J & K

The raging debate on Ram Temple and Uniform Civil Code in TN has brought to the fore the extremes within the Dravidian parivar. While Jayalalithaa has been emphatic in her support for both, Karunanidhi has rejected these outright. And going one step further, the DMK chief has certified that the AIADMK was not a Dravidian party at all. I would actually deem that as a compliment to Jayalalithaa, but that is besides the point. The question remains as to who is the true inheritor of the Dravidian legacy.

The simple answer is that there was no legacy at all in the first place for anyone to inherit! What were mere abstractions, abominations and wild imaginations, not even bubbles that at least have a transient existence, have promptly failed to materialise despite decades of tall talk. For, anti-brahminism, anti-god postures, self-respect, secessionism and the like were all just rhetorical crutches of convenience based on wrong notions, not solid pillars of conviction rooted in truth.

To the credit of Jayalalithaa it must be said that she has no pretensions; she makes no bones of her theistic inclinations nor can she do much about her brahminical background. So Karunanidhi disinheriting her of the ‘Dravidian legacy’ is of no significance at all for she never laid claim to atheistic tenets in the first place.

She does not also seem to entertain any pseudo-secular inhibitions that restrain the politicos of her time. From that position to a Ram Temple or a Common Civil Code is not a big distance to cover and Jayalalithaa has only done that. The same is the case when dealing with the Pope or Sonia. In her own forthright style, she has not minced words and has spelt out what she thinks, knowing fully well the political ramifications of her utterings and the derision it will invite from die-hard Dravidianists, if they exist. In short, her views arise from her convictions and any political twist, such as she warming up to the BJP, is at best a secondary factor.

Even there, it looks the other way round, with Jayalalithaa having pulled the plank from under the BJP’s feet; it is the latter who needs her more. Her detractors can differ with her but cannot accuse her of duplicity. Her stand actually represents the recognition of nationalistic realities, a sign of evolution for the Dravidian movement emerging from the false ideologies of its ancestors.

Can the same be said of Karunanidhi, the self-styled sole inheritor of all that is Dravidian? What has been his track record in keeping aloft the ‘glorious Dravidian virtues’? Let us talk of self-respect, the favourite fantasy of Periyar and oft invoked by K. The Uncle’s nephew Mr Maran is convalescing in a US hospital for long. But he is still a Union Minister. He does not even have a portfolio. One can understand if he is the PM or a CM in which case the appendages of posts may be deemed warranted.

But Maran is as irrelevant to the central cabinet as his party itself is to the NDA. The government can function happily without any aid from both and it is functioning so. In short, the ailing DMK Minister and his party are unwanted guests out there. Subtle and not so suggestions have already been sent too to that effect.

Now what would self- respecting persons do in such circumstances? Quit! But our Kalaignar is yet to muster the will to offer his nephew’s resignation. Really there is nothing to resign from other than shedding a prefix. Simple. But that hasn’t happened and is unlikely to. Aah, self-respect probably means respecting one’s own self, above everything else!

There was something else also that Periyar often used to talk about. I almost forgot. Rationalism. In Karunanidhi’s lexicon this word has a wide latitude provided the one who invokes it is the Thalaivar himself. And he would also interpret it for you, whether you like it or not. Any contradiction could be rationalised, all it takes is a slogan. A case in point is the DMK’s alliance with the BJP.

For a Jayalalithaa to align with the BJP or articulate similar views does make ideological sense owing to her own outspoken convictions, but how can a rationalist Karunanidhi for whom the BJP represented the antithesis of all that he holds close to his heart join hands with them? The only answer is that his heart had gone for a holiday! Yet, the Kalaignar literally got away with such an ideological somersault. Presently, the DMK claims it has no alliance with the BJP in TN but yet clings to power at Delhi.

Probably, the TN BJP men are pandaarams and pardesis –Kalaignar’s own coinages– while those in Delhi are polished gentlemen, we do now know. But still the ‘rationalism’ behind such hypocrisy beats us.
And while still sailing in the communal boat, the Kalaignar seems to be now developing pangs for the secular shores. The rationalisations have started as a prelude to the next somersault. The Kalaignar now wants to know ‘Why a temple when there are already 24 lakhs places of worship in the country, of which a few thousands are Ram temples and out of which many are in already in Ayodhya’.

Of course, one cannot expect the Kalaignar to ask of the Muslims, ‘why a masjid, when there are so many masjids all over the country, particularly when almost all of them have come over ruins of temples, ruined by the builders of those masjids’. Or query his ‘secular’ mates in St. Andrews why there is such a church planting spree all over the country when already there are churches galore, possibly outnumbering even Christians? Not that the Kalaignar is unaware of history or trends in other faiths, it is just that he is only following the diktats of his rational mind which in turn has a marked bias towards convenience rather than conviction, a sort of selective rationalism. And a skewed logic that interprets atheism as a lack of belief in the majority’s god. That does not, of course, prevent us, irrational ignoramuses, from asking a few questions of the rational paragon.

Let us begin at the beginning. Why a DMK when there was already a DK parading the same ideological stuff and that too when Periyar was alive and kicking? Why a Murasoli when there are umpteen number of unsolicited mouthpieces willing to toe his line? Why only Stalin or Azhagari for plum posts and political inheritance when there are lakhs of co-borns who have toiled for the party? Why only yellow when there are so many colours in nature’s pallette? The ‘why’s could be endless, and can rattle even the most rational of rational minds!

The Common Civil Code too has raised his hackles. The minorities’ feelings should not be tampered with in any way, goes his refrain. But, should not rationalism transcend all that? Now let us ask him the question that has always stumped scores of thinkers for decades, ever since Hindu personal laws were brought in tune with common law. It pertains to bigamy. No, we are not getting personal. No. The question is this.

Given the current scenario on the personal law front, does the Kalaignar know that a Muslim magistrate with four wives can send a Hindu to jail for bigamy? What a monster of an anamoly! Now, can you reason that out, Mr Kalaignar? We are dying to know what you have to say on that!

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