‘Hindutva’s Future in Tamilnadu

The recent luncheon meting between Mr.Narendra Modi and Ms.Jayalalitha at her residence in Chennai has raised a lot of speculations in media and political circles. Political analysts feel that there is a strong likelihood of an alliance between AIADMK and the BJP for the forthcoming Parliament Elections. In this kind of a scenario, it would be interesting for us to critically analyse the future of the “Hindutva” Party in the “Dravidian” Land.

During the 13 month tenure of the BJP led NDA government in 1998-99, AIADMK supremo Ms.Jayalalitha always kept the BJP leadership on tenterhooks, pushing & pulling them as per her whims and fancy, insulted tall leaders like Mr.Mahajan & Mr.Jaswanth Singh and even refused to meet George Fernandes when he visited her. Finally she brought down the government by one vote, through her party member, the Late Sedappatti Muthiah.

In the subsequent election, when the enthusiastic cadres of AIADMK depicted Ms.Jayalalitha as ‘Virgin Mary’ in their advertisements, the Christian community gathered together and demanded apology from her for hurting their religious sentiments and she did apologise for the sake of Christian votes. In a congregation on the Marina Beach, she yielded to the demands of TMMK (Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam) and openly expressed ‘regrets’ (for supporting Kar Seva & Ayodhya movement) for the sake of Muslim votes. The BJP, forgetting what all she had done to them in 1998-99, brazenly allied with her again in 2004 parliament elections and received a drubbing from DMK led Democratic Progressive Alliance.

On the eve of Diwali in 2004, when Ms.Jayalalitha shocked the world by arresting the Kanchi Acharya, the most revered religious Guru of millions of Hindus, the BJP /RSS /VHP couldn’t do much despite their tall claims of serving for the cause of Hindutva. But, they had the ‘courage’ to tell the world that, they would not have any kind of relationship with Jayalalitha in future. It has been only three years since then, the party has thrown its principle & ideology now, and is preparing well for the most ugly and unholy political marriage, ever happened in the history of independent India. It is seen as even worse than the Congress-DMK marriage in the political arena.

At the time of the controversial affidavit submitted by the ASI to the Supreme Court, on behalf of the central government in support of the SSCP four months back, Ms.Jayalalitha had said, “The center had committed a historical blunder through the remarks by the ASI on the existence of Lord Rama. The center had lost the locus standi to call itself a secular government. True secularism was signified by respecting all religions equally and not by insulting and maligning the followers of particular religion. The ASI’s affidavit had deeply hurt the sentiments of Hindus and the center must withdraw the affidavit immediately”. It is an irony that the former CM, who committed a monumental crime hurting the sentiments of millions of Hindus world wide in 2004, had the audacity to question the UPA government on the same grounds.

The Rama Sethu issue has been burning for quite sometime and for the most part of it Ms.Jayalalitha has been keeping quiet. When the Rama Sethu Protection movement gained momentum and when the ‘Chakka Jam’ protests brought the country to a stand still, she understood the political importance of the issue and immediately filed a case in the Supreme Court. Subsequently, when the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr.Karunanidhi made malicious remarks against Lord Rama and when the whole country erupted against his remarks, she realized the potential of the Rama Sethu issue and decided to use it as a weapon to attack DMK and the Chief Minister. For an opposition leader, who had gone dearth of issues, Rama Sethu had come as a gift and she utilized it to the optimum level, which even the TN BJP couldn’t do.

It is quite obvious that Ms.Jayalalitha has taken the cause of Rama Sethu, not out of religious or heritage or archeological concerns, but purely out of political concerns. Looking at her track record, particularly with regards to Hindu religious sentiments, it can be inferred that, all her Hindu-leanings are either opportunistic or self serving. She had welcomed the idea of Ram Temple, made a speech in the Rajya Sabha supporting Kar Seva and even asked, “If we can’t build a Temple for Lord Rama in India, where else can we?” After that, she totally forgot this issue and stopped talking about it. Later on when she was in power, she passed the “Anti-Conversion Law” in 2003, only to withdraw it after drawing a blank in the 2004 parliamentary elections. Then, due to her committing the heinous crime of arresting & harassing the revered Acharyas of Kanchi, she lost in the assembly elections in 2006, particularly because of the tactical voting by a considerable section of Hindus, favouring the DMK. The 2006 elections have clearly shown that the minorities (Christians & Muslims) have supported the DMK led alliance and it is also evident from the last eighteen months of events that they are in no mood of leaving the DMK led alliance.

Ms.Jayalalitha has been shrewd enough to realize that she must have a rich harvest of Hindu votes, if at all she has to come back to power. Hence she uses the Rama Sethu issue, not only as a weapon against Mr.Karunanidhi, but also as a vote catching exercise aimed at Hindus. As the minorities have ditched her and as she is in need of Hindu votes, she seems to be inclined towards BJP, particularly after seeing the Gujarat and Himachal election results. That is why she had congratulated Mr.Modi and invited him for a luncheon. As of now she is weak & powerless and in this kind of a situation, the BJP, which is on a better wicket, either must have ignored her with utmost contempt for her monumental crimes, or must have dictated terms for its advantage not only politically, but also ideologically. Unfortunately, it looks to be surrendering to her meekly, without even remembering the ill-treatment it got from her during the seat-negotiations for 2004 parliament elections. Having made Mr.Modi as a scapegoat through the ‘extraordinary’ 45 dish luncheon ‘generously’ hosted by Jayalalitha and surrendering totally due to the ill-advice of a few Chennai based political analysts & intellectuals, the BJP is left with no other alternative of accepting what ever seats she throws at them, without a winning guarantee. If the DMK led DPA remains intact, then the BJP can be rest assured that it would sink along with AIADMK because of the sheer arithmetic of the ruling alliance and also due to the DMDK eating into AIADMK votes. The last few elections have shown that Actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK had caused heavy damages to AIADMK. As the actor has been perceived as “Karuppu MGR” (Black MGR) due to his skin colour, he too staked claim for the famous ‘MGR Legacy’ in no time. Political analysts feel that the just launched party AISMK (All India Samathuva Makkal Katchi – All India Egalitarian peoples Party) of Actor Sarath Kumar might also eat into ‘anti-DMK’ and ‘For-MGR’ votes, apart from gathering a considerable chunk of ‘Nadar’ community votes. All these factors have forced Ms.Jayalalitha to visit MGR’s residence at ‘Ramavaram Gardens’ in Chennai after a long gap of 12 years! From MGR’s residence, she issued a statement through the media that she is the only true political heir of MGR and no one else could claim his legacy. After forgetting her mentor and ignoring his legacy for the last decade, it is amusing to see her remember him and his legacy all of a sudden! Her sudden visit to MGR’s house and claiming his legacy are seen as development of ‘cold feet’ and action due to ‘weak knees’.

Whenever she wants minority votes, Ms.Jayalalitha never hesitates to express regrets or issue apologies, but when she is in need of Hindu votes, she cleverly deals with the BJP, without expressing even a slight remorse for her monumental crimes. She gave an indication of her mind to BJP, when her party supported Shri.Bairon Singh Shekawat for the post of President of India. Her second step towards BJP was made by voicing her support for the Rama Sethu Protection. She also met Mr.Ravishankar Prasad in September 2007, but snubbed Shri.Adwani when he came to Chennai, by leaving for Ooty without meeting him. In fact, she must have been waiting for the result of Gujarat elections to make her decision of joining NDA. Had Mr.Modi lost the elections, it is most unlikely that she would have sent feelers to BJP leadership inviting Mr.Modi for a luncheon. The BJP’s act of moving closer to Jayalalitha is seen by a great section of pious Hindus and the Devotees of Kanchi Matham as an act of “shamelessness”. They feel that the party, which claims to be a ‘Hindutva’ party, has shown scant regards to the revered Acharyas and the Kanchi Matham. It is felt that ‘Hindutva’ has surrendered to ‘Jayatva’ by sacrificing ‘Moditva’!

It is true that, there are no permanent enemies or friends in politics. Similarly, there are certain things in Politics, like core ideologies & principles, which should not be compromised. Those who have been watching the politics of Tamil Nadu, would vouch for the fact that, Mr.Karunanidhi wouldn’t have done what Ms.Jayalalitha had done to the Kanchi Matham. He had been an anti-Hindu through out his career and he indulges in propaganda & campaigns against Hinduism. On the other hand, Ms.Jayalalitha had flaunted her ‘Hindu’ credentials through out her career and all her schemes like ‘Annadhanam’ (free feast) in Temples, Rejuvenation cum Treatment camp for Temple elephants in Hill resorts, series of Temple Consecrations, etc, were allegedly on self interests based on the advice of her astrologers and not in public interests. Having done all these things, she arrogantly did the most heinous crime of arresting the Acharyas. Making this comparison, the people say, “Karunanidhi is only an “Enemy”, but Jayalalitha is a “Traitor” and an enemy can be pardoned and even a relationship with him could be renewed, but a traitor should never be pardoned and she must be punished”. They add that, “Karunanidhi is a “devil” and Jayalalitha is a “deep sea” and the BJP knows the devil, but does not know the depth of the sea. Even though it is not possible to throw the devil in to the deep sea, it is possible to stay clear of both, instead of getting caught between them”. The BJP, by readying itself to have a tie-up with AIADMK, seems to have compromised on its principles. Many feel that the party has dislodged the concept of ‘Sanatana Dharma’ by joining hands with Adharma and that, it has stabbed the Hindu majority at its back and insulted the Revered Acharyas.

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