News Tamil Nadu

Kanimozhi’s Double Standards: Demanded Closure Of PSBB School, Silent On Salma School Sexual Harassment Case

November 13, 2024
The Commune

In the backdrop of ongoing sexual harassment cases targeting schoolgirls, a fresh allegation has emerged from Tiruchendur, where female students at a minority institution have accused a physical education teacher of sexually harassing them and coercing them into consuming alcohol. Despite the arrest of the physical education teacher involved in the harassment, as well as the principal and secretary for attempting to silence the victims, the ruling DMK, which was outspoken on similar cases when it was in opposition, has remained conspicuously silent on this matter.

As the recent incident has occurred in the Tiruchendur municipality, criticism has been directed at Thoothukudi DMK MP Kanimozhi, who had been vocal in the past on issues of sexual harassment, if it suits her politics. In 2021, when similar allegations were made at the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) School, Kanimozhi issued a statement demanding the closure of the school and condemned the incident. However, she has remained silent about the recent incident, which took place within her own constituency. This silence has raised questions about the DMK’s hypocrisy and its apparent minority appeasement policies.

The PSBB school, which Kanimozhi had demanded be shut down, was run by a Hindu (specifically a Brahmin) management, while the Salma Matriculation School in question in Tiruchendur is a minority-run Muslim institution. Critics point out the double standard in her response: when the allegations involved a Hindu-run institution, the DMK MP was quick to take action, but when the incident involves a Muslim-run institution, she has chosen to remain silent.

On 2021, DMK MP Kanimozhi posted, “The sexual harassment allegations against a commerce teacher in PSBB School,Chennai has been shocking. Inquiry should be conducted and action must be taken against those who are involved including school authorities who failed to act against the complaints from students.”

How Entire Dravidian Ecosystem Used PSBB School Incident To Unleash Brahmin & Hindu Hatred

A teacher at Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB) in K.K. Nagar, Chennai, was accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by students and alumni. The issue came to light after screenshots of Instagram stories began circulating on social media, where students alleged that the teacher had engaged in inappropriate touching, shared pornography links, made sexual innuendos, slut-shamed female students, and appeared in online classes wearing only a towel. He was also accused of asking a female student out for a movie. There were further claims that the school management had ignored the teacher’s behavior.

In response to the growing outrage on social media, YG Parthasarathy, one of the school’s trustees, called for an inquiry into the matter. The teacher was subsequently suspended, and the school management promised to take appropriate action.

However, instead of focusing solely on the sexual harassment allegations, some supporters of the DMK and the ruling establishment in Tamil Nadu turned the incident into an opportunity to spread caste-based hatred.

Many Twitter (now X) handles aligned with the DMK launched a casteist attack against Brahmins and attempted to implicate YG Madhuvanthi and YG Parthasarathy, both trustees of the school, despite the fact that they did not oversee the day-to-day operations of the institution. These individuals were unfairly targeted, despite their limited involvement in the school’s day-to-day functioning. In some cases, the controversy was even twisted to blame the BJP, further politicizing the issue.

This caste-baiting and the unwarranted targeting of Brahmins exposed how quickly the Dravidian ecosystem could exploit a serious case of sexual harassment to push an agenda of divisive politics, using the incident to fuel communal tensions. Rather than focusing on the victims of harassment, the matter was cynically politicized to serve ideological battles, highlighting the persistent caste polarization that continues to shape Tamil Nadu’s political landscape.

DMK MPs Kanimozhi, Dayanidhi Maran and Thamizhachi Thangapandian too tweeted about the issue to derive political mileage.

This raises concerns about the Dravidianist ecosystem and the DMK’s political agenda, with many questioning whether this is part of a broader pattern of ignoring issues if it happens to be from the minority community. The lack of a response from Kanimozhi and the party, even when the incident occurred in her constituency, has fueled accusations of indifference and political hypocrisy.

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