A day after Manushyaputhiran posted his poem on his Facebook page on Saturday, Raja called upon Hindus to file complaints in all police stations against the poet for demeaning Goddesses and insulting the sentiments of the people.
The devastating floods in Kerala have triggered a parallel controversy in Tamil Nadu with BJP national secretary H Raja launching a campaign to seek arrest of well-known poet and DMK leader Manushyaputhiran alias Abdul Hameed Sheik Mohamed. He had written a poem slamming those who linked the floods to the wrath of God over women's demand to enter the Sabarimala temple.
A day after Manushyaputhiran posted his poem on his Facebook page on Saturday, Raja called upon Hindus to file complaints in all police stations against the poet for demeaning Goddesses and insulting the sentiments of the people. He also called the poet, a Muslim fanatic. Raja also claimed that he had filed an online police complaint against the poet.
In his poem Uuzhiyin Nadanam (Dance of End of the World), the Tamil poet wrote, "Devi, is your menstrual blood capable of creating frightful times? Can it destroy cities and towns? Can it drown God and temples in water? Devi, they say your menstrual blood is impure; it is untouchable... Your menstrual blood can wipe away the impurities of this land. We don't want such purity. Devi, please rest a while. This is the time for mercy."
Manushyaputhiran's poem was published after several supporters of right-wing groups and BJP supported the argument in the social media that the Kerala floods were the "wrath of God for attempting to revoke the ban on entry of women into Sabarimala temple" by challenging it in the Supreme Court.
RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagaran Manch co-convenor S Gurumurthy tweeted in support and said, "SC judges may like to see if there is any connection between the case and what is happening in Sabarimala. Even if there is one in a million chance of a link, people would not like the case decided against Ayyappan."
After getting numerous threat calls and messages, Manushyaputhiran filed a complaint on Monday against Raja for allegedly circulating defamatory posts against him on social media. "In my poem, I compared floods with a woman. Devi is a common name for a woman. Moreover, all Hindu names are in a way to denote a God. So one should not use such a name itself? The poem was not about any religion or god of any religion," he said.
Meanwhile, women activists and writers have also taken to Twitter to seek Raja's arrest and started posting an image of sanitary napkins with #AllWomenBleed, which trended in Chennai.
Wrath Of God?
Manushyaputhiran had written a poem slamming those who linked the floods to the wrath of God over women’s demand to enter the Sabarimala temple.
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