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Vengaivayal: The Stench Emanating From Dravidian Model Of Social Justice

January 20, 2023
Ashok Kumar

Recently in the so-called land of ‘Periyar’ where Dravidian Model of governance is in effect under the rule of MK Stalin, a horrific incident was reported where human excreta was found dumped in water tank used by Dalits of the Vengaivayal village in Pudukottai district.

The incident came to light after many families fell sick. Residents had complained of yellow-coloured water and foul smell coming in their household pipes. A probe into the incident revealed that the contamination was from a single source – the water tank where human faeces were found floating.

Residents of the village complained to the police but the culprits behind the horrific crime are yet to be brought to justice.

What is most disturbing about the horrific incident is how the self-proclaimed champions of social justice, DMK’s allies, and the Dravidian Stockist media have been underplaying the incident in order to save the face of Stalin government.

How The Dravidian Stockist Media Is Trying To Buttress The Ruling DMK

In the beginning, the incident was widely reported by many media outlets triggering massive public outrage. However, the issue hardly featured as prime-time debates. Instead the mainstream news channels latched onto the DMK versus Governor controversy where Governor RN Ravi skipped portions of the speech prepared by the DMK government as it had factual errors and high on superlative adjectives extolling the government. The DMK MLAs creating a ruckus in the Assembly and Stalin moving a resolution against the Governor can itself be seen as an attempt to shift the focus away from real issues like the Vengaivayal incident.

Just a few days later, the Tamil mainstream media projected that the people of Vengaivayal have been celebrating ‘Samathuva Pongal,’ and are happy and moved on from the incident.

But even the ‘Samathuva Pongal’ was no happy affair. The Pongal cooked by Dalits were not eaten by members of the dominant Agamudayar and Muthuraiyar communities.

The truth is that the people of Vengaivayal village had besieged DMK ministers Raghupathi, Meyyanatha, and Kayalvizhi Selvaraj, who had gone there after nearly 20 days of that incident, and demanded that the DMK apprehend the criminals before celebrating ‘Samathuva Pongal’. DMK Minister Meyyanathan did not even visit the Dalit colony in Vengavayal and instead stayed in the Elementary school in the village, allege residents. But this was hardly discussed or debated by the Dravidian Stockist media.

Why Is DMK Underplaying?

Pudukottai district is dominated by three major communities. They are Mutharaiyar, Paraiyar (SC), and Thevar. Activist Airport Moorthy has alleged that the human excreta was mixed in the drinking water of the Paraiyar community by the Valayar, a sub-sect of the Mutharaiyar community.

There are six assembly constituencies in the Pudukottai district, namely, Gandharvakottai (SC), Viralimalai, Pudukottai, Thirumayam, Alangudi, and Aranthangi. Except for Viralimalai, where ADMK Vijayabhaskar won with Thevar votes, the DMK and its allies won all five constituencies. Thevar, Muthairaiyar, and Paraiyars are the main vote bank of ADMK, DMK, and VCK (Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi) respectively. Since 2019, VCK, a Paraiyar party, has been in an alliance with the DMK, and as a result, the DMK has won the majority of constituencies in the Pudukkottai district, where the incident occurred, using Mutharaiyar and Paraiyar votes.

Parliament constituencies which include the parts of Pudukottai districts include Karur, Trichy, Sivagangai and Ramanathapuram. All four parliamentary constituencies are won by DMK and its allies using Mutharaiyar and Paraiyar votes. However, none of the MPs, particularly the publicity-hungry Jothimani, have visited the site.

It is for this reason, the DMK is afraid to speak out on the issue because it involves the two communities that voted it into power in the Pudukottai district. It is because of this reason that Chief Minister MK Stalin or his Minister-son Udhayanidhi Stalin are yet to visit the village and express solidarity with the affected families. In order to not antagonize the the votebank of Valayars and Muthuraiyars, the DMK has been underplaying and have refused to vocally call out the horrific crime.

