Special Reports Tamil Nadu

ITW Reports: DMK’s Version Of Hitler’s Brownshirts, An Official Unofficial ID That Hunts Down DMK’s Critics 

May 20, 2023
Vallavaraayan

Adolf Hitler’s rise as a ruthless dictator can be attributed to the Nazi Stormtroopers also known as ‘Brownshirts’ (because of their khaki uniform) who were infamous for their operation outside of the law and their violent intimidation of Germany’s leftists and Jewish population.

This private army of ruffians and bullies indulged in thuggish vigilantism to intimidate opponents going after anyone and everyone who dared to question the Führer.

Two years before the Brownshirts were formed, the ‘Black Shirts’, a colloquial term used to refer to members of the Fascist organization Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, was created by Benito Mussolini in Italy in March 1919. The majority of the Black Shirts were disgruntled ex-soldiers. They posed as champions of law and order and violently attacked anyone who criticized Mussolini, their leader.

About a century later, history seems to be repeating itself on the other side of the world, in a democratic India, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu under the DMK regime of MK Stalin.

The ‘black shirts’ of Tamil Nadu (as the DK, DMK and other Dravidian Stockists are colloquially called) have formed their own version of Black Shirts.

Dravidian Model Of Fascism And Nazism

As popularized by Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai, the DMK ecosystem is like layers of an onion. One layer comprises cinema actors and social media influencers and underneath that layer is the layer of Dravidian Stockist journalists and media outlets who control and peddle narratives favourable to the DMK. The next layer is the ideologues and other fringe yet core outfits like Dravida Kazhagam, Dravida Viduthalai Kazhagam and so on. The next layer is the DMK leaders and the core of the onion is the first family of the DMK.

This ecosystem has long held a grip over the popular narrative. They were able to successfully control what was broadcast on these mainstream news channels. Even if DMK cadres sexually abuse a woman police officer in broad daylight and that woman police officer is forced to withdraw her complaints due to DMK pressure, these news outlets will not hold prime-time debates against the DMK.  But with the democratisation of social media, the DMK ecosystem is losing its ground with netizens and Tamil Nadu opposition parties calling out the bluffs and fallacies of the DMK.

Therefore, DMK has modeled ITWreports, a Twitter handle on the lines of the BlackShirts of Mussolini and BrownShirts of Hitler.

ITW Reports: A DMK Cyberbully

Prior to 20 April 2022, the DMK government arrested dissidents, primarily those without financial support, but there was no organized effort.

On April 20, 2022, they launched the Twitter handle ITW Reports, which was promoted by the official DMK IT Wing and DMK IT Wing secretary TRB Rajaa (now a Minister in Stalin’s cabinet), in an organized effort to collect information about dissidents and go after them.

The ‘ITW Reports’ handle identifies itself as an ID to report abusive content against individuals, organisations and Tamil Nadu Government (read it as DMK leaders, DMK and DMK government). It claims to clamp down on fake news and other malicious content on social media.

However, in the name of pursuing legal action against those who spread misinformation about the DMK and the government, they are literally going after all of their opponents and dissidents for trivial social media posts and memes.

This officially unofficial and extended arm of the DMK IT wing works with the machinery of the Tamil Nadu Police arresting DMK critics and low-level cadres of parties like AIADMK, BJP, AMMK, and NTK.

Here are a few instances that show how Tamil Nadu police is being used as a mercenary of the DMK.

Instance 1

DMK IT wing members went after a Naam Tamilar functionary named Ganesh Kumar alias Nila Kannan for posting an image of late Chief Minister Karunanidhi having food with three of his wives.

Though it is a fact that Karunanidhi had three wives, DMK IT wing members could not digest that an opponent was pointing to it. Naam Tamilar Ganesh Kumar was arrested eventually.

It is worth noting that one DMK supporter thought the DMK government’s arrest of the NTK cadre was excessively severe. He said, “Pity don’t file a case!!! Just warn him!!! That should be enough.”

Instance 2

In another case, in response to a DMK supporter’s derogatory tweet about Naam Tamilar Katchi chief Seeman, NTK supporter Ramachandran Durai posted an abusive tweet about Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin and a TV anchor. Though the image posted by an NTK supporter was abusive and derogatory, the image posted by a DMK supporter was equally abusive. NTK Ramachandran has been arrested, but the DMK supporter who abused NTK chief Seeman is still free to roam and continue his abuse.

In the first two instances, the tweets by NTK supporters were abusive and derogatory. However, ITW Reports has gone after even harmless criticism.

Instance 3

Biriyani Man 2, a popular YouTuber, posted a video taking a dig at Udhayanidhi Stalin who said continued protest against NEET is the ‘secret’ to get NEET abolished.

Biriyani Man’s video contained no derogatory remarks directed towards the DMK or Udhayanidhi Stalin. However, DMK supporters wanted him arrested because they did not want their crown prince to be trolled by anyone. 

A Twitter handle named @Mark2Kali_ (a rabid Dravidian Stockist handle that spews hatred against Hindus, particularly Brahmins) had alleged that the Biriyani Man channel is spreading malicious campaign about the DMK government and tagged DMK leader TRB Rajaa and ITW Reports handle.

Instance 4

On December 27, 2022, Tamil Nadu Police arrested an AMMK functionary for a meme targeting Chief Minister’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Sports Ministry. The AMMK functionary shared a screenshot from the film ‘Gentleman,’ in which actor Senthil introduces games like “coupling”, “spooling”, etc, stating that the new Tamil Nadu sports ministry will be introducing such new games.

