CHENNAI: The furore over superstar Rajinikanth recalling how a Dravidar Kazhagam procession denigrated Hindu deities in 1971 and lauding Tamil magazine Thuglak for carrying the report has led to furious fact-checking by various media houses.
Though he subtly chose not to mention that E V Ramasamy ‘Periyar’ led the procession, Periyarites sought to dismiss him, while another section saw in his comments a reflection of the “spiritual politics” he intends to propagate in Tamil Nadu when he launches his political party.
Had Periyarites ignored his anecdote, it would possibly have been lost in the footnotes of history.
By raking it up and demanding an apology, they gave Rajinikanth a platform to not only reiterate his position, but also perhaps lay a post-dated foundation stone for his nascent party.
The archives
Express archives show that a Superstition Eradication Conference led by Periyar was held in Salem on January 24, 1971. As part of the conference, the DK held a procession, which had tableaux with obscene images of Hindu Puranic characters, including pictures of the birth of Lord Muruga.
A 10-foot cutout of Lord Rama mounted on a vehicle was also reportedly part of the procession, with DK activists hurling chappals at it.
At the end, the Lord Rama cutout was set afire. As public anger mounted, the then superintendent of police tried to wriggle out, claiming he was not aware of the contents of the tableaux. Many shops were closed fearing violence, it was reported.
To register their dissent against the conference, a group of people, including then Bharatiya Jan Sangh leader KN Lakshmanan, were waiting near the Salem SP’s office.
But when the procession approached the SP’s office, a few people from within the procession sprang out with knives and logs and rushed towards those who wanted to stage a peaceful demonstration.
Fortunately, the police intervened and averted a showdown, Express archives show.
Lakshmanan blamed the administration for the incident, adding a memorandum had been submitted to the Collector and the SP a week ahead of the conference to take suitable preventive action so that posters and tableaux offending Hindus were not part of the procession.
Dinamani, which is part of the Express group, in its editorial on January 28, 1971, had chided the authorities for ignoring alerts about the DK procession and wondered whether they were of the view that whatever happened on that day was legal.
The Express group faced lawsuits for its coverage, but the Supreme Court threw the petitions out. All this is part of archival history.
Different strokes
Cut to the present, and the Dravidian majors have raised their voices against Rajnikanth’s statements cautiously. While the AIADMK mildly chided him for bringing back a controversial episode from the past, the DMK “advised” the actor to think before saying anything.
Rajinikanth’s comments also found political and social scientists trying to cut the clutter to interpret them.
“By raising such issues, he is preparing a strong ground for his political entry. He is trying to encash his popularity and to make ground for Hindutva politics,” said C Lakshmanan, Associate Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies.
“Rajinikanth cannot be termed naive in politics. He is making every move in a calculated manner. In his very first confirmation about his entry into politics, the actor spoke about spiritual politics. He had also made it clear that his political line will be against the baseline of political ideologies of Dravidian parties — atheism and rejection of Brahminism,” Lakshmanan pointed out.
“His speech at the event clearly indicated his choice of issues. The aim is nothing but to make people more Hindutva-oriented,” he said. Lakshmanan felt the Dravidian parties ought to ignore Rajinikanth instead of giving him needless attention.
Political analyst Tharasu Shyam had a different take. He said Rajinikanth’s remarks could help the coming together of anti-BJP parties.
“Those who induce Rajinikanth from behind want Hindu consolidation. But, they should not forget that even 50 years ago, when Hindu gods were insulted, the campaign on that plank did not work with the masses in the elections.”
He said the present remarks of Rajinikanth will be a big setback for him.
“Whatever he speaks now, will be used against him once he enters politics. He will be termed a pro-Hindutva leader. Rajinikanth says there were efforts to paint him with saffron. But now, he himself had applied saffron colour to himself by his remarks against Periyar,” Shyam added.