Saffron onslaught

With state elections round the corner, the BJP steps up its attack on Periyar and, in turn, the DMK

- LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

As chants of “Jai Shri Ram” rent the air after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, his supporters in Tamil Nadu were chanting for a different deity—Lord Murugan. It was the state BJP’s latest attempt to take on the DMK and Dravidian ideologue Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, and it had turned to the son of Lord Shiva for help.

It all began in June, when a Tamil YouTube channel called Karuppar Koottam posted a video allegedly disparaging the devotional song, ‘Kandha Sashti Kavasam’, which praises Lord Murugan. A slew of complaints was filed against the channel; its founder Surendra Natarajan and associate Senthil Vasan were detained under Goondas Act.

With assembly elections due next year, the BJP-led Hindu right, looking to find a foothold in the state, milked the Karuppar Koottam. A day after Natarajan and Senthil Vasan were arrested, BJP workers sung ‘Kandha Sashti Kavasam’ outside their homes. Next, they trended “Vetrivel Veeravel” (victorious vel, courageous vel) on social media, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers went from door to door pasting stickers of Lord Murugan’s vel (a divine spear), and the BJP organised a vel puja.

All these were part of an attempt to unite Hindus against those inimical to their faith; the DMK and Dravidar Kazhagam, its ideological parent, were the targets. The month-long campaign influenced many, including a 21-year-old in Coimbatore who threw saffron paint on a statue of Periyar. Though the man, a rightwing worker called Arun Krishnan, was arrested and charged under the National Security Act, the BJP helped out his family with 050,000.