VCK Head Thirumavalavan’s Silence

DMK won Paraiyar votes by having Thirumavalavan, a Paraiyar leader, as a catalyst in its alliance. The Paraiyar caste has been betrayed not only by the DMK, the party for which they voted but also by their leader Thirumavalavan, who has refused to even engage in ‘Thozamai Suttuthal’ (soft criticism) this time.

VCK Thirumavalavan had previously announced a protest in Pudukottai in response to the incident, but he later canceled it in order to organize a protest against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi using Tamizhagam instead of Tamil Nadu. This begs the logical question: Is Governor RN Ravi’s ‘Tamizhagam’ issue more important than the Vengaivayal incident, or is it a diversionary tactic by Thirumavalavan to save the DMK?

After much outrage and people calling him out, only on 19 January 2023, Thirumavalavan organized a protest in Pudukottai to condemn the incident.

But before that he was busy promoting voting for VCK cadre Vikraman in BiggBoss Tamil, which is hosted by Tamil small screen anchor Kamal Haasan.

Where Are The Virtue-Signallers Now?

There is an actor called Suriya Sivakumar. He had recently produced and acted in the controversial film ‘Jai Bhim’ which sought to shed light on the plight of Dalits facing police torture.

When the AIADMK was in power, this actor and his brother Karthi who is also an actor, often grabbed limelight by condemning and issuing statements over every other matter unrelated to the domain of cinema. Surya and his brother Karthi, who have spoken out against issues such as the New Education Policy, NEET, the death of IT girl Subhashree due to the AIADMK’s banner falling, farmers’ protests, Vedanta’s Sterlite plant, Sathankulam incident where two men were beaten to death in police custody, have remained tight-lipped about the Vengaivayal incident.

Full-time actor and part-time politician Kamal Haasan who demanded action against the police, judiciary, doctors involved in the Sathankulam incident is today missing in action.

‘Superstar’ Rajinikanth, who relased a picture of his ‘angry face’ expressing shock over the incident and calling for all the officials to be severely punished, has gone on mute to shoot for his next film with Sun Pictures.

Another such alleged actor is Siddharth, who has remained silent about the Vengaivayal incident.

When the AIADMK was in power, these virtue-signaller who were very active have gone into hibernation now.

These social activists cum ‘Poralis’ who spoke out against the police murder of Jeyaraj and Bennix, have remained silent on numerous lock-up deaths during the DMK regime, including Vignesh’s death, in which CM Stalin was caught lying in the State Assembly.

Periyarists, who see themselves as the saviors of social justice in Tamil Nadu, has gone into hiding and have yet to comment on the incident. Subha Veerapandian, a Periyarist who serves on the Tamil Nadu government’s social justice committee, has not even tweeted his condemnation of the Vengaivayal incident.

Dalit film-maker Pa. Ranjith who never left an opportunity to take positions during the AIADMK regime has now gone soft with a name-sake condemnation. Without naming the concerned Minister and region’s MLAs, Pa. Ranjith condemned them for not visiting the village to address the issue. He stated that the police are attempting to pin the blame on the victims in the Vengaivayal incident, without naming the DMK government under which the police department functions.

The Dravidian Model Of Social Justice

The Vengaivayal incident once again busts the myth of the “Dravidian Model” of social justice. According to a 2019 RTI data, the number of villages practising ostracism remains the highest in Tamil Nadu.

646 villages in 20 districts of the state still ostracise people based on caste. Ironically the largest number of villages that practice untouchability is in Thiruvarur district, the home district of late DMK patriarch Karunanidhi.

The incident also shows the duplicity of the actors, activists, media and other self-proclaimed champions of social justice who now stand exposed that they have an agenda and it is to act as mouthpiece for the DMK.

No matter how much these people try to cover up, the Vengaivayal incident will remain infamous for not just DMK’s apathy but also a testimony to the fallacy of Dravidian Model.

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