In order to establish the perception that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is hostile to Tamils, the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Left parties accuse the BJP of continuously targeting Tamil culture and language. One tool used in this propaganda is the issue of the loss of Tamil employment in NLC India Limited ― the mining and energy company under the purview of the Ministry of Coal ― to North Indians.
The DMK and their allies claim that out of all the students who passed the NLC written exams for the Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET) position, only 1% are students from Tamil Nadu while the rest of the 99% vacancy is filled from other states. This is a serious lie spread by the DMK through its media clout, and it must be debunked.
Firstly, the government and the list of shortlisted candidates make no mention of the state of the residence of the candidates who are chosen for the interview stage. So, how did the DMK and the Left come to the conclusion that only 1% of Tamil students were chosen for the interview stage? The reality is that they assumed certain people in the shortlist belong to north India based on their surnames. For example, they categorise Rajesh Gupta as a north Indian because Tamils usually do not have the surname Gupta. These are the same parties that labelled Naam Tamilar Katchi a ‘racist’ party for classifying Tamils based on caste name. They are now using the same technique of determining if an individual is a Tamil or a north Indian based on their caste name.
Secondly, some pan-India names appear in the shortlist, such as Abishek Kumar (name appears five times), Ajay Kumar (3 times), Ashish Kumar (4 times), and so on, from which it is impossible to determine if the person is North Indian or Tamil. These names have been classified as North Indians by the DMK. But Tamil people also use these names. Only those names like Arul, Arun Kumar, Balamurugan and so on were classified as Tamil by the DMK.
Thirdly, there are some Urdu names on the shortlist that Muslims would use. Tamil Muslims in Tamil Nadu also have a habit of using Urdu names. However, it is inferred that the DMK categorises all those individuals with Urdu names as North Indians. Are they implying that those whose names are written in Urdu are not Tamils? Will the DMK or its supporters say this in front of the media or at a public meeting?
Finally, this recruitment is not only for NLC India plants in Neyveli and Tuticorin as claimed by DMK and its allies, but also for the NLC India plants situated in Barsingar, Bithnok, Talabira, South Pachwara and Ghatampur.
These lies must be refuted immediately by the BJP, as the DMK is using its media clout to spread these lies to the general public. In fact, the DMK used these lies as an advertisement for its election propaganda. The majority of TV anchors who are affiliated with DMK/DK assist DMK in spreading these lies without any remorse. Will the TN BJP react to these lies?
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