The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s ally Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) has been facing heat for a banner erected in Batlagundu over the Manipur violence targeting the Modi government in which Hindu Gods Ram, Lakshman and Sita have been portrayed in a derogatory manner.
The banner had caricatured images of Narendra Modi as Lord Ram and Amit Shah as Lord Lakshman holding bow and arrows standing on either sides of a naked woman (Goddess Sita), hinting at the horrific incident in Manipur in which a woman was paraded naked and sexually assaulted. The Indian tricolour can be seen covering the female genitals and the breasts of the caricatured woman.
The Commune had reported about the incident on 29 July 2023 and had also reached out to Jawahirullah for comments following which Jawahirullah took to social media and apologized for the derogatory board placed by members of his party.
Even as the dust is yet to settle on this matter, another banner erected by the alleged Islamist party in Chennai and Coimbatore has surfaced on social media in which Bharat Mata is shown derogatorily.
We won't say 'bharat mata ki jai' but would be the first one to use her for political propaganda.
Another derogatory poster by MMK (an I.N.D.I. Alliance).
Pc – Coimbatore local portal SimpliCity pic.twitter.com/1JS4TiTHJs
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) July 31, 2023
In these images shown in this tweet, the derogatory posters portraying the Manipur violence victim as Bharat Mata (Mother India) with the two men who harmed her, one of them is shown wearing a saffron-coloured mask on his face. The caricature of the victim with her perpetrators was also shared by a writer/filmmaker from Tamil Nadu, Rajumurugan who is known for films like Joker and the rabid anti-Hindu film Gypsy in which he would’ve peddled canards and propaganda against the ruling BJP.
நாட்டை, நாஜி வதை முகாமாக மாற்றிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது உங்கள் வெறுப்பரசியல். மணிப்பூரில் நிர்வாணமாகக் கிழிந்து சித்திரவதைப்படுவது வேறு யாருமல்ல… நம் பாரதமாதா! pic.twitter.com/gvWyx0IJxq
— Director Rajumurugan (@Dir_Rajumurugan) July 20, 2023
The same image was used in the protest rally of the MMK.
Jawahirulla in a video byte had claimed that as soon as the digital banners were placed in Dindigul, the district office bearers of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi in Dindigul immediately sprung into action. He claimed that all the digital banners were removed even before the demonstration took place.
However, from the above picture it is visible that the protest meeting in Coimbatore happened with the derogatory picture of Bharat Mata in the backdrop.
“As president of the party, I had reprimanded the fellows and members who were responsible for it. And we had taken disciplinary action against them. The Batlagundu police has also registered a case against them.”, Jawahirullah said adding that MMK never indulged in hurting the sentiments of fellow Hindu brethren either by words, actions or comments contrary to the posters put up.
“If this has hurt he sentiments of our brothers and sisters I had publicly apologized for the act of some of our partymen in Batlagundu.”, he said.
It is to be noted that Jawahirullah has not apologized for the vulgar drawing of Bharat Mata.
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