Instance 5 

On 21 February 2023, BJP supporter John Ravi had posted a picture of MK Stalin sitting on the steps of the Tiruvarur Temple tank with the caption “Who had said that the ladies are coming here to bathe at night?”

In another post, he had shared a picture where DMK Minister Duraimurugan can be seen holding Karunanidhi by the jaw with the satirical caption conveying a fictional conversation between the leaders.

Duraimurugan says “Thalaivare, you could’ve gone to second show cinema instead of giving birth to a nincompoop and burdening on our heads”, to which Karunanidhi replies “I had indeed gone to the cinemas”.

The ‘ITW Reports’ filed a complaint against John Ravi following which the Tamil Nadu police went all the way to Gujarat to arrest him.

Instance 6

On March 22, Tamil Nadu Police arrested one of the admins of Voice of Savukku for a meme targeting Chief Minister MK Stalin, ex-Finance Minister (now IT Minister) PTR Palanivel Thiyagarajan, and the recently announced monthly assistance scheme for women.

The Voice of Savukku handle posted a video of Kavundamani and Senthil’s comedy in which Kavundamani picks ladies for factory work. The meme depicted CM MK Stalin as actor Kavundamani and PTR Palanivel Thiyagarajan as actor Senthil, attempting to poke fun at the DMK government’s selection criteria for the monthly assistance scheme.

Other Critics Who Have Been Arrested By DMK Government

Krishna Kumar Murugan, a political researcher who is known for tweeting data points countering DMK, was arrested on Wednesday (21 September 2022) in the case of alleged ‘defamatory’ posters caricaturing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. It should be noted that the image for which Krishna Kumar was arrested was originally designed by Vikatan for its cover pic depicting TN BJP chief Annamalai. Krishna Kumar used the same image with MK Stalin’s face instead of Annamlai’s.

Vice President of Tamil Nadu BJP’s Industrial Cell Mr. Selva Kumar was arrested by the Tamil Nadu police on Wednesday (12 April 2023) morning. He has been arrested allegedly for criticizing Tamil Nadu Electricity and Liquor Minister Senthilbalaji. Initial reports say he was arrested for calling Senthilbalaji “Ganja Balaji” owing to the rising drug menace in the state.

Maridhas, Karthik Gopinath, Kishore K Swamy, NTK’s Seethaiyin Mainthan are among those arrested by the DMK government for their Facebook posts and tweets.

It should also be noted that ITWreports only takes legal action against those who abuse the DMK and its first family. DMK members and supporters can go to any length to abuse their opponents, and the ITW Reports turns a blind eye.

Abusive Tweets Of DMK Members

On 11 March 2022, DMK Rajya Sabha MP MM Abdulla unleashed an abusive tirade against two individuals, one of whom is a woman journalist, for speaking against the DMK IT wing whose members allegedly harass anyone who criticizes the party on social media. DMK MP launched an abusive rant against ‘Savukku’ Shankar and the woman journalist, claiming that those two journalists will do hand*** for ₹5 and blow*** for ₹10.

A Dravidian Stock handle named 5Gவடை (@shereef5G7647) had once posted a derogatory image of Jesus Christ mocking slain LTTE terrorist Prabhakaran and Naam Tamil Katchi head Seeman.

This handle has posted so many tweets abusing Prabhakaran.

Jayachandran DMK (@jaya2016maha), another rabid Dravidian Stockist and a member of DMK has abused late AIADMK leaders Dr. MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa,  ex-BJP leader Gayathri Raguramm, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and many others.

Another Dravidian Stockist named Dr. Aravind Raja (@AravindRajaOff) had portrayed DMK critic Savukku Shankar as a pimp supplying women to ‘Kamalalayam’ (BJP Tamil Nadu headquarters).

However, the Tamil Nadu police have not taken action against these handles.

DMK Government’s “Social Media Monitoring Cell”

When PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan as Tamil Nadu Finance Minister presented the state’s budget for the year 2022-23 in March 2022, he announced that a ‘Social Media Monitor Centre’ would be formed ‘to battle fake news and misinformation on social media platforms’.

It was mentioned that the state government has decided to form a special Social Media Monitoring Centre under the police department.

Incidentally, the ITW Reports was created in April 2022 by DMK IT Wing.

Based on the directions of the MK Stalin-led DMK government, the Tamil Nadu Police formed a special ‘Social Media Monitor Team’ to monitor social media sites in September 2022.

According to reports, a whopping 203 officials and police personnel have been deputed for the task of “monitoring fake news on social media intending to create tension, riots, online frauds, drug smuggling, etc”.

Back in March 2022, The Commune bad expressed concerns about this stating that the DMK government with the state police machinery under its control might use it to muzzle dissenting voices which is what seems to be happening.

Questions That Demand Answers

1) If the objective was to counter fake news and online abuse, why hasn’t the Tamil Nadu police taken action against DMK members and other Dravidian Stockists despite complaints being registered?

2) Why hasn’t the Tamil Nadu police arrested U2 Brutus ‘Minor’ who derogated Hindu God Shiva and Goddess Kaali?

3) Why hasn’t the Tamil Nadu police taken action against Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam who abused Hindu Gods like Marriamman and Ayyappan?

4) Why hasn’t action been taken against DMK members who have abused BJP, AIADMK and NTK leaders?

5) Is Tamil Nadu Police here to work for the people or as a mercenary of DMK?

6) Is ITW Reports part of this “Social Media Monitoring Cell” of Tamil Nadu police?

7) Is taxpayer money being used to fund ITW Reports to go after DMK critics?

(Vallavaraayan is a political writer fighting Dravidian Stockists.)

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