Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar has once again exposed his religious agenda by identifying himself as a “Vanniyar Christian”. He said this while speaking about the demand to include Hindu converts to Christianity from the Vanniyar community in the Backward Classes list.
Recounting his association with the Tamil Nadu Deccan Vanniyar Christian Association, Prabhakar said he had personally raised the demand before former Chief Minister MG Ramachandran (MGR), and later credited successive governments with taking steps towards extending reservation benefits to converted Christians.
Prabhakar said that the association had been consistently raising demands concerning Dalit Christians who had converted from Hinduism, including their inclusion in the Backward Classes list.
Speaking in the assembly, he said, “There is an organization known as the Tamil Nadu Deccan Vanniyar Christian Association, and I am one of its members. On behalf of this association, various demands have been placed before the government. to ‘Revolutionary Leader’ (Puratchi Thalaivar) when he was in office. The association holds conferences to advocate for the issues of Dalit Christians in Tamil Nadu—who converted from Hinduism—be granted appropriate status and also include the converted Christians in the Backward Classes list. They are consistently demanding this. I was sent to the conferences twice. When my wedding took place on August 22, 1985, he could not attend, although other ministers had been sent to the wedding on his behalf. The day after the wedding, when my wife and I went to meet him, we carried a brief letter. In it, we noted his inability to attend the wedding and reiterated the demand to include Vanniyar Christians—converts from Tamil Nadu—in the Backward Classes list, highlighting that this privilege had previously been denied to them. You (MGR) had already included Nadar Christians in the Backward Classes list; similarly, Dr. Kalaignar had included the fishing community in that list. Now, you must include the remaining Vanniyar Christians. We both signed and submitted a written statement declaring that if you were to do so, we would consider it the wedding gift you have given us.”
He continued, “Brother Kumari Ananthan was sitting next to him while talking to him and saw the letter. He smiled at us and turned around. He folded the letter and put it in his pocket and put it in his pocket. The next day morning Paramasivam IAS called me and asked which other castes had converted to Christianity, in the event that Vanniyar Christians were included in the Backward Classes list. I said that Hindus from all castes are converting to other religions; I stated that conversions are taking place across all castes. Two months later, Puratchi Thalaivar issued a groundbreaking GO—the likes of which had never been seen before in India—mandating that Hindus who had converted to Christianity be included in the Backward Classes list irrespective of what caste they belong to; this was a precedent-setting order for the entire country. Later, during the tenure of ‘Puratchi Thalaivi’ Amma, a parliamentary by-election took place in Palani. When it was proposed to present a silver sword to ‘Amma’—even though she was not in power at the time—everyone came together to procure and present a ceremonial sword to her.”
He added, “While on stage at a conference in the village of Basavapatti—specifically during the election period—she announced that she would immediately issue an order to include them in the most backward class list. True to her word, she announced it and issued the order right away. However, someone challenged this in court. They raised two arguments stating that issuing this—on behalf of a sister from Neyveli—was a mistake. They contended that the announcement made during the parliamentary election was erroneous. They argued that before issuing the subsequent order, the authorities should have consulted the Backward Classes Commission and the Minorities Commission—specifically Justice Janardhan, who held office at the time—and obtained his opinion before proceeding.”
He further said, “The court’s ruling was not that the action taken was wrong, but rather that the proper procedure had not been followed. Subsequently, even as different judges presided over the commission, the core requirement remained: a survey had to be conducted first, as the matter could only proceed after such a survey. When this was stated, Janardhan—who was in charge at the time—agreed and directed that the survey be carried out; Teams visited villages across Dindigul, Pudukkottai, and Trichy districts—wherever the community was concentrated—to gather data and submit the findings. However, subsequent officials rejected that enumeration, and the process was halted. Regarding the Backward Classes Commission and the Minorities Commission, the view was that such an enumeration was essential to ensure true justice; regardless of who was in power, it should have been executed immediately, as the judgment and the public will both favored it. If the Supreme Court had directed that a caste-based census be conducted, it should have been carried out immediately; that is what the people expect today. I believe that our Honorable Chief Minister—who leads a new government that is compassionate and supportive of all people, transcending caste, religion, ethnicity, and language—will consider this matter with care and certainly arrive at a positive decision.”
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