Tying Sacred thread to pigs, cutting of sacred threads of Brahmins, Dravidian radicalism and anti-Brahminism: Dravidian Prohits becoming dominant!
The Dravidianization of Marxist Hindu: During 197o, the Dravida Kazhagam extremists had been emboldened with the DMK rule and started attacking Brahmins on every pretext. In thos days, the cutting of sacred thread and attacking of one Ganapathy, Brahmin employee of “The Hindu” was famous[1], as it was nicknamed as “Mount Road Maha Vishnu” by Karunanidhi. With the labouur activities of Ramajayam, DMK leader, the offices of “The Hindu” slowly came under the grip of Dravidian polity. When Kanimozhi was divorced and mentally disturbed, she was accommodated in the editorial office of “The Hindu”. Priya daughter of Ranganathan was married to Dayanidhi Maran and thus, “The Hindu” has been “dravidianized” with all the dominant Marxism. Now, N. Ram inaugurated the Platinum Jublie of “Murasoli” on 10-08-2017 evidently his relative’s daily and praised the Dravidian movement like anything just sitting by the side of K. Veeramani! Ironically, Kamal Hassan, another Brahmin also was there to praise the “Dravidian civilization”! Here, it has to be mentioned categorically that though Ram and Kamal have been Brahmins, they have been completely secularlized enough to be more anti-Hindu. Thus, this event took place incidentally, three days after the incidence of tying sacred threads to four or five pigs by another radical wing of Dravidar Kazhagam.
“Poonool to Pings” ceremony carried on the road with violence: The story was reported apologetically as Priyanka Tirumurthy wrote that, “The poonool turns a Parappan into a Brahmin and a Tamilian into a Shudhran” – This startling message is embossed on a poster that carries the image of a pig wearing the ‘sacred thread’, or poonool (or poonal) as it is called by Tamil brahmins[2]. Circulated by the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK), the poster is an invite to an event where pigs would be adorned with the poonool, in a symbolic protest against Brahminism. ‘Panrikku Poonool podum porattum’, a protest where pigs will be made to wear the holy thread, was set to be held at the Sanskrit College in Chennai on 7 August 2017. The day marks Avani Avittam, which is a sacred day for Brahmins in Tamil Nadu. It is on this day that they change their sacred threads in a yearly ceremony. According to the TPDK, holding a protest on this day will create shockwaves amongst the Brahmin community[3]. “Brahmins wear the poonool because they want to differentiate themselves from other castes and make themselves seem superior,” says S Kumaran, Chennai President of the TPDK. “By default, the society views being compared to a pig as an insult and so we decided to use the animal,” he explains. According to this Dravidian fringe group, resentment towards Brahmins has seen a dip over the last decade but they are hoping to revive the sentiment in the state.
So, why plan this provocative protest now?: “With the BJP in power at the Centre, the RSS, which is basically a Brahmin outfit, has gained too much power. This is aimed at countering any effort to suppress the lower castes,” says Kumaran. When asked about the attacks of the intermediate castes on Dalits, he said, “Yes, Gounders and Vanniyars discriminate and incite violence against Dalits. But why do they do it? It is because centuries back, Brahmins created the four varnas and a hierarchy of superiority.” Last year, the TPDK tried to burn effigies of Lord Rama, Sita and Lakshmana to symbolically show opposition to ‘Aryan invasion’, a theory which has since been discredited. Now, walls across the city are painted with invitations to this anti-Brahmin protest. Anyway, the Marxist Brahmin Ram or the atheist Brahmin Kamal never cared for this and the ceremony went on well with the blessings of Periyar from the heavens. The position of “Papatti” is not known.
Indifferent Hindutwavadis: The Tamil Nadu BJP is, unsurprisingly, not impressed by this. “How can you ridicule something that is very personal to a community? If they think the sacred thread doesn’t make anyone superior, why even protest against it?” ask BJP youth wing President for Tamil Nadu, SG Suryah[4]. “They are also forgetting that it is not just Brahmins who wear this thread,” he adds. Aravindan Neelakandan, writing for the right-wing magazine Swarajya, argues that many communities like potters, carpenters and goldsmiths also don the sacred thread. Valluvars, Purohits and astronomers of Parayar community are also known to wear the sacred thread, he says, adding that wearing the sacred thread is not exclusive to one set of people. “But this is not socially accepted,” says Kumaran. “Nowhere in the vedas does it say that nobody but Brahmins can wear this thread,” he claims. What’s more, the Dravidian outfit is aware that they would not receive police permission to conduct this event. “But we will manage to carry this out without approval from the police,” says Kumaran[5]. Note: The TDPK has since changed their poster, which has been reflected here. An error in the name of the TDPK spokesperson has also been rectified.
