DMK ally, comedian turned politician Karunas has stirred controversy with a speech he made recently at an MDMK stage in Madurai. The MDMK chief is on a padayatra across the state reportedly to create awareness against drug use and alcohol.
Karunas is the head of a caste-based party named Mukkulathor Pulipadai Katchi which in 2024 allied with the DMK in the I.N.D.I bloc for the parliamentary elections.
Karunas initially started off his speech highlighting MDMK chief Vaiko’s long political career and his role in sustained protest politics in Tamil Nadu. Karunas placed Vaiko within a broader historical tradition of political marches and yatras, referring to figures such as Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, Mahatma Gandhi, Periyar, and later Dravidian leaders who used mass mobilisation to press political demands. He argued that protest marches have historically been used to secure rights, resist state policies, and articulate ideological positions, particularly on issues concerning Tamil identity, language, and political rights. Referring to Vaiko’s first march in 1986, Karunas noted that Vaiko has continued similar forms of political mobilisation for nearly four decades. He cited Vaiko’s interventions in Parliament, confrontations with successive central governments, and his imprisonment under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as part of this political trajectory.
Karunas also recalled Vaiko’s association with Tamil nationalist causes, including the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, and described his continued participation in marches as consistent with his long-standing political positions.
Slipping into the Thirupparankundram context and making moves that one would expect of a Dravidianist, Karunas said, “We are stuck in a very, very bad political environment that exists today. It is only after our ancestors fought for nearly a hundred years that we have obtained even these small concessions we have today. That is, what did the great and honorable Ambedkar, who wrote the Constitution of India, say? Equality must be available to everyone equally. Today we have obtained a right to vote; only this has been obtained to some extent. If we think about whether this social justice and equality are correct, the truth is it is not there at all. It is caught and suffering with the upper-caste people, especially with the Brahmins, with these Sanghis, and with this murderous RSS gang. If you take this area, it has been 75 years since independence. Until today, the reservations for it, especially for the people of the BC and MBC communities living here, and specifically for communities like the Piramalai Kallar, has anyone ever received the positions that come in the Supreme Court or the High Court? If you look, it is being denied; it is being deliberately denied. But a group is cheating the reservation and exploiting the rights of oppressed, Dalit, backward, and most backward people like us and enjoying those high positions. The evidence for that is the antics happening in the Madurai High Court and the antics happening in Thirupparankundram.”
He further said, “Tomorrow or the day after, I am planning to go see Murugan. I’m thinking of seeing him and asking, “What is your problem, what’s the problem for you?” Then what will he say? “Hey, I don’t understand anything, brother. They are shouting ‘Gaya Muya Gaya Muya’ in front of me. Before, the Pandaram rang the bell, the Koyavan rang the bell, the Vellala rang the bell. At those times, I was very happy. Everyone spoke in Tamil. I am the Tamil God, right? I only know Tamil, right? Suddenly, what is this, they are shouting ‘Gui Ang’, shouting ‘Ang Ng Ang’ there, doing all this, I don’t understand anything at all. “Karunas, come; you come to Thirupparankundram, I need to talk to you a bit,” he said. Why, won’t Murugan talk to me? Or won’t Murugan talk to me, I’m asking? Will only the one who wears a loincloth talk? Will only the one who rings the bell talk? I will also ring the bell. I belong to a priestly family with a 9,00-year historical significance… 90, 90,000, 900, 900, 900 years—look, there is a record. Should I show it? Does Modi or Amit Shah want it? I’ll show it. For us, everything is history.”
He further said, “In a democratic country, in a large nation where many religions and many languages are spoken, in a diverse nation, you act against the Constitution. You draw a picture about squeezing things from the sea, that curd came, buttermilk came from it and you bring a language that is not in the spoken language of the people in any form and write it – what a big anarchy this is! If you think no one will ask about this, understand one thing clearly. I’ll say one thing straight – while these people are here, we must do the work of saving the next generation.”
Jumping on to SIR, he said, “Because a huge conspiracy is going on. You think this SIR is ordinary? That is a huge deception. He says he’s bringing Punjab, he says he’s bringing Bihar, now he says he’s bringing Uttar Pradesh here. What do they think here? Only one thing: they think of brainwashing people in the name of God and religion and turning them into votes. And there are 4 ‘Kavali’ (rogue) fellows here are going along with it. They have no means for food, what policy do they have, what ideology do they have? Votes in the name of religion, how can politics in the name of religion be accepted? Politics is a policy, an ideology; it is for the people, isn’t it? ”
Getting back to punching the brahmins, he said, “I have a pottu, you have a pottu, so you and I are one, so can I say vote for me?” Okay, I will ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage; will you give? I have a pottu, and you also have a pottu. I’m not wearing a thread; I’m asking for your daughter’s hand, will you give her to me? So, it’s entirely about cheating the faith we have, the belief in God, and snatching it as a vote. But why do you need a fight with a ‘Bhai’? Why should we fight? We are all fine. How can you blame an entire community for a mistake one person made? How can you? The Dravidian rule in Tamil Nadu, which is currently yearning for Dravidian ideology, must continue. The BJP-RSS ideological group, the Sanghi group, who think of defeating it in some form and entering through a shortcut to capture it, must be chased away relentlessly.”
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