Actor Vijay, who is also the founder and chief of the Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), seems to have publicly reaffirmed that he would follow the political principles of E.V. Ramasamy Naicker or EVR, hailed as Periyar by his followers. This declaration was highlighted during his recent visit to Periyar Thidal to mark Periyar’s 146th birth anniversary.
Vijay visited the EVR memorial and paid “respects” through flower offerings and garlanding the statue barefoot, underscoring his alignment with the ideologies of Periyar and the DMK.
His political ideology is becoming clearer now… Actor-politician @actorvijay pays tribute to Periyar pic.twitter.com/Kbef5sPs64
— Akshita Nandagopal (@Akshita_N) September 17, 2024
On his social media handle, Vijay posted an image of EVR with text saying, “He inculcated awareness among the people of Tamil Nadu who were kept captive by caste, religious dominance and superstitions; He who, through the self-liberating desire of all living beings, cut off the shackles of ups and downs; He inspired people to struggle with rationality; On the birth anniversary of social reformer, rationalist, Socrates of the South, Father Periyar, his emphasis on women’s rights, women’s education, women’s protection.
Equality, Equal Rights, Social Justice. Let’s commit to walking the path!”
— TVK Vijay (@tvkvijayhq) September 17, 2024
It is noteworthy that EVR organized an agitation for the desecration of Vinayagar idols. He had elaborated extensively on the motivations behind the breaking of the idols. He had said in a speech in 1953, “We have to eradicate the gods who are responsible for the institution which portrays us as sudras, people of low birth, and some others as Brahmins of high birth. While the former go on toiling, without any education, whereas the latter can remain without exerting themselves. We have to break the idols of these gods. I start with Ganesa because it is he who is worshipped before undertaking any task.”
There is a well-known cartoon of EV Ramasamy Naicker breaking the idols of Vinayagar. It is based on the real-life incident when EVR smashed an idol of the Hindu God Vinayagar in public at the Town Hall Maidan in Tiruchirappalli. A Saivite Hindu named S. Veerabadran Chettiar filed a case against EVR under Section 295 and Section 295-A.
According to court records, on 27 May 27 1953, at about 5-30 PM, EVR broke an idol of Vinayagar in public at the Town Hall Maidan. Before breaking the idol, he blatantly stated that his action was intended to insult the feelings of the Hindu community.
Vijay also posted something similar for Annadurai’s birth anniversary on 15 September 2024. The text on the image reads, “He made new history in the political field of Tamil Nadu by legalizing self-respect marriages, changing the name of ‘Madras State’ to ‘Tamil Nadu‘, implementing the bilingual policy of Tamil and English. On his birthday, we will forever celebrate his contribution to Tamil Nadu.”
— TVK Vijay (@tvkvijayhq) September 15, 2024
Vijay has blatantly avoided wishing Hindus for Hindu festivals such as Tamil Puthandu, Vinayakar Chathurthi, and Krishna Jayanti. In contrast, he wished for Onam, Ramzan, Easter, and neutral special days such as Labour Day, Independence Day, etc.
Actions like these indicate that Vijay is also set to walk the Dravidianist ideology path and further strengthen the claims that his party is only DMK 2.0. In that case, Vijay should consider renaming his party from Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to Dravida Vettri Kazhagam.
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