When DMK working president M.K. Stalin accepted temple honours at Srirangam last week, it immediately kicked up a minor storm, with many criticising him for allegedly betraying the party’s atheist and rationalist beliefs.
But then this is not the first time that Mr. Stalin is seen accepting a ceremonial welcome by Hindu priests. In 2015, he had held a meeting with temple priests in Kumbakonam and even visited the Thirukoshtiyur temple, where Saint Ramanuja, ignoring the warning of his guru, climbed the temple tower and administered the sacred Astakshara – Om Namo Narayanaya – to the public, irrespective of their caste or origins.
In fact, it is not just Mr. Stalin who is seen courting the devout. One could see more and more DMK MLAs coming to the Assembly flaunting their religious credentials, including smearing their foreheads with the holy ash or sporting the kumkum, a practice more common among the AIADMK Ministers and MLAs.
For that matter, in the ruling camp, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam enthusiastically take part in yagnas, poojas and the like.
The BJP angle
Very few political leaders in the State remain untouched by this fervour. Even Seeman, the founder of Naam Thamizhar Katchi, who used to appear on the platform of the Dravidar Kazhagam and castigate religion, has taken a U-turn and is now extolling the virtues of Lord Muruga, who he calls his ancestor.
This has made many wonder whether parties, who hitherto swore by atheism, are being swayed by the inroads that the BJP is supposed to be making in the State.
But former DMK Minister Thangam Thennarasau rejects the argument. He said long before the BJP emerged on the scene, DMK leader M. Karunanidhi had visited Srirangam temple along with Anbil Dharmalingam and even accepted a parivattam from the priests.
“The incident has been recorded in his autobiography Nenjukku Neethi. It was Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) who ensured resumption of the car festival in Thiruvarur Thiyagarajaswamy temple. Critics conveniently suppress these incidents to portray the DMK leaders as anti-Hindus,” said Mr. Thennarasu, stressing that the DMK leaders always respected the sentiments of the people at large without deviating from or diluting the core ideology.
He even narrated an incident from the life of Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar E.V. Ramasamy to reiterate the point that leaders had a mutual respect for one another even though they were ideologically poles apart.
“When Periyar visited writer Kalki’s residence, his family members applied kumkum on his forehead, and he did not prevent them. But Kalki prevented a sub-editor who sought to publish the photograph of the episode in the next issue of the magazine. This shows the mutual respect the leaders had for one another,” said Mr. Thangam Thennarasu.
‘Jaya set the trend’
Minister for Tamil and Culture Ma Foi K. Pandiarajan sought to differ with Mr. Thennarasu, saying that the developments were a clear proof that Mr. Stalin was making a departure from DMK’s atheist past and ideology.
“Mr. Stalin would have realised that anti-Hindu sentiments would hurt the party’s electoral prospects,” Mr. Pandiarajan contended but said he did not agree with the claim that it was the BJP’s growing popularity that had brought about a change in the attitude of leaders towards the Hindu faith.
He said it was late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who openly declared her faith in religion and now everyone was following in her footsteps. But Mr. Stalin’s decision to wipe out the sandal paste on his forehead showed his ambivalence on the issue, he said.