New Delhi: Treading the path of its predecessor Dravidar Kazhagam, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam catapulted itself to power through anti-Hindi agitations. While there was some merit to the agitations back in the 1960s when the then Congress government both at the Centre and State were inorganically trying to make Hindi a link language for the country, the DMK has always harped on to the anti-Hindi rhetoric time and again to inflame linguistic passions.
This attempt to exploit linguistic faultlines has today translated into visceral hate towards northern Indians. The Commune has collected a few instances in the past where DMK leaders made offensive remarks about north Indians and Hindi speakers. As reports emerge of migrant workers fleeing Tamil Nadu for fear of being attacked based on certain alleged videos spreading on social media, here are more instances of DMK leaders spreading hatred against North Indian workers and Hindi speakers.
KN Nehru About Bihari And Lalu Yadav
In 2021, DMK Minister for Municipal Administration, Urban & Water Supply KN Nehru, while addressing an employment camp at the DMK office in Trichy, said, “Biharis lack brain as Tamilians have. People from Bihar are not as intelligent as Tamilians.”
“As Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav packed the Railways with Biharis, especially at lower-level jobs, despite the fact that Biharis were less brainy than Tamils,” DMK Minister KN Nehru has claimed.
“Over 4,000 Biharis work at the Southern Railway’s Golden Rock Workshop in Tiruchy. Similarly, the majority of railway crossing gatekeepers are Biharis. This is all due to the handiwork of Lalu Prasad Yadav. When he was railway minister, he had all of his fellow Biharis copy the railway exams and then get them jobs on the railways. These people speak neither Tamil nor Hindi and lack the intelligence that we Tamils possess. Yet they are working in Tamil Nadu,” DMK Minister KN Nehru stated.
TKS Elangovan Says Hindi Will Make Tamils Shudras
Another DMK MP and senior leader TKS Elangovan spread hatred against Hindi speakers, saying, “Hindi is the language of backward states, Hindi will make us Shudra.” Elangovan also made hateful remarks citing that speaking Hindi will make us Shudras.
TKS Elangovan said, “Hindi is the native tongue in only underdeveloped states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Look at West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Punjab. Aren’t all these developed states? Hindi is not the mother tongue of the people of these states. Hindi will convert us to Shudras. Hindi will be no good for us.”
Elangovan claimed that speaking Hindi would enslave them. Accusing Hindi lovers of destroying the culture, he added, “They are trying to destroy the culture and trying to impose Manu Dharma through Hindi. This should not be allowed. If we did, we will be slaves, Shudras.”
Hindi Speakers Do Menial Jobs Said Dayanidhi Maran
Dhayanidhi Maran, DMK MP, stated in a public meeting that people who learned Hindi work as construction workers and wash toilets in Tamil Nadu, whereas Tamilians hold high-level positions in the IT sector.
He said,” We asked you to study Tamil and English. you studied. Look at Sundar Pichai, he is now the CEO of Google. He would have been a construction worker if he had studied Hindi. Our children hold high-level positions in IT firms and earn a good living. Look at those who studied Hindi. They work as construction workers and clean toilets.”
This other time, while speaking at a public meeting he had called north Indians and Hindi-speaking people ‘idiots’ who will vote for BJP.
Vadakkan Slurs Hurled By DMK MLA TRB Rajaa And His IT Wing
DMK MLA TRB Rajaa had spewed venom against north Indians umpteen a number of times. He had once said ‘Vadakkans’ (slur for North Indian) don’t have a sense of democracy adding that Biharis will remain at the bottom because of their voting choices.
Isai, the DMK state deputy secretary of the IT wing, has used slurs like “Paani puri vaayan” and “Paanparak Vaayan” to insult north Indian migrant workers.
DMK Minister Moorthy Calling For Boycott Of North Indian Businessmen
Recently, DMK Minister Murthy incited hatred towards North Indian businessmen by stating that they should not be allowed to do business in Tamil Nadu and that only Tamil businessmen should do business throughout Tamil Nadu. He also suggested that Tamil businessmen come forward to help send North Indian businessmen out of Tamil Nadu.
RS Bharathi Demeaning North Indians
DMK Organizational Secretary RS Bharathi sparked a controversy by saying that North Indians sell panipuri
in Tamil Nadu and that the Governor is also like them. He also compared the Governor to a migrant worker from Bihar and said that he would not have left without being beaten had Jayalalitha been alive.
When MK Stalin Peddled Xenophobia
MK Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, himself has incited hatred against North Indians working in Tamil Nadu. He stated, while campaigning for the 2021 state assembly elections in Tiruvannamalai on March 25, 2021, “They’re conspiring to place Hindi-speaking youngsters in jobs in Tamil Nadu and grow BJP through that here. The Edappadi Palaniswami government may be a mute spectator to this. But DMK or Tamil Nadu people won’t let that happen.”
In the run-up to the 2021 Assembly elections, the DMK had also released political ads in which youngsters can be seen alleging that the Edappadi Palaniswami government is giving Tamil Nadu jobs to northern Indians.
Pro-DMK YouTube Channels
Jeeva Sagapthan, a DMK sympathiser posing as a journalist, stated that North Indians with less knowledge than Tamils are occupying jobs in Tamil Nadu. He added that the North Indian workers will change the demography of Tamil Nadu and vote in favour of the BJP as it is a North Indian party. His viral social media video is just the tip of the iceberg. In several videos on his YouTube channel, he is constantly spreading hatred against North Indians.
Other rabid Dravidian Stockist and DMK propaganda channels like U2 Brutus, and Tami Kelvu too had peddled such xenophobia against migrant workers.
It is this hate seeded, watered and nurtured by the DMK and other Dravidian Stockist fringe outfits that has now come back to haunt them.
Having realised the gravity of the situation now, the DMK is now trying to assuage the situation with a communique in Hindi with Stalin himself reaching out in Hindi.
This article was first published in thecommunemag.com.
