In yet another hate speech against the Tamil Brahmins in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, Kovai Ramakrishnan, General Secretary of Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam, made casteist remarks at a recent event. He targeted women who supported actress Kasthuri Shankar’s plea for bail, citing her special needs child with autism. He even called on the Tamil Nadu government to ban the community, blaming their vegetarian diet for the birth of such children. This alarming rhetoric was both hateful and unfounded.
Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam organized a meeting on 26 November 2024, to commemorate the Constitution Incineration Movement led by EV Ramasamy Naicker (known as Periyar). During this event, Kovai Ramakrishnan, General Secretary of the organization, made derogatory comments targeting the Brahmins. From the outset of his speech, it was clear that Ramakrishnan could not tolerate the sudden unity of Brahmins, who, after years of being attacked, had come together under the Indu Makkal Katchi to make demands for their rights.
Actress Kasthuri, who spoke at the meeting, took the opportunity to criticize both the Dravidian ideology and DMK government, also made controversial remarks about the Telugu community. In response, the DMK government pursued her aggressively, almost as if she were a fugitive. Many people rallied in her support, including Kamatchi Swaminathan, the All-India Vice President of Saksham—a prominent organization dedicated to the differently-abled and the wife of Hon’ble Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court—who made an emotional appeal for Kasthuri’s release on bail.
Unable to tolerate the support for Kasthuri, Kovai Ramakrishnan, peddled narrative stating, “In this very Chennai, last month, we saw a “Paapathi” (a derogatory term for Brahmin women) shouting slogans. As she shouted, it caused a stir, and the Brahmin association raised their voices that ‘We have been affected’. Then, this Paapathi spoke, making disparaging remarks about all non-Brahmins, which led to her arrest by the police. The police had arrested the paapathi, what’s her name? Kasthuri, they have taken into custody. Now, have you noticed where the anger is coming from? Who is speaking out on her behalf? It’s the wife of a justice. Yes, the wife of a judge is voicing support for this Paapathi. What did she say? She argued that (Kasthuri) should be granted bail because she has a child with autism.”
Then, peddling an unfounded narrative on medical terms, Kovai Ramakrishnan echoed the hateful rhetoric of Hitler’s views on Jews, calling for a government ban on Brahmins. He said, “If we research about autism, it is a significant issue. If you look at where children with autism are more prevalent, it’s in the ‘Paapan’ (a derogatory term for Brahmin men) families. Autism is more common in Agraharams. It’s truly a pitiful life for those children. We are not mocking or making fun of it, but why is this community producing such children? The government should seriously investigate this and ban the ‘Paapan’ families. Why? Because they are producing children with stillbirths/premature births.”
Ramakrishnan then went on to offer his reasoning for the prevalence of autism, which was nothing short of a mockery to the scientific community. He claimed that autism in children was caused by dietary practices such as vegetarianism and further suggested that other communities had fewer cases because they consumed meat, particularly beef. This baseless and absurd statement came from Ramakrishnan, the General Secretary of Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam, who prided himself on being a so-called rationalist.
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