CHENNAI: The BJP’s latest overture towards Tamil icons in giving saint Tiruvalluvar a new attire with saffron robes, vibhuti and rudraksha caused a lot of ripples in the political arena. Political observers feel that it is yet another effort of the saffron party to shed its image as a party based in Hindi belts and to gain political mileage in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP which has been continuing its Himalayan efforts to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu for many decades, has increased its overtures towards the cultural ethos of Tamils and Tamil icons in the recent
past. These developments assume significant as the BJP is aiming at making inroads in the 2021Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
The BJP’s cajoling of Tamils had started with the party’s former MP Tarun Vijay when he proclaimed his affinity towards Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar a few years ago. It gained momentum gradually in recent years and the latest being Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself singing paeans to Tamil language and literature.
Tarun Vijay hailed Thirukkural and spoke at length about the greatness of sage Thiruvalluvar in the parliament. On his request, in 2014, the then Human Resources Development Minister Smiriti Irani declared that the birth anniversary of Thiruvallur must be celebrated across the country by holding seminars and symposia highlighting the Tamil savant’s contribution.
Tarun Vijaya also evinced keen interest in the works of freedom fighter and poet Subramania Bharathi and demanded that the house where Bharathi stayed in Varanasi should be declared as national heritage monument.
After Jallikattu events were revived in 2017 following a huge protest, BJP leaders have been claiming that it was the Modi government which revived Jallikattu events. Last year, Modi hailed Tamil language is older than Sanskrit. And recently, Modi government chose Mamallapuram as the venue for the informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping wherein Modi was dressed in dhoti, the traditional attire of Tamils.
However, BJP spokesperson Professor R Srinivasan denies that his party has been taking up the Tamil cause just for vote bank politics but it was their innate feeling.
“RSS, the parent body of the BJP, has taught us love for Tamil. In the prayer song of RSS, we hail all important identities of Tamils - King Rajendra Cholan, Kannagi, the legendary Tamil woman, Cauvery river and sage Thiruvalluvar. The RSS members sing this song not only in Tamil Nadu but also in all States of India every day, for many decades. This we have been doing without a political motive but out of patriotism. But all these years, people did not turn their attention to us. Now, BJP’s every activity is being given importance, this also being highlighted,” Srinivasan added.
He added: “If one charges BJP’s concern for Tamil language and culture as political motives, what would you name DMK’s strategy decades ago when they took Tamil pride as their political tool? Why they boasted themselves as the saviours of Tamil language and literature ?”
Political analyst Tharasy Shyam is of the view that all political parties have adopted this kind of strategy in the past across the globe and it continues in Tamil Nadu too.
“It is nothing but political iconography. Decades ago, when Congress was described as anti-Tamil, that party leaders led by the then Minister C Subramaniam started organising events titled ‘Tamizhal mudiyum’ (It can be done in Tamil too). Later, the Congress government recognised the Thiruvalluvar portrait drawn by Venugopal Sharma in 1957, to show that the Congress government was not against Tamil language,” he added.
“A little later, DMK too took the ‘Tamil cause’ line and the DMK proclaimed itself as the saviour of Tamil language and literature. Now, the BJP is also using the Tamil cause as a political tool. It is
quite natural that BJP which is trying to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu using Tamil icons for their political mileage. But whether BJP can succeed in winning the hearts of the people of Tamil Nadu through such measures is not certain because the party has failed to support the State on vital issues in the past,” Shyam added.