In a shocking incident, former DMK MP MM Abdulla has stirred controversy by making blatantly casteist remarks targeting the Brahmin community, while simultaneously misrepresenting a recent academic reform at IIT Madras.
The controversy stems from a progressive policy introduced by IIT Madras, which aligns with the National Education Policy’s vision of flexible education. The institute announced that BTech students from the 2024 batch onward, who earn 250 out of 400 credits, can opt for an exit after three years with a BSc degree. This provision, aimed at reducing academic pressure and providing options for students pursuing entrepreneurship or different career paths, was detailed by Professor Prathap Haridoss, Dean of Academic Courses.
However, reacting to this news, Abdulla made a virulent post on social media, stating in Tamil laced with Brahmin slang/dialect, “IIT is ours… Lately, too many of your people are getting in!!! If you come, just get a B.Sc. and run away!! If you dare to aspire for a B.Tech degree, you will fail in the final year, beware! #decoding the news”.
The phrases “எங்களோடது” (ours) and “உங்க ஆட்கள்” (your people) are widely interpreted as direct, casteist dog-whistles, implying that prestigious institutions like IITs being centres of “Brahminical hegemony”. His comments falsely suggest that the exit option is a conspiratorial trap designed to make students from a particular community fail, a claim completely unfounded and contradictory to the institute’s stated goal of providing more choices and reducing stress.
The remarks triggered criticism online, with several users accusing the former MP of making casteist statements and misrepresenting the intent of the IIT Madras reforms. Critics pointed out that the policy applies uniformly to all students and is aimed at reducing academic stress, offering flexibility, and preventing dropouts, rather than targeting any community.
Past Remarks Of DMK Leader MM Abdulla
MM Abdulla is known for making crass remarks on social media. This instance is not the first time.
Abuses On Social Media
On 11 March 2022, DMK MP MM Abdulla unleashed an abusive tirade against two individuals, one of whom is a woman journalist, for speaking against DMK IT wing who were harassing anyone who criticizes the party on social media.
DMK MP MM Abdulla responded to Savukku Shankar’s accusation by saying, “Savukku Shankar is claiming that the Chinnamalai IT team photoshopped him to look like a pimp. If the Chinnamalai IT team had done it, they would have depicted him as a prostitute in the Marina beach background, demanding ₹5 for hand j*b and ₹10 for blowj*b.”
Prior to that, he had shared a Facebook post attempting to indirectly abuse actress Kasthuri Shankar and her family.
MM Abdulla wrote on Facebook, “You’re saying Kalaignar didn’t have a ticket. However, there is no documentation of him saying this on any platform, nor has the TTR of the alleged train Karunanidhi travelled on stated anything about this claim anywhere. There is one additional option apart from the above-mentioned ones!! The only proof would possibly be that your grandmother would have travelled with Karunanidhi on the same train and would have narrated to you that “Kalaignar and myself only had ran away from home and took that train.”
Comments on Kashmir & Article 370
In December 2023, when the Supreme Court upheld the Narendra Modi government’s decision to abrogate Article 370, the then-DMK MP MM Abdullah made remarks that seemed to echo separatist rhetoric on Kashmir. Quoting EV Ramasamy Naicker, the DMK MP asserted that “every race has the right to self-determination” and said this principle applied to the Kashmiri people, while repeatedly calling for an investigation into alleged human rights violations in the region and proposing the setting up of an independent commission. The remarks drew a sharp rebuke from Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, who said such observations were incompatible with the Constitution and ordered them to be expunged, stating that the MP was “abusing the platform” and had “gone too far” by invoking racial self-determination. Although Abdullah attempted to walk back the implication by denying he was referring to secession, he went on to reiterate the same quote, again stressing Kashmir’s right to “self-determination”, a term commonly associated with separatist demands.
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