With the controversy surrounding the appointment of Father Mariasusai to the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission and Dindigul Leoni as the chairperson of the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation still raging, the DMK government has made another controversial appointment by appointing Suba Veerapandian to the Advisory committee to Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation. Suba Vee as he is known is best known for his anti-Hindu speeches particularly targeting the Brahmin community. He had also supported lyricist Vairamuthu who has been accused of sexual harassment by multiple women.
Suba Veerapandian runs an outfit called Dravida Iyakka Tamilar Peravai which spreads the principles of the separatist and demagogic Dravidian ideology. He incites hatred against the Tamizh Brahmin community through his speeches and TV debates.
A few weeks ago, famous Tamil lyricist Thamarai, who is known for her collaboration with film maker Gautham Vasudev Menon and Music Director Harris Jayaraj, came down heavy on Subha Veerapandian and Thiyagu, accusing them of sexual harassment.
She lashed out at Dravidian ideologue Suba Veerapandian (Suba Vee) and her ex-husband Thiyagu who also have been accused of sexual harassment. She had wrote in her Facebook profile “Suba Vee, the well-educated genius, is a ‘crook’ as everyone knows! But what happened? I was left in the middle of the road with my child. When I was stranded on the road, where were the ‘Kalanjiyams’ and ‘Nakkheerars’, who now talk vociferously, go?”
SubaVee was not only accused of being an accomplice in sexual misconduct, but he was also a key figure of an organisation that the Tamil Nadu government had banned. On August 13, 2002, the Tamil National Movement (TNM), led by P Nedumaran and in which SubaVee functioned as general secretary, was banned and labelled a “unlawful group” by the Tamil Nadu government.
Nedumaran, the TNM general secretary Suba Veerapandian and party activists Thayappan Ahmed and ”Pudukottai” Pavanam have been charged under Section 21 (2) (3) of POTA and arrested for allegedly speaking in favour of the outlawed LTTE at a meeting here on April 13, 2002.
In fact, the then DMK principal secretary and senior minister Arcot N Veeraswami condemned the provocative speeches of Suba Vee in the past. He said Suba Veerapandian, one of the speakers at a conference organised by the Viduthalai Chiruthaikal Katchi (VCK) on December 27, 2008, had allegedly stated that Sathyamurthy Bhavan, the TNCC headquarters, could have been totally destroyed, if only VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan had given such an order. “No one who believes in democracy can accept such remarks. The DMK strongly condemns it,” Veeraswami had said back then.
His appointment to the advisory committee of Tamil Nadu Textbook Service Corporation has made people wonder what has changed now. Did he apologize for his provocative speeches while supporting the LTTE, or did he prove his innocence in the allegations levelled against him by lyricist Thamarai?
Also, in one of his speeches he made in front of school children, he said the ruling BJP government is for the Brahmins (“இது அவாளுக்கான அரசு” meaning – This is a government for Brahmins). Is this what a rational person would say in front of children? Will this not bring a divide between Brahmin and non Brahmin students in the schools. What kind of advice would he give if he was appointed to the advisory council of the Tamil Nadu Textbook Service Corporation? Will he not use his position to spread anti-Hindu and anti-Brahmin hatred?
Who will be the DMK government’s next appointment? The man convicted of killing former Prime Minister as Chairman of State Human Rights Commission?
(Views expressed are the author’s own)
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