In an event held a few days ago, Minister of Milk and Dairy Development of Tamil Nadu was seen sharing the stage with Dravida Kazhagam leader Suba Vee, DMK MP A Raja, journalist Nakkeeran Gopal. While it is not clear what the event was, it seemed to be circling around Dravidian ideologue EV Ramasamy Naicker’s ideologies and those of the Dravida Kazhagam.
In his speech, Mano Thangaraj says, “If they hear the word Dravidam, the entire country is tense. The reason for that is something that we have to debate and discuss. The political parties in the Indian subcontinent that oppose the RSS and Sangh Parivar organisations ideologically – the answer to this is Dravidam, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are posing a challenge to these organisations today. These ideologies must be taken to further heights and across borders – we must take it beyond Tamil Nadu. We must take it to North Indian states also and it is a compulsion today.”
Talking about the Ram Mandir consecration, Mano Thangaraj said, “Today the UP government is preparing to celebrate the Ram Mandir consecration. The UP government’s Tourism & Culture department has written to all state leaders and district heads asking them to conduct Ram Bhajans in Rama, Hanuman, and Valmiki temples in the state. How can a secular country with a constitution that asserts secularism do this? They are giving this a religious colour and converting it into a political issue by using government machinery in a secular country. Valmiki temples are frequented by the Schedule Caste community. They constitute 22% of the vote bank. They are targeting those who visit the Valmiki temples with an ulterior motive. This is a threatening message.
“I am from Kanyakumari district and you all know what kind of a problem I am facing with them. That they see DMK, Dravidian parties and the word Dravidam as an enemy is because we are successful at showing the true colours of the RSS and Sangh Parivar organisations.”, he said.
Peddling the usual Centre Vs State and North Vs South rhetoric, the DMK Minister said “Who is talking about social justice today? When Anna spoke of federalism, no one understood, today also not many understand. Today if we ask for money, he speaks arrogantly. We are asking for our money. The Finance Commission said we were supposed to get 42% GST, but they brought it down to 29%. How they are favouring Hindi-speaking states over us? Parliamentarians have been thrown out. The majority of the MPs that have been suspended are from non-Hindi-speaking states. So what does this show? Those states that don’t speak Hindi and that have rejected Hindutva ideology – these states are the ones that are in Opposition or the ones who are opposing the BJP/Sangh Parivar parties and allow those people to be nurtured. These parties (BJP/Sangh Parivar) do not have any schemes that are good for the public. They are holding on to the Ram Temple and the Babri Masjid issue and the motive behind it is to create a political issue out of it.”
In the video, Mano Thangaraj is also seen saying, “The BJP is recruiting 500 people, giving them salaries and promoting hashtags daily. What kind of hashtags? They are using degrading words to describe our leaders. They are accomplishing this by hiring individuals for financial incentives, while our people remain inactive. It’s truly regrettable, but I must express my concern here. When we post anything against the BJP, we cannot see the comments they immediately notice and respond. I asked a friendly RSS member how they managed to reply so quickly. Within seconds of receiving a notification, they fill it with negative comments. Our people get demoralised, and there is no defence from our side. Today you should understand this, BJP and RSS that we are opposing are not single organisations there are many, and to counter this we need more magazines and organisations. If you notice, they own hundreds of organisations, and each working in their favour.”
அண்ணன் #கொழுப்புதிருடன்_மனோ மனமுடைந்து கதறிய துயர சம்பவம்… pic.twitter.com/DSQIoa84um
— Selva Kumar (@Selvakumar_IN) January 5, 2024
He added, “They are repeatedly speaking lies and spreading fake news. First understand one thing, if a person is coming to shoot at us with an AK-47, we cannot fight back with a stick. Don’t expect mercy from them. They are focused on brainwashing the people in every district and spreading divisive ideologies. They are doing this with great planning. The word Dravidam is a big challenge for them. This is because we talk about women’s equality, decentralisation of power, we voice out against the piling up of power, and we have brought forth a wonderful philosophy of state autonomy because states are being deceived.”
He also said, “Dravida organisations are the only ones who are truly secular in this Indian subcontinent. The rest of them are neither here nor there, that’s why they are caught. I want to narrate this incident. I am from Kanyakumari and in the neighbouring state of Kerala, the Sabarimala issue broke out. The BJP thought they got a great issue in hand and went to the streets. The Congress also thought it was a great opportunity to pin the Communist government. But the Communist government with the support of parties that favour democracy, literally beat these people up. For that one reason alone, the stick that the Communists took up was bigger than the one held by these people. That’s why they came back to power for the second time. Had the Sabarimala issue not broken out, the Communist Party would not have been able to come to power for the second time. They took up an issue (weapon) to use it to their benefit. But, the Communist Party was able to overcome this big issue ideologically. Surely, if we counter the Hindutva gang which is cheating the public without any ideology with the right weapon, we will be able to overcome (defeat) them without any doubt. This is a danger to the entire country and democracy. In a world where democracy has gained centre stage, a country that is called the world’s biggest democracy, an organisation is working towards removing democracy.”
Mano Thangaraj was in the news recently when Aavin milk supply had been disrupted during the Michaung cyclone. Milk Producers Association also levelled allegations against Mano Thangaraj for reducing the fat content in Aavin milk.
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