yet-unmissable white dhoti and shirt, unfamiliar tongue, Dravida Munnetra Kazhakam (DMK) leader Muthuvel Karunanidhi has always been an enigma to Indians north of Tamil Nadu – in life and death.
That he was a five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu who played the king-maker role at least two times in Delhi did not help in demystifying the fiery demagogue from down south. The elusive ‘practical’ politician n Karunanidhi was a mixture of contradictions, of course.
A writer, scholar, orator and a popular screen writer all rolled into one, he was also nationalist who was proud of his Tamil roots and culture. He was an open sympathizer of Tamil national movement in Sri Lanka which took violent proportions, much to the discomfort of the government at the centre.
A man who never hid his distaste for the hegemony of the Hindi belt, he was at the forefront of anti-Hindi agitations in his state right from the ripe young age of 14.
A secularist, atheist and pro-poor politician Karunanidhi was so popular that he never tasted defeat in an election for the last 60 years.
#WATCH: Visuals of huge crowd at Chennai's #RajajiHall where mortal remains of M #Karunanidhi are kept. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/dQYd0D8qQ1
— ANI (@ANI) August 8, 2018
Revered, reviled and rediculed at times, Karunanidhi’s life was a high voltage action thriller, moving through scenes after scenes of dramatic passion, twist and turns - and 'punch dialogues' typical of a Tamil film. It is difficult to find where the real ends and the reel one begins. Or when he is living his life, playing politics or acting for the masses. No wonder it is not easy task to summarize his work and legacy in these emotionally charged hours, right after his death.
Karunanidhi was arguably the last secular leader of the old mould in Tamil politics and perhaps the last barrier to conquer for the Hindutva parties who have been trying to make any significant inroads in to the state.
He undoubtedly was the central force in enforcing the the code of anti-Brahminical Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu and his death has certainly thrown the filed open to the Modi-led BJP and its allies to an extent. Will they be able to capilise on the situation?
Dalliance with BJP
An opportunist and the cunning politician that he was, Karunanidhi indeed joined hands with BJP once. Before the 199 general election with the Vajpayee-led party. This is perhaps the only instance where he openly deviated from his ideology. And it was a doomed alliance of unlikely allies; between an atheist party that stood for anti-Brahmin politics and the other one an outfit of all kinds of godmen, and Brahmins (top one among the for Hindu castes) and Baniyas (trading caste in India). It was a smart – or desperate - move to outsmart his then rival Jayalalitha and it worked for a while. Till the Gujarat riots in 2002. Among other difference with BJP, DMK was worried mostly about its support base being eroded and finally pulled out its ministers from the Vajpayee cabinet.
Humble beginnings
Karunanidhi was born in a poor Vellalar (a backward caste in Tamil Nadu) family in Thirukkuvalai village in the costal district of Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. He was named Dakshinamurthy (name of a HIndu deity) by his parents Muthuvel and Anjugam. He later changed that to Karunanidhi, a Tamil name shorn of any Brahminical or Sanskrit tinge.
Always a politician, Karunanidhi entered electoral politics after ensuring his legacy as a script writer who was capable of pulling out popular hits. He had an unrivalled position in the Tamil film industry by then. Karunanidhi gave a voice to the downtrodden Tamils through his silverscreen characters and is also one who inadvertently created the unholy nexus between Tamil film actors and state politics - a tie that continues uninterrupted to this day.
He made heroes
He was the ‘ideologue’ who made actors mouth popular speeches that the mass devoured with infinite hunger. The ordinary Tamil folks mesmerized by Karunanidhi’s words, identified with the actors. People who loved the seeing their actors fighting for them first clapped, then voted, for them. The rest, as you say the history of Tamil Nadu politics.
Karunanidhi wrote the screenplay and dialogue for the blockbuster 'Rajakumari' the debut movie of MG Ramachandran, his best friend who would later turn out to be his bitter political rival and part ways with him in 1972.
In 1969, when the DMK founder leader and the then chief minister CN Annadurai died in harness, Karunanidhi became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time.
It is in the same year that he became the supremeo of DMK. He led the party for 47 long and eventful years until relinquishing his position in 2016 in favour of his son MK Stalin, whom he had been grooming as his heir apparent all these years.
His blatant nepotism, preference for the continuation of family rule like any other Indian politician, has disheartened many of the followers.
Prolific author, political script writer
A proud Tamil, Karunanidhi was fondly called 'Kalaignar' for his proficiency in arts and literature, theatre and cinema. He embraced the arts passionately and with a political purpose, which gave a push to the Dravidian movement and propelled the rise of DMK as a major power in Tamil Nadu.
The box office success of Tamil movie 'Parasakthi' (see a scene below from this movie) for which he wrote the script and a rail blockade agitation in Kallakudi near Tiruchirapalli made him known throughout the state.
Karunanidhi began penning scripts as a 20-year old for plays which became a vehicle for propagating principles of the Dravidian movement.
A voracious reader and prolific author, he went on to write screenplays and dialogues for over 50 movies, prominent among them being 'Parasakthi' starring Sivaji Ganesan in 1952, and scripted the story for several of them.
Putumai Pithan, Neethikku Thandanai, Palaivana Rojakkal, Kannamma, Mannin Maindan are some of the films he wrote the script for.
Age did not wither the sharpness of his pen and Karunanidhi wrote his last script at the age of 90 for a television serial based on the 11th century reformist Hindu saint Ramanuja, who strove for an egalitarian society.
Scripting dialogues for the television soap based on the Vaishnavite saint in 2015, Karunanidhi had praised Ramunja for throwing his weight behind the oppressed and backward classes.
Karunanidhi has shown a keen interest in Tamil literature, poetry and drama, right from a young age. As a teenager, he ran a handwritten magazine 'Manava Nesan' in 1941.
In 1947, Karunanidhi wrote the screenplay and dialogue for the blockbuster 'Rajakumari', (see a scene below from this movie) the debut movie of MG Ramachandran, who later became his arch political rival and founded the AIADMK.
'Manohara' (1954), 'Malaikallan' (1954), 'Rangon Radha' (1956) were among the movies in which he was involved as a screenwriter.
In addition to penning dialogues, he had also written stories for movies, including successful films like 'Marudanattu Ilavarasi', 'Mandiri Kumari (both 1950), Tirumbipar (1953) and Arasilangkumari (1961).
'Mani Makudam', 'Marakka Mudiyuma', 'Avan Pithana', 'Pookkari' and 'Needhikku Thandanai' were among his several other movies.
As a noted Tamil author, Karunanidhi has over 100 works to his credit, including poems and novels.
His novels include 'Romapuri Pandian', 'Thenpandi Singam', 'Nenjukku Needhi' (his autobiography and commentary on contemporary politics), 'Sanga Thamizh', 'Kuraloviam', 'Ponnar Shankar' and 'Thirukkural Urai'.
His stage plays include 'Manimagudam', 'Ore Ratham', 'Thooku Medai,' 'Kagithapoo' and 'Silapathikaram.'
An unconventional life, corruption charges
An iconoclast, atheist and secular to the last core he was unconventional in many sense.
He was a confirmed atheist, a rare breed in Indian politics where cast, community and religion are more important than ideology, social commitment or an intention to do good to the society.
And he was not without any blemish as per the conventional morality goes. Thrice-married Karunanidhi has four sons and two daughters. While the first wife died early it was not a secret that he had two wives at the same time. In fact he had openly defied India’s bigamy law by declaring the asset details of two wives in his election nomination forms.
His first wife, Dayalu Ammal is the mother of DMK leader MK Stalin, Azhagiri, Selvi and Tamizharasu. Another DMK leader and Parliamentarian Kanimozhi is the daughter of Rajati Ammal.
Karunanidhi had also faced a number of corruption charges in his life time and there have always been questions regarding the rise of business empires owned by his sons and relatives.
However, the multiple allegations against him could not take away the legacy Karunanidhi has left behind, be it in films, literature or in politics. Even at 94, he always managed to form ties and make himself relevant in the lives of people, even after resigning as the chief of DMK.
Former Tamil Nadu chief minister and his political rival Jayalalitha’s death last year had predicted the changes about to take place in Tamil politics. It was now Krunanidhi's turn to vanish from the scene.
With the last secular leader in Tamil politics gone from the scene, is the field now open for BJP and its dark game plans? Would that be an easy ride for them? Where do the new players, film stars-turned politicians Kamal Haasan and Rajinikath stand?
Wait and see.
It's the lull before the storm in Tamil Nadu politics.
(With inputs from Agencies)
