BJP’s last frontier

Is it a rumble in the jungle or just a storm in a teacup? One can interpret the recent events in Tamil polity depending on one’s own political proclivities. Vellala Gounders (a farming OBC community predominant in western Tamil Nadu) and Hindu groups laid siege to writer Perumal Murugan forcing him to renounce writing and into exile in Chennai for his novel Mathorupagan, which narrates the bygone practice of childless women conceiving through strangers during a temple festival. Recently, Hindu Ilaignar Sena, a fringe group inspired by Hindu Munnani, threw crude bombs at Puthiyathalaimurai TV station for daring to telecast a programme on the relevance of thali (mangalsutra). Both signalled the assertion of Hindu Right in the Tamil land. 

Notwithstanding the antics of the fringe elements, mainstream BJP’s new-found love for Tamil language, history and icons grabs our attention, although there exists a common thread among them. The BJP and the RSS announced in October 2014 a year-long celebration to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the coronation of King Rajendra Chola, son of Raja Raja Chola. BJP MP Tarun Vijay, the former editor of the RSS mouthpiece, Panchajanya, asserted in November 2014, “India will be incomplete without Tamil”. Further, he called for celebrating Thiruvalluvar Day, which falls on 15 January, across the country, although a public holiday in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry marks the occasion. Moreover, he wanted the “biographies of revolutionary Tamil poet Subramaniya Bharathi and Thiruvalluvar should be made compulsory in colleges and schools all over India and read by every Indian”. Besides, his demands comprise converting the residence of Subramaniya Bharathi in Varanasi into a memorial and erecting a statue or installing a portrait of Thiruvalluvar for his contribution to Tamil literature through Thirukkural, a classic Sangam Tamil literature consisting of 1,330 couplets. He even embarked upon ‘Thiruvalluvar Thiruppayanam’ or yatra to promote the book and the author.

Indeed, Tarun Vijay reaped the fruits of his labour. Malaysian Tamil community honoured him in December 2014 with the ‘Thirukkural Thuthar’ (Ambassador for Thirukkural) award for promoting Thiruvallur. Malaysian Indian Congress Leader S Samy Vellu presented the award to him. Vetri Tamizhar Peravai, an organisation led by lyricist Vairamuthu, felicitated him for espousing the cause of Tamil language. 

So, what is it that BJP is striving to do in Tamil Nadu? Of course, there is the simple answer. It is an attempt to exploit the political vacuum that is prevailing in Tamil Nadu. But other deeper issues are involved in it. In this context, why is the Tamil past so significant? What distinguishes it? Why do BJP and RSS want to appropriate it? Tamil Nadu offers probably the only successful case of cultural, political, and ideological counter to BJP’s mono-cultural nationalism and Hindutva politics. Tamil Nadu’s distinctive cultural and linguistic identity challenges the Hindu Right at a fundamental level. Therefore, appropriating and assimilating the Tamil past within its partisan Hindu identity is paramount for the BJP to achieve its agenda. Let us dissect it. 

Rajendra Chola (reign 1012-1044 CE) was not only an expansionist king who conquered much of Southeast Asia, but also patronised Hindu Brahmins by providing land grants. He had apparently established a Vedic learning centre at Ennayiram in Tamil Nadu. However, the Dravidian movement had constructed a separate Tamil identity for the Cholas, divorcing it from the brahmanical Hindu identity promoted by the North. BJP’s attempt to project him as victorious Hindu king is to reinforce the masculine identity and manufacture a brahmanical ritualistic tradition by negating others in Tamil Nadu.  

BJP’s endeavour to appropriate Tamil language icon Thiruvalluvar is similar to its recent bid to claim Gandhi and Ambedkar as its own. A suitable example would be the making of Gautam Buddha as an incarnation, although he questioned and fought against the oppressive brahmanical social system successfully to some extent. The making of Thiruvalluvar as a Hindu saint and proclaiming Thirukkural as one of the Dharma Shastras would not only debase its uniqueness, it would also destroy the Jaina past of Tamil Nadu. Brahmanical Hinduism survived by destroying, dismembering and often assimilating local cultures. 

For all his infatuation with Tamil, Tarun Vijay wrote in a TOI blog in 2013: “Sanskrit is us. Sanskrit is India. And it has to become more powerful and omnipresent in order to be a vehicle to get top jobs and social status that it enjoyed once”. It exposes his Machiavellian politics. According to Dr A Gangatharan, historian at BHU, who specialised on Tamil intellectual history, “In a fast changing society like Tamil Nadu, there is always space for sectarian politics, especially when there is a rampant Christian missionary activity in cities and Muslims are running successful businesses in the midst of a political vacuum”. 

On the other hand, the BJP has become optimistic about its electoral prospects in the state. In the 2014 parliamentary elections, the BJP-led alliance secured 18.5 per cent of all votes, and the BJP’s share was 5.5 per cent. While the AIADMK got 44.3 per cent, the DMK-led alliance only got 26.5 per cent. This is BJP’s best electoral performance since 1998 when it won three Lok Sabha seats and four in 1999. BJP is also well aware that without a concrete vote bank its future is bleak. Therefore, there is a concerted effort to consolidate its vote bank among the Dalits and OBCs, especially in western and southern Tamil Nadu. The RSS- affiliated sadhus visit slums and perform pujas, and the RSS workers had supposedly visited 18 lakh households in slums and rural areas and gave offerings on 2014 Tamil New Year. The new BJP president in the state, Tamilisai Soundararajan is a Nadar, and those who feted Tarun Vijay with awards and functions are mostly Thevars. Nadars and Thevars are both dominant OBC communities in southern Tamil Nadu. The consolidation of OBC and Dalit votes has been vital for BJP’s long-term success in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.  

Therefore, BJP is trying to make its way in when Tamil society and polity are in a flux. Appropriating Tamil icons is crucial for BJP’s success. Tamil society remains largely Hindu and religious, despite the Dravidian movement. However, Tamil identity is inclusive unlike BJP’s exclusivist Hindu identity. Further, the Dravidian parties have accommodated the interests of the minority communities largely in creating a populist welfare state. This discounts the possibility of engendering binary politics. Hence, BJP’s attempt to subsume Tamil identity into its monochromatic Hindu identity is problematic.  

The author teaches International Relations at Apeejay Stya University, Gurgaon.