When TPDK went to court, the Hindu advocates did not care (04-08-2017): A writ plea has been made in the Madras High Court for a direction to the authorities concerned to grant permission to the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) to conduct the ‘poonool to pig’ (varaham) festival in front of the Sanskrit College in Mylapore on Avani Avittam on August 7, 2017[6]. Justice M S Ramesh, before whom the petitions from two Kazhagam functioneries came up on Friday, posted the matter to Tuesday (August 8) after directing the Public Prosecutor to file the counters[7]. It also prayed to the court to grant permission to conduct Ravana Leela at the same venue on August 7, 2017. According to the petitioner, a community called Parpanar conducts an event called Avani Avittam on Avittam Natchatram, which falls on August 7. On that day they wear a thread made up of cotton called poonool in the name of upanayanam. The story behind wearing poonool is that once a poonool is worn by a Parpanar he will get a rebirth and will be equated to God. Burning the effigies of Rama, Lakshmana and Seetha will form part of the Ravana Leela[8]. When the petitioners approached the Mylapore police for permission, the latter not only refused the nod but also threatened them with preventive arrests[9]. In spite of the Court direction, the drama went on as reported and videographed.
Four or five pigs brought tied, dragged on the road with dying of one pig: A pro-Dravidian group brought Chennai’s Royapettah to a standstill by attempting to make pigs wear holy threads on the road. Volunteers of Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhagam (TPDK) brought four pigs near the AIADMK headquarters and tried to make them wear holy threads as a protest against Brahminical ideology and casteism. They named this festival “adorning poonool (holy thread) to pig”, on the day of Aavani Aavitam, a day Brahmins consider sacred. TPDK cadres said that by wearing the ‘poonool,’ Brahmins consider themselves to be superior, and that attempts were made to make pigs wear them to break this thought process. Even though hundreds of cops were stationed in Royapettah, TPDK volunteers released the pigs on the road, frightening the commuters[10]. Police then detained the protesters and seized the pigs[11]. Last year [2016], the same group burnt effigies of the Hindu deities Rama and Sita in protest.
Blue cross and other right activists kept quite: Virtually, none cared for this cruel act of dragging pigs on the road with mouth died and probably drugged, as otherwise, they would have created hell on the roads. In English, it is said that “Pig” means young and “Swine” is aged. Animal activists say this happens every year. They also say that such acts in fact end up giving more prominence to the caste that they are fighting against. In the video, a couple of guys allegedly belonging to the Dravida group are seen dragging the pig with the sacred thread[12]. This incident reportedly happened on August 7 in Chennai near AIADMK office. This is also seen as a deliberate action against Brahmins[13]. Periyar said, “If you happen to see a snake and a Brahmin, kill Brahmin and leave snake”, so if the faithful followers had realy belief in their Guru, they must have chosen “Snake” instead of pigs to perform their radical ritual. However, they have chosen the pigs, that too tied.
© Vedaprakash
11-08-2017
[1] It is not known whether V. Ganapathy mentioned in this article is the same Ganapathy of 1970s.
[2] The Quint, TN Outfit to Make Pigs Wear Sacred Thread to Protest Brahminism, Priyanka Thirumurthy, Updated: 22 July, 2017 6:34 PM IST.
[3] https://www.thequint.com/politics/2017/07/22/dravidian-outfit-to-make-pigs-wear-sacred-threads
[4] The News Minute, Dravidian outfit to make pigs wear sacred thread on Avani Avittam day to protest Brahminism, Priyanka Thirumurthy, Saturday: 22 July, 2017 6:34 PM IST.
[5] http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/dravidian-outfit-make-pigs-wear-sacred-thread-avani-avittam-day-protest-brahminism-65563
[6] Indian express, Plea to permit ‘poonool to pig’ festival on Aug 7, By Express News Service | Published: 05th August 2017 01:28 AM | Last Updated: 05th August 2017 07:27 AM.
[7] http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2017/aug/05/plea-to-permit-poonool-to-pig-festival-on-aug-7-1638604.html
[8] The News Minute, Dravidian group moves Madras HC seeking permission for ‘Pig Poonal’ event, Saturday, August 05, 2017.
[9] http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/dravidian-group-moves-madras-hc-seeking-permission-pig-poonal-event-66293
[10] Indian today, Chennai: Pro-Dravidian group tries to make pigs wear holy threads to protest against casteism , Pramod Madhav | Edited by Ganesh Kumar Radha Udayakumar, New Delhi, August 7, 2017 | UPDATED 13:11 IST.
[11] http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/thanthai-periyar-dravida-kazhagam-chennai-protest-pigs-sacred-thread/1/1020481.html
[12] Asianet.newsable, Bearing the brunt of the anti-Brahmin movement, this pig is brutally tortured, Aug. 8, 2017, 11:24 a.m.
[13] http://newsable.asianetnews.tv/video/bearing-the-brunt-of-the-anti-brahmin-movement-this-pig-is-brutally-tortured
Tags: anti-brahmin, brahmin, DK, DMK, dravidar, EVR, mylapore, parppan, parppar, Periyar, Periyar Dravida Kazhagam, pig, poonool, sacred thread, sanskrit college, swine, The Hindu, Veeramani
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