‘When MGR didn’t, why does Rajini need a nativity certificate?’

The opposition DMK has sought to whip up linguistic fervor by triggering a parochial debate over Rajinikanth’s non-Tamil roots, indication that the party is unsettled over the actor’s imminent political entry.
A full-page article written by Dravidian historian K Thirunavukkarasu in the DMK mouthpiece ‘Murasoli’ on Friday handed out a veiled threat to Rajini by reminding him that yesteryear Mumbai don Varadaraja Mudaliar had opted out of Mumbai mayoral election at the behest of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray to avoid trouble for Tamils living in Maharashtra. Is the writer warning that people from Maharashtra (Rajini’s native state) and Karnataka (where he lived and worked for years) would come under attack if Rajini enters the political fray? The article goes on to claim the DMK’s aim is not to dissuade Rajini from entering politics. It is not unduly worried about Rajini’s political plunge either, because it feels his prospects are weak. But Rajini’s claims about the political vacuum were fallacious, the article said.

By a strange logic, the article also questions Rajinikanth’s loyalty quotient to the Tamils’ cause by pointing out that eminent lawyer T Rangacharyar, a distant relative of Rajini’s wife Latha, had opposed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment bill when it was introduced by the Justice Party in 1925. Rajinikanth was not even born then. What is evident is that Rajini is not being tried for his deeds, but for what a distant relative of his wife did close to a century ago.

The objective of the article, apparently, is to reinforce DMK cadres’ confidence in the party leadership. The DMK leadership sees Rajini as a threat and it does not want the cadres to fall easy prey to the film star’s popularity. It feels compelled to attack Rajini as the next poll could be a fight between Stalin and him.

Thirunavukkarasu claims he does not consider Rajini as a threat to the DMK leadership. "Our stand is that Tamils should rule Tamil Nadu and there is no room for outsiders in our state politics," he told TOI. It sounds strange, especially in the case of the DMK, which had used Rajini’s popularity in the 1996 election to undo the public apathy against it. Despite waging a battle for Tamil’s supremacy, the DMK leaders have Periyar E V Ramaswamy — whose mother tongue was Telugu — as their ideological fountainhead. For long, the party’s crowd-puller and mascot was M G Ramachandran, a ‘malayalee’. Efforts to brand MGR an outsider after he quit the DMK did not go down well with the people, history would show.

Thirunavukkarasu reasons out. "Though a malayalee, MGR was not an outsider. He was a DMK member from 1953 to 1972. The DMK promoted MGR as a politician. On the contrary, Rajini is an outsider. He came to Tamil Nadu for acting. After his acting career has ended, he wants to start a political party and become chief minister immediately. People will not accept him," said Thirunavukkarasu.

Is the article reflective of his party’s stand? "What I have written is my opinion, and I feel my party’s stand too," said Thirunavukkarasu.

Sensing the article could raise heckles, party spokesperson T K S Elangovan said, "it is the writer’s opinion and not the DMK’s stand. But the fact remains that Tamils are not accepted as leaders outside Tamil Nadu. Even in the case of Varadaraja Mudaliar, what the writer has written are historical facts," said Elangovan.

In this age of globalisation, people from various parts of India get elected as MPs and ministers even in other countries, but strangely in India, state boundaries and linguistic barriers still matter.