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DMK’s History Of Derogating Women

Kaushik Ramasamy

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has a history and that history is loaded with its leaders derogating women.

Right from its founder CN Annadurai to his successor M. Karunanidhi and the latter’s grandson Udayanidhi Stalin, from senior leaders like Duraimurugan, A. Raja, and Ponmudy to up till the last cadre standing, there are numerous instances when DMK leaders have made misogynistic and unsavoury remarks about women.

From assaulting their arch rival Jayalalithaa in the Assembly, to pinching the hips of their own women cadres, here are a few instances of DMK men derogating women.

Annadurai

Despite the fact that Annadurai excelled in governance with his talents like public speaking and writing, he was caught in a controversy after he was allegedly involved in an affair with a famous actress. Unlike today’s politicians who would have vehemently denied such accusations, Annadurai, who was the state’s Chief Minister at the time, commented on this issue saying, “I’m not a monk. I have my own desires, and I am human. Neither was she a woman of chastity.”

This is the same man who is now being conferred titles like ‘Perarignar’ (renowned scholar).

Karunanidhi

Next up is Karunanidhi, who has a track record of consistently speaking crassly about women. Once during a protest staged by the DMK in Madurai, Congress leader Indira Gandhi, who was the Prime Minister at the time, was hit in the head and started bleeding. When asked to comment about the injury, Karunanidhi had perversely said that it would have been ‘menstrual blood’ that could have leaked for Indira Gandhi.

In another incident, a female Congress MLA called Ananthanayaki had questioned in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, as to where the so-called Dravida naadu (dravidian country) was, to which Karunanidhi replied saying she should lift her petticoat and check underneath to find it.

He also went on to criticise former CM Late Jayalalithaa after he had consistently lost to her, saying that she will no longer be able to have kids since her best years were behind her, and said that he would have helped her have kids if she had asked him. He then went on to say that she knew a lot of languages because she was in ‘that kind of a job’, hinting at prostitution.

Duraimurugan

On March 25, 1989, the Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessed a shameful episode when Duraimurugan who was then a Minister in the Karunanidhi government assaulted Jaylalithaa and pulled her saree.

She was physically attacked by DMK MLAs as she made her way out of the House.

Karunanidhi, then the chief minister, reportedly threw expletives at her after she called him a criminal in Tamil.

Udhayanidhi Stalin

Following suit, his grandson Udhayanidhi Stalin made disgusting remarks about Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s appointment as Chief Minister saying that he would have ‘gone inside Sasikala’s legs’ to get the post of CM.

“This is the problem I face whenever I go for campaigning too. I try to say ‘Edappadi’ government, immediately someone from the crowd says ‘Edupudi aatchi’ [slave government]. I wonder whose slave.. Modi’s slave. From another side another man shouts it is not ‘Edupudi’, it is ‘deadbody’. [again laughs]. That is how he was lying down at the feet of Sasikala right! He went under the table, chair to fall at her feet. Given the chance, he would have gone inside her legs as well!” Udhayanidhi Stalin made a tongue-in-cheek remark with a smile to which DMK cadres can be heard laughing and clapping.

PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan

In what can be called as a behaviour unbefitting for a person holding public office, Madurai Central MLA and Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan unleashed abuses and made personal attacks on Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan who had called out the former for insulting Goa during the 43rd GSR Council meeting.

Coimbatore South MLA Vanathi Srinivasan had condemned the behaviour of Palanivel Thiagarajan’s behaviour at the GST Council meeting and called it an insult to democracy.

To this, the DMK Minister remarked if the BJP woman MLA was a ‘congenital liar’ or a person with ‘low IQ’.

The Finance Minister had later blocked the BJP woman MLA and went on to justify it saying “I block you like a normal person closes a window to avoid bad smell”.

RS Bharathi

RS Bharathi, the Organizational Secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), made derogatory comments about late AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa and her aide Sasikala.

Speaking at an event held in Ambattur in Chennai in February 2021, RS Bharathi said ““Recently, Jayalalithaa’s memorial hall was opened on January 27. They gave ₹40,000 per bus from all over Tamil Nadu. They gave ₹2000 to those who boarded the bus. They picked them up and dropped them off at Marina Beach. Edappadi and OPS thought that the whole crowd would come to the Jayalalithaa memorial. But the crowd thought, instead of visiting that ‘moodhevi’ (a derogatory slang in Tamil), they visited Kalaignar’s [Karunanidhi’s] memorial”.

Speaking further about CM Palaniswami, RS Bharathi said “”When Udhayanidhi Stalin spoke, he said that you fell at the feet of Sasikala and became CM. But Udhayanidhi is facing a case for that. EPS went between the 2 legs of the table and then went below her 2 legs and fell down”.

Dindigul Leoni

In the run up to the 2021 Assembly Elections, Dindigul Leoni who was the party’s propaganda secretary spoke disparagingly of women, comparing their figure to that of barrels, and said that if they had to obtain the figure resembling the number 8, they should stop drinking the milk of imported cows.

This man who had made these sexist remarks has been made the head of the Tamil Nadu Textbook & Educational Services Corporation by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.

A Raja

During the peak of the election campaign in March 2021, DMK Lok Sabha MP and the party’s deputy general secretary A. Raja spoke ill of then CM Palaniswami’s mother when he was canvassing in support of DMK candidate Ezhilan in the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai.

He had said that MK Stalin, who had worked as a grassroots volunteer in the party and rose to become the Chief Ministerial candidate, was a golden child born from a healthy relationship, while Palaniswami was born illegitimately.

He said “Our DMK leader Stalin is the leader who was born of pure blood and as a fully grown healthy baby, as well as by legitimate means, whereas Edappadi Palaniswami was born premature, and was born out of an illegitimate relationship.”

After denying to have derogated Palaniswami’s mother, he once again repeated the same words at a meeting in Cuddalore.

Dayanidhi Maran

DMK MP from Chennai Central constituency Dayanidhi Maran was campaigning in the Kinathukadhavu constituency for the party’s candidate Kurichi Prabhakaran during the 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections.

During the campaign, the DMK MP said “Minister Rajenthira Balaji says Jayalalithaa is their ‘Amma’ (mother) and Modi is their ‘daddy’. Look at the kind of relationship they have. If we say this, they (AIADMK) will make a huge hue and cry.”

DMK Youth Wing Man Pinches Hips Of Woman Functionary

In April 2018, during a protest against the Centre for the formation of the Cauvery Management Board, a DMK youth wing cadre named Prabhu assaulted Jayamani, a woman DMK functionary and allegedly pinched her hip.

The disgusted and traumatized had staged a protest against her own party man’s behaviour.

“A bold woman like me gets pinched in the hip and no one is questioning the assaulter, how can any woman stay in DMK?”, the woman had lamented to reporters.

Ponmudi

While speaking at a function recently, DMK Minister K. Ponmudi belittlingly reminded women members in the audience about the ‘free bus scheme for women’ introduced by Stalin government.

“For you only 4000 rupees per card. Did he (Stalin) give or not? You got it right? Open your mouth and say. You got 4000 right? How are you going in bus today? If you want to go from here to Koyambedu or anywhere, you are going in ‘OC’ (free). You are going in ‘OC’ bus.”, he said.

Saidai Sadiq

Entering this hall of fame is foul-mouthed DMK spokesperson Saidai Sadique who made derogatory and misogynist comments targeting women leaders of the BJP Tamil Nadu.

Saidai Sadiq said,”How will you expand the BJP in Tamil Nadu? The BJP has four actresses. Khushbu, Namitha, Gayathri Raghuramm, Gauthami. We built the DMK party in North Madras with strong leaders such as TR Balu and Balraman in the past, and Elaya Aruna in the present.”

He referred to all four Tamil Nadu BJP actresses as prostitutes, saying, “We built the party with strong leaders, but if you look at the leaders in the BJP, all four women are ‘items’ (prostitutes).”

He also made sexual innuendos about Khusbhu obliquely stating that the DMK leader Elaya Aruna had sex with Actress Kushboo several times.He used the word “Potrukiraru (போட்டிருக்கிறாரு)” – a Tamil cuss word used to mention having sex.

These instances show that derogating women has become something of a tradition for the DMK.

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