Religion and politics make strange bedfellows. There would be no better place to understand it than Tamil Nadu where alleged invocation of religion by the right wing groups to advance electoral interests bombed big time during the just concluded Parliamentary elections. In fact, the summary rejection of religious polarisation is not a new phenomenon in the state.
MK Stalin
Chennai:
While former chief minister M Karunanidhi had enjoyed the spoils of the ideological war between atheist Dravidar Kazhagam and theist Congress cum Swatantra party then, Stalin has reaped electoral success in the exchange between the same DK and BJP now.
Karunanidhi’s DMK had won 184 seats (highest for a single party till now) in the backdrop of Periyar’s DK followers hitting the portrait of Lord Rama with slippers in Salem, the same way Stalin has swept the Parliamentary polls (37 of 38) defying the anti-Hindu campaign unleashed against his party by the right wing BJP-led alliance, which took exception to DK president K Veeramani’s statement on Lord Krishna. The DMK, in fact, had won 213 of 234 seats in the months that followed the slippering of a portrait of Lord Rama during a DK rally in Salem then. The near identical victories separated by five decades have vindicated the ‘confidence’ of liberals that religion has been a non-issue in electoral politics.
“In a state where 95 per cent of people are believers and atheists are a microscopic minority, people don’t confuse between electoral politics and religion. Social justice is deeply ingrained in their mind. People who benefitted from reservation know that it is only a political game masterminded by right wing groups against DMK and not even DK,” said Suba Veerapandian Dravida Iyakka Tamizhar Peravai leader.
“DK leader Veeramani had issued a clarification to an article published in Thuglaq magazine. He made the clarification statement (about Lord Krishna) only in DK meeting and not during election campaign even. He has been doing it for five decades. BJP had exploited it to target DMK, not the DK. The saffron party stopped it after April 18. People realised it and gave them a mandate they deserved,” Veerapandian added, recalling a famous statement of late Indira Gandhi who said, “He (Periyar) has been doing it for long,” when journalists drew her attention to DMK embroiled in the Lord Ram slippering controversy.
Noted Dravidian scholar K Thirunavukkarasu said, “DK is an atheist party. DMK is not. People realised on both instances that political enemies were campaigning to prevent a party’s (DMK) victory. People know who is with them. People are relatively well educated now. They have access to information which would help them identify leaders and parties instantly. The know which party would deliver welfare and which would divide them.”
Voters had demonstrated even decades ago, precisely, in 1971 that the interplay of faith and politics makes an ideal recipe for disaster. Incidentally, the beneficiary on both instances was the DMK, only the leaders were different and the losers were national parties.
While former chief minister M Karunanidhi had enjoyed the spoils of the ideological war between atheist Dravidar Kazhagam and theist Congress cum Swatantra party then, Stalin has reaped electoral success in the exchange between the same DK and BJP now.
Karunanidhi’s DMK had won 184 seats (highest for a single party till now) in the backdrop of Periyar’s DK followers hitting the portrait of Lord Rama with slippers in Salem, the same way Stalin has swept the Parliamentary polls (37 of 38) defying the anti-Hindu campaign unleashed against his party by the right wing BJP-led alliance, which took exception to DK president K Veeramani’s statement on Lord Krishna. The DMK, in fact, had won 213 of 234 seats in the months that followed the slippering of a portrait of Lord Rama during a DK rally in Salem then. The near identical victories separated by five decades have vindicated the ‘confidence’ of liberals that religion has been a non-issue in electoral politics.
“In a state where 95 per cent of people are believers and atheists are a microscopic minority, people don’t confuse between electoral politics and religion. Social justice is deeply ingrained in their mind. People who benefitted from reservation know that it is only a political game masterminded by right wing groups against DMK and not even DK,” said Suba Veerapandian Dravida Iyakka Tamizhar Peravai leader.
“DK leader Veeramani had issued a clarification to an article published in Thuglaq magazine. He made the clarification statement (about Lord Krishna) only in DK meeting and not during election campaign even. He has been doing it for five decades. BJP had exploited it to target DMK, not the DK. The saffron party stopped it after April 18. People realised it and gave them a mandate they deserved,” Veerapandian added, recalling a famous statement of late Indira Gandhi who said, “He (Periyar) has been doing it for long,” when journalists drew her attention to DMK embroiled in the Lord Ram slippering controversy.
Noted Dravidian scholar K Thirunavukkarasu said, “DK is an atheist party. DMK is not. People realised on both instances that political enemies were campaigning to prevent a party’s (DMK) victory. People know who is with them. People are relatively well educated now. They have access to information which would help them identify leaders and parties instantly. The know which party would deliver welfare and which would divide them.”