M. Mathivadhani, Deputy General Secretary of the Dravidar Kazhagam, has stirred controversy after making derogatory remarks about Union Home Minister Amit Shah and mocking individuals with the surname ‘Shah,’ comparing it to a ‘shoe.’
A video of her comments, which has since gone viral, has drawn widespread criticism. Many social media users and political figures have condemned the remarks, calling them offensive and demanding a public apology from Mathivadhani.
In the now-circulating video, Mathivadhani can be heard saying, “the Home Minister Amit Shah, everyone talked about him. It’s not just Amit Shah, even if it’s Shah, Shoe, or whoever comes, the BJP cannot win even a single seat in Tamil Nadu. Knowing they cannot get even a single seat, they are coming along with the ADMK. The ADMK also cannot win even a single seat because you are with the BJP. They went and asked Amit Shah why you didn’t provide the jobs for the two-crore people. Home Minister Amit Shah replied ‘Jhumla’. It means he said it casually (summa sonaru). In which country would this kind of joke happen? Would this mockery happen? Would people believe this? At a time when the youth are looking for employment, last week, not like 20 or 30 years ago, a news report came out last week in India Today stating that Tamil Nadu is the leading state in India in the manufacturing sector.”
அமித் ஷா இல்லை, ஷா, ஷூ யார் வந்தாலும் தமிழ்நாட்டில் ஒத்த சீட் கூட வாங்க முடியாது; திமுகவை தோற்கடிப்பது என்பது திமுகவின் திட்டங்களை தோற்கடிப்பதாகும்#Mathivadhani | #DMK | #MKStalin | #AmitShah | #BJP pic.twitter.com/BBkF5qaIvF
— PuthiyathalaimuraiTV (@PTTVOnlineNews) June 10, 2025
This kind of targeting individuals based on caste or surnames is not new to Periyarist sympathizer Mathivadhani. In a previous incident, following a legal setback for the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government, she made similarly controversial remarks. On 21 May 2025, the Madras High Court comprising Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayan issued an interim stay on the state government’s amendments that aimed to strip the Governor of the authority to appoint Vice-Chancellors in state-run universities. Reacting to the ruling, Mathivadhani referenced the words of E.V. Ramasamy Naicker (also called as Periyar) to criticize the judgment, insinuating that when Brahmins hold judicial positions, the verdicts tend to reflect caste bias. Her remarks drew widespread backlash for casting aspersions on the judiciary and promoting divisive rhetoric.
She stated “A country where the Paapan (derogatory slur denoting Brahmins) becomes the judge and the ruler is like a jungle inhabited by a ferocious tiger. That is why we are engaged in a tiger hunt. When the tiger leaps, one or two people are bound to get hit! – Thanthai Periyar”
பார்ப்பான் நீதிபதியாய், ஆட்சியாளராய் இருக்கும் நாடு கடும்புலி வாழும் காடேயாகும். ஆதலால், நாங்கள் புலிவேட்டை ஆடுகிறோம். புலி மேலே பாய்ந்ததில் ஒருவர் இருவர் அடிபட வேண்டியதுதான்!
-தந்தை பெரியார்
— S.M.Mathivadhani (@MMathivadhani) May 21, 2